Most Recent Articles

Turning Service Into Discipleship

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 - 2:30 PM CST

In many churches the cry is “We need volunteers for our ministries.” But the number of people serving increases dramatically when churches change their message to “By serving, you can become the disciple God intended you to be.”

People want to know that their lives have meaning.  Why else would a resource like Rick Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Life sell a zillion copies in various formats—even in secular stores?  The church has the opportunity to give people something they can’t get simply by volunteering: the knowledge that the Creator of the universe works in and through them to accomplish something that matters for eternity.

When Billy Graham prompted church leaders from around the world to come together in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1974, the focus was clearly on evangelization, but the Lausanne Covenant has this to say about the nature of evangelism: “In issuing the gospel invitation we have no liberty to conceal the cost of discipleship.  Jesus still calls all who would follow him to deny themselves, take up their cross, and identify themselves with his new community.  The results of evangelism include obedience to Christ, incorporation into his church, and responsible service in the world.”

Our churches don’t need volunteers—Jesus’ command to us was to go and make disciples.  The good news is that this is exactly the kind of purpose people want for their lives.

Setting the Bar for Service

The federal government’s Corporation for National and Community Service has released a comprehensive report called Volunteering in America: 2007 City Trends and Rankings. Studying the data reveals something interesting: Those who serve more hours per week and more weeks per year are far more likely to continue serving over time. In other words, one of the reasons churches might be struggling to find volunteers is they set the serving bar too low.  People are actually more inclined to respond and stay active if you clearly let them know that you expect their level of commitment to be high.   So how can we apply this in our churches?

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 gifts 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.

But be prepared: If you make these changes in your church, you’ll soon have to start dealing with the problem of leading more on-fire people than you ever imagined.

Brian Proffit brings experience as a senior pastor and discipleship pastor to his role as senior editor of Group’s Church Volunteer Central (churchvolunteercentral.com).

Used by permission, Rev! May/June 2008.