One of the more interesting magazines I subscribe to is Rev!: Revving Up Ministry Together.  Primarily designed for those in professional church (i.e. paid) positions, there’s something for everyone – including people in the pews.

One of this month’s articles by Brian Proffit particularly caught my eye.  “Turning Service into Discipleship” takes on the church’s incessant need for “volunteers” and how disappointed the church is when they aren’t forthcoming.  Proffit’s assessment:  churches may be “setting the serving bar too low” by emphasizing volunteering over discipleship.  Here is how Proffit thinks we can alter the church culture  (you can check out his whole article on page 36 of the May/June issue):

Change our language: By definition, something a volunteer does is voluntary.  Something a disciple does is the expected result of loving obedience to the one he or she follows.

Change our focus: Instead of focusing on the people we need to staff our ministries, place the focus on the people God has sent us and on the God-given gift they’ve received for ministry.

Change our Call: Evangelism is a wonderful thing, but if we don’t clearly spell out the cost of discipleship in advance, we’re guilty of the same ethical crime as salespeople who don’t tell the whole truth about what they’re selling.

Change our Emphasis: Instead of telling people how easy a task is and how little of their valuable time it will take, show them how their service in ministry will be the most valuable time they invest all week.

Change our Leadership: Instead of measuring how many people are sitting in our churches, measure how many people are serving.  Evaluate a ministry leader’s success by how many disciples he or she is raising up.”

Changing an entrenched culture is never easy.  With joy, most of us realize that God calls us all to service.  Now, it’s probably about time we challenged others to move beyond volunteering to discipleship too.

On the journey with you…

Cesie

Cesie Delve Scheuermann

Western District Lay Leader