Dear Friends,
One of my favorite ministries in our church is
Grief Share. And it is not because I'm presently involved and
participating in it, and personally learning how to better manage grief.
That certainly is part of it.
But the biggest reason I enjoy participating
in this ministry is because I didn't start it, and I don't lead it. It's lay
led by some members who felt called to lead and oversee it.
Several years ago, I sought to start Grief
Share, but I couldn't find the leaders to oversee it. It wasn't until I left
for summer vacation that God raised up two individuals who possessed a
heart to develop this ministry. And so much to my surprise, when I
returned to the church from vacation, the ministry I had failed at developing
was organized and now ready to begin.
It is exciting for a pastor to see ministry
develop in spite of himself. It is encouraging when he gets to watch members of
the church grab the reins of leadership and take the initiative to accomplish
what he himself is unable to do. This is called lay ministry, and it is how the
church is meant to function.
Organic ministry that develops from within
the congregation, and which is sphere headed by those who are a part of
the membership team, is one of the greatest gifts one can offer a pastor.
When a pastor no longer has to coax and cajole members to create a ministry,
but he is able to witness that ministry develops naturally from within, he
rejoices because he sees the way ministry is best developed.
My life verse is Eph 4:12 "For God has
called the pastor-teacher to equip the saints for the work of ministry that the
body of Christ might be built up."
The measure of any pastor's effectiveness is
determined by counting the number of members who have been equipped and
are now engaged in ministry.
Contrary to what many people think, evangelism
is not the primary goal of the church's ministry. It is equipping, that is, the
identifying, training, and sending forth of its members to do the work of
ministry.
The famous evangelist Dwight Moody was fond of
saying, "I would rather put 1000 men to work than to do the work of 1000
men." And yes, so would every busy pastor.
The responsibility of every church member is
to make oneself available to be equipped for ministry.
The job of the pastor is to work himself out
of a job-to raise up leaders who are trained and equipped to do ministry. When
this happens, the church begins to grow.
Every pastor must be encouraging members to
discover, develop and deploy their spiritual gifts, so they can be sent out and
start serving.
Christianity was never meant to be a spectator
sport. It's success depends on everyone serving and participating and doing
his/her part in winning the world for Christ.
Someone described the Christian church in the
analogy of a football game where there are twenty-five thousand fans in the
stands in desperate need of exercise and twenty-two players on the field in
desperate need of rest.
There is no way the world will ever be won by
those who are the "professionals," the ministers. Every member
must recognize his/her ministry role and be trained and actively participating
as a member of the team.
In the book of Acts, we see the early church
gathered together, listening to the apostles teaching, breaking bread together,
fellowshipping with one another, and praying (Acts 2:42). But they scatter into
the world. They go forth to 'gossip' the gospel by what they say and how they
live.
The primary part of Christian service does not
take place in the church. It happens in the world-in the community where
members live, at school, on the job, at the store, or with your buddies eating
a hamburger as you watch a game.
Every member is a minister, and wherever you
are you are always on active duty.
The only way to leave a legacy as a pastor is
to equip your people for service. "Success will never be measured by what
you leave, but by what you leave behind."
I often remind our members that there is
"no success without a successor."
Abraham Lincoln once said, "You cannot
help men permanently by doing for them what they should be doing for
themselves."
The measure of a pastor's ministry should
never be bodies, buildings or budgets, but how many members are suited up and
involved in meaningful ministry.
If you are a non-involved church member,
let me encourage you to go to your pastor and volunteer to sign up and suit up
for service. Simply say, "Pastor, what can I do to serve the
church?"
It may take a moment for your pastor to
recover from the shock of your offer, but once it happens, you'll become an
automatic starter on a team where there are no benchwarmers.
Yours in faith and friendship,
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