For many years now – Churches in general have struggled with what is called the 80/20 rule. The rule in its most simple form, says that 80% of effects come from 20% of the causes. The way we have seen it played out in church is that 20% of the leaders in the congregation are doing 80% of the work. Often, we hear the leaders complaining about all of the work they have to do on their own, and how they wished others would step up into ministry. However, I don’t believe that the entire problem is caused by people just not wanting to step in and serve. A portion of the problem may be that the 20 percent that are doing the work, are not giving up their authority and finding capable people to share the load. There are potential leaders in churches right now who are not getting a chance to use their God given gifts, due in part to the selfishness, stubbornness and shortsightedness of the churches leaders.
Pastors and lay leaders must see with eyes of faith to catch a glimpse of a bigger view of their church’s ministry. They cannot continue to accept the first case to cross their path, wrap their lives around it, and allow the rest of the world to go down the tubes. Rather, they must allocate their resources as strategically as a medical emergency team triages a crisis. Nor do they demonstrate wise leadership if they provide the entire ministry themselves, even if they do discover how to clock in a twenty-five-hour day. (How to Break Church Growth Barriers, Carl F George)
So – how can leaders go about inviting someone to step into ministry and service? First you must find a man (or woman) that has a certain energy level and competency to be a natural leader. Many times leaders look for people that are just willing to do the job, to handle a task for you in your church so that you don’t have to.
This is only a short-term gain; you need to constantly be looking for potential leaders that can be put in the right spots that match their gifting. “He is the one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-13 NLT)
Once you have found someone and let them know the potential you believe they have, you begin meeting with them on a regular basis. Don’t miss the importance of this phase! This is your chance to give the person that you are discipling a vision for what could be their position within the body of Christ. Given time, it can be amazing to see the transformation new leaders make just because you believe in them and want to invest in them.
There is power in spending time with potential leaders-sharing your vision for what you believe they can do. People become the leaders you tell them they can be. #discipleship Share on XThere is much power in spending time with potential leaders and sharing your vision for what you believe they can do! People will become the leaders that you tell them they can be. We have people that other churches didn’t think were leaders now in leadership in our church – Sometimes, with encouragement and coaching, the people that others saw no potential in can become some of the best leaders that you have in your church.
Sometimes, with encouragement and coaching, the people that others saw no potential in can become some of the best leaders that you have in your church. #discipleship Share on XAll of us have been impacted by the visions people intentionally or unintentionally cast for us. Understanding this simple concept will help you grasp your potential as a vision caster in the lives of those around you. Just as people’s words have set a course for your life, so you too have the potential to set or alter the course of another. (Visioneering, Andy Stanley)
During the times that you are meeting with your new leader, hopefully several new leaders; you build a safe environment that they can share about what their barriers of Christian leadership are. You have thrown them into the deep end of the pool and you must stay close to them as they need help trying to figure out their lives. This relational journey allows you to and pick them up when they fall down. It also builds trust and models for them what they will eventually be doing with their group of leaders. The group that meets as leaders becomes bonded together as brothers in one community; because they are in the same fight together. Similar to Veterans of Foreign Wars, when you are in the same foxhole together it builds a relationship that is stronger than the barrier of time a distance.
As you are ministering you take these new people with you so that they can see how you want them to minister to others. Relationship takes time – the more they are with you the more they learn to trust you, and you in turn have the vantage point to watch them mature.
Hopefully, you will able to witness the slow transformation in their lives from being self-centered to becoming more others centered. They may have initially started meeting with you and taking on responsibility within the church for personal reasons. They wanted to be on a team. They wanted to contribute, they felt like they were doing something important. But as your new leader begins to work with other people, he begins to realize the impact that he can make in other people’s lives. Helping other people soon becomes his new motivation for ministry.
As the inside grows, so ultimately should the outside. You should be able to see better relationships, emotional experiences, and connectedness to God. These aren’t signs that one is done growing, but they are certainly signs that things are moving in the right direction. (How People Grow, Cloud and Townsend)
The ultimate goal of this is that they will become ready to be released into ministry, and to find others to help through the same process they have just completed. That is the power of relational discipleship in action – discipleship the way Jesus did it.
This post was written by Lance Wigton – Communications Director at Real Life Ministries
