Begin a Lay-Ministry Revolution
One of the greatest needs and challenges of the modern day church is that activation of people into their God-given purpose. The needs are immense but the laborers are few. For many church has become a place where they, “Come to get,” not “Come to give.” This trend is one that must be reversed if we are to become all that God has destined us to become.
I Found this in a church bulletin. It was entitled, A Eulogy for Someone Else: “Our church is deeply saddened by the passing of an irreplaceable member, Someone Else. For all of these years he did far more than any other church member. Whenever leadership was mentioned, Someone Else was looked to for inspiration and achievement. Whenever there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend, everybody always turned to Someone Else. It was common knowledge that Someone Else was among the largest contributors to the church. Whenever there was a financial need, everyone just assumed that Someone Else would make up the difference. Although we are grieved by the loss of Someone Else, his death comes as no big surprise. He was far too overworked and continually stretched too thinly. In fact, we may have contributed to his death by expecting too much out of Someone Else. He left a wonderful example to follow, but it appears there is nobody willing to fill the shoes of Someone Else. I shudder to think what will now happen to our church since we can no longer depend on Someone Else.”
With the decrease of finances coupled with the increase of needs, along with the desire to grow, maybe we should be considering how we might launch the Lay Ministry Revolution. After all, it is the New Testament pattern. Scripture shows us that the development of church leaders and ministry was not dependent on whether there was enough staff dollars available to hire the next position. The challenge will be whether you are able to raise up a generation that is ready and prepared for the colossal, yet exciting task at hand.
- Let me encourage you to take some time and consider the following:
- Think through how you might structure your area of ministry.
- Identify the positions that you are believing to be fulfilled.
- Develop a ministry description for each area.
- Begin praying and ask God to put people in your path to fill this important roles…
- THEN go take your city for Christ!
THis is a must read for every person coming through our ‘partnership’. Thanks. We want to be a church that makes things happen!
This is a great word! We all need to BE Someone Else!
Good word… you are singing my song!
Ephesians 4
11 “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
12 to EQUIP THE SAINTS FOR THE WORK OF MINISTRY, for building up the body of Christ,”
-emphasis mine-
…I love that it doesn’t say, “certain saints.” The God-breathed design for the “work” of church building is to include everyone.
Dear Jesus, lead us in wisdom, understanding and influence to make it happen.
May that shift of culture be of utmost priority!
Another great nugget! I’ll definitely be sharing it
Pastor Frank Damazio told leaders of our church this morning that lay leaders have to make intentional decisions about their lifestyle. It must be one that makes time to serve.
Hobbies, entertainment, even a child’s sports involvement can’t take precedence over a commitment to serve the body. So we first need a revolution of priorities.