CoachNet Campfire

 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go!…” Luke 10-2-3

In two sentences Jesus Christ identified the barrier and the solution for His church to “bring in the harvest.” It is all about numbers of people willing to work, to serve…to lead. 

The ever increasing number of leaders is critical to the health of a church and it’s capacity to minister to people.  

The above ground church in western culture suffers from a number of maladies: irrelevance, distraction and decline just to name a few.  None of these could not be solved with a rapid increase of the numbers of leaders.

For the church to grow and to continue to serve more people through its various ministries we must increase our numbers of leaders.  Only a few people doing almost everything is not sustainable over the long haul. More people doing a fewer things is what can make the difference. It is not money, not talent, not even spiritual maturity…it is numbers of leaders that determines everything. 

This is why I make it a point to intentionally invest in lives of those God is calling to serve and lead in a monthly meeting of the Ministry Team of our church. In these monthly gatherings we learn from each other about what it is to be a disciple and a discipler of others.  We talk about things related to what goes on in the heart of a leader as Jesus shapes and molds him or her. We also deal with what goes on in a leaders head as we learn to think more strategically about  ministry. We also deal with the very practical things we can do with our hands as we earnestly look to serve our community and each other just like Jesus would. We invest in building leaders because we want to keep making a difference in our community for a long, long time. Long after I’m dead and gone.

The Ministry Team is not the hot shots or the most talented elite leaders it is for everyone who will simply say yes. That means it sometimes get messy and sometimes isn’t easy to deal with since, in the end, I believe church should be like little league and everyone gets to play. We can’t afford to invest in only the elite if we want the message of the kingdom to make much of a difference in our world.  

So who are you investing in for the sake of increasing the numbers of those who are serving others in Jesus’ name? How are you going about increasing their harvest capacity?  I’d like to hear what’s working in your world?