Using volunteers in ministry

Some pastors struggle giving away ministry. That struggle may come because people in his or her church don't want the responsibility. They believe that ministry belongs to the pastor. He or she is the one "hired" to do the ministry. Their only responsibility is to sit back, support the church with their tithes and evaluate how well the pastor is doing what he or she is supposed to do. If this describes your church, you are in a very dysfunctional church. Unfortunately, this mindset probably exists because former pastors taught the church to think this way. Dr. Phil reminds us that we teach people how to treat us.

Many pastors struggle to give away ministry because they want to be needed. In fact, they need to be needed. Their ego requires it. It's what they've been trained to do, and some believe that no one can do ministry better then they can, at least not a volunteer. This is a very short-sighted, and unbiblical, approach to ministry.

In the Bible we see Jesus consistently giving away ministry to His disciples. I'm sure you would agree that He certainly could have done it better, but He also knew that to deprive the disciples of the opportunity to minister would have also deprived them of opportunities to grow. Sometimes they got it wrong, but even those were growing opportunities. As they served others with His guidance, they grew in their ability to minister. Later, when Jesus was gone, they became known as the people who turned the world upside down.

Isn't it interesting that in Acts 6 we find the disciples following Jesus' example. They gave away part of their ministry to those we often now refer to as deacons in the church. The apostles recognized that they could not do it all so they chose others to be responsible for some aspects of the ministry. Later, as the church grew they appointed pastors and elders to serve the churches in various locations. As more and more people were involved in hands-on ministry, the church continued to grow.

John Maxwell has said that one is too small a number for greatness. If you want your church to have a great ministry in your community, it takes more than the pastor doing ministry. His or her role is to equip the saints to do the work of ministry. The more people in a congregation who recognize their responsibility to do ministry, the more the church can grow and influence their community.

Don't be afraid to give away ministry. It's not your ministry anyway; it's God's. Jesus wasn't afraid to give God's ministry to volunteers. Be like Jesus!