God is very clear in his direction to pastors and other leaders in the church.
In Ephesians 4:12 he describes the role of pastors and teachers is to prepare, equip, train God’s people for works of service or for ministry, so the body of Christ- the Church (yep, universal church) will be built up. I found the footnote interesting which reinforces the idea, “Those mentioned in verse 11 were not to do all the work for the people, but were to train the people to do the work themselves, so the body of Christ may be built up.”
The number one resource in the church is God’s people. God has uniquely created people with many different gifts beyond teaching and preaching to participate in sharing the gospel!
You don’t know how to equip people until you understand who they are and what they need in order to serve in God’s kingdom.
In the past, pastors have tried to develop people to be just like themselves. Go door to door and witness. Dig into God’s Word and teach it to others. Talk to others about Jesus.
But they aren’t just like you my pastors, teachers and leader friends.
They are SHAPED intentionally to be different from you. To compliment and complete you. Not to frustrate you but to fill in where you are weaker.
You think you are to train others to be replicas of you and that’s just not so.
You may have members who are more compassionate and encouraging than you are. Help them to express that compassion by providing opportunities for them to use that gift for the benefit of the kingdom.
I’ve been using the words unified diversity to describe what the body of Christ is to look like. Pastor Mike Novotny recently preached a sermon series entitled “Some Assembly Required.” I love this title as it reflects that there is work to do in order for the church to be function properly. We need to understand how we serve best together through relationships.
If you would like to learn more about how to work more effectively together as a church check out our free webinar “Creating a Member Ministry System in Your Congregation.” If your church body is wanting to develop a Member Ministry System check out our online course for pastors, lay leaders and volunteer coordinators entitled “Multiply Member Ministry.”
Develop your church’s top resource- people!