“10% of our people are doing 90% of the work.”

“I need more volunteers, but who should I ask?  I have nobody to ask.”

“Do you know of anyone who would be good to be a youth pastor?”

“They probably should not be in that position, but who else could I get to do it?”

These kinds of questions and comments get made all the time in solid, Bible-believing churches.  We have a task that seems to be growing in difficulty and complexity.  This is evident when we must hire staff and recruit volunteers.

Sometimes stating the problem differently puts a different light on the problem to give us different perspective.  Consider the problem stated slightly differently.

If we do not have enough leaders doing Great Commission ministry, we cannot grow the way God has called us to grow.  If we do not have enough people growing in spiritual maturity, we will not have enough leaders to do that ministry.  If we do not reach any new believers, we will eventually run out of anyone to disciple into spiritual maturity, evangelism, service, or leadership.

I believe the problem we have is a Great Commission problem because I believe the Great Commission includes reaching people, training people, and sending people to minister.  If we have no one to send to do ministry, it may indicate that we have not helped people to grow into leadership and service through discipleship and training.  If we do not have anyone to train or disciple, it may indicate that we are not leading enough people to Christ.

I believe that if we are going to fix this problem, we must have the answer to three questions.

  1. What is our plan for reaching people?
  2. What is our plan for helping people grow in Christ through discipleship?
  3. What is our plan for training those who are discipled so that they can be sent?

I believe that we must have clear, compelling answers to these questions that actually work.  I also believe that it is imperative that our current staff and key leaders in the church are unified in how they answer these questions.  They must know the plan, own plan, and work the plan.

As a new senior Pastor I have many ideas and plans about how to solve problems like these that I’ll sharing in future blogs.

I am looking for answers, too. Many of you are way ahead of me in this endeavor.  Please comment on this blog with what you are doing to move forward in these areas.

 

bjennings@trinitybaptistfindlay.com