Matthew 9:9-13
There are two Biblical models that show where a church is to get workers.
There is a model where churches send out workers to strengthen or to plant other churches. The church at Antioch sent Paul out and later Paul sent Timothy and Titus to strengthen the churches where he had been. I call this the “Timothy-Titus” model for simplicity sake. I would love to see this model used more in our own convention. I would love to have some workers sent out from other churches to help our church.
The other Biblical model is that used by Jesus and spoken of in The Great Commission. He made disciples and trained them for the Kingdom work. He didn’t choose seminary students or ask other churches to send them, instead he recruited them, taught them, trained them, and then he put them to work. He never asked Peter is he was called to preach. He never asked Matthew if he thought he would be prepared to write a gospel. He saw their strengths, their gifts, and also built a foundation within them through relationship-based discipleship.
Recently, in a discussion in church about workers, Brother Marty remarked that I never asked him if he wanted to get up and speak, or teach, or lead. He stated that he was scared to death the first time I asked him to do so. Now, however, he’s glad I did and feels much more confident in front of people and serving the Lord in a public, leadership position.
After returning from the recent conference on Church Decline, I arrived at church on Sunday morning in a prayerful mode. As soon as I arrived at church I was asking God to show me who could fill some gaps in our church. As I passed the entrance to the church I noted for the first time that every person who leaves our church must pass by this small narrow area and that if we posted greeters at the right spot, nobody could ever be missed. It was if scales dropped from my eyes. But, Lord, who can we get to do this greeting? I went into the Ladies Bible enrichment and greeted Sister Kathy and Sister Jean. It was almost as if there was a glowing neon arrow over Kathy’s head, pointing directly at her. In a moment of unbridled enthusiasm I began recruiting. “Sister Kathy, do you love the Lord?” I asked and she, of course assured me that she did. “Would you do anything in your power to help your church grow?” She assured me that indeed she would. I crooked my finger at her and said, “Follow me,” and led her to a spot near that narrow entrance. “From now on, following the Sunday morning service, this is your spot. I want you to stand here and greet every person who passes by you and let them know you were glad they were in church. I want you to be an official greeter.” She agreed and is already doing that job.
There were two more spots to fill. I already had on my heart someone who could fill a spot but had not had opportunity to approach her. At the last business meeting, as I shared the pastor’s report, I shared how I had recruited Kathy and how I needed two more people to serve as greeters in much the same way. Following the business meeting, Sister Anne, the other person I had in mind, came to me and said, “I’ll take that back door and greet folks.” We joked that I didn’t have to use the “Do you love the Lord?” speech, but I told her that I felt that the Lord had led us to that.
Many churches cry out to the Lord that they need workers. The Bible says we are to pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send workers. However, we must first seek to best utilize the workers he has already provided. We must seek to recruit those who aren’t doing anything, train those who need training and then involve them.
Have you ever worked on a budget for your home? If so, you might discover that you are wasting money. I often tell people that they should examine what they do with their pocket change. If you put your change in a can or jar at the end of each day, you might be shocked to find out how much you’ve saved at the end of the week. I’ve discovered I can have a GREAT cup of Coffee at 7-11 for $1.25 (if I bring my own cup) as opposed to $4.25 at Starbucks (using their cup). Many people are ditching their land-lines and just using cell phones. Where can you do better in your budget?
Churches must view people as an important resource and properly budget them. If we put them in too many jobs it is much like buying Starbucks coffee instead of 7-11. If we don’t use them, they are like the ignored change in the bottom of our pocket. If churches are to survive into the next generation we have to move people into service and see that they are being properly used for the glory of God’s kingdom.
As we look further at our text, we see that Jesus called Matthew and almost immediately Matthew was doing kingdom work. Now you are probably saying, “I don’t see him preaching or teaching Sunday School. I don’t see him signing up to clean the church, leading music, or chaperoning the youth group!” He was doing something very important. He was almost immediately introducing friends and acquaintances to Jesus.
How much training did that take? Sometimes we focus on witnessing training and not enough on how people just need to tell others about Jesus’ work in their lives. We don’t train people to be witnesses of crimes or car accidents. Perhaps we shouldn’t spend so much effort on training people to witness about their own personal salvation and just encourage them to tell what they know.
It isn’t long before the Jewish leaders are disgruntled and begin to pick apart what Jesus is doing. They don’t like the crowd that Jesus is hanging around. They don’t like the people Jesus is ministering to. He was eating with sinful people.
The church has to remove some of the lines we have drawn in the sand. We’ve removed ourselves from contact with sinners. I have to keep reminding our local congregation—the work of the church is not done in the Chapel or the church parking lot. The REAL work of the church is done by sharing the Word outside of the church. Most of the people who go to church are already saved.. the LOST are out in the world. The homeless person who needs guidance is out there. The shut-ins who need love are out there. The sick who need care are out there. The people who just need a little love and someone to greet them and offer to tell them about Jesus are OUT THERE! A church has to have an OUTWARD FOCUS in order to accomplish God’s will.
Several years ago there was a television program called “Jericho.” It was about a small town that was trying to survive the aftermath of a nuclear attack on the United States. Throughout each episode the people focused on protecting their town from outsiders. They recognized that there was a limited amount of food and supplies and they were unwilling to share with others and would defend what they had with deadly force, if necessary. Sadly, many churches have a similar mentality where the focus of the church is fellowship rather than outreach. Some churches act as if services are family reunions where outsiders are ignored. Some outsiders manage to infiltrate the family and some churches are better are bringing outside people into the church family.
My dad used to befriend some of the most awful people. He would meet them at the stable and they had horses in common, but soon he was witnessing to them, sharing his faith, and striving to bring them to the Lord and\or to church. This is the model Jesus used.
Jesus never used flyers to promote the work of the church. He never placed an ad in the newspaper. He never put up a banner advertising a concert. He just went out and met people and didn’t pay too much attention where they came from but instead met them right where they were. He did not condone their sins, he came to deliver them out of it. He went where the needs were.
As a church, we MUST go where the needs are. I encourage our members to be part of our community outreach, where we simply invite people to church, give them a smile, and if possible tell them of God’s love. Anybody can say, “May I give you an invitation to church?”
Jesus spoke to the Pharisees and Jewish leaders and told them that they needed to reach down into their hearts and discover mercy. We, as a church, must do the same if we ever hope to begin to reach this community for Christ.
In my experiences in this community, there are people who are hurting, who are sick, who are lonely, and who are in sin. They all need our efforts to introduce them to Jesus. Once we bring them to Jesus he can begin to heal, the comfort, to redeem, and to cleanse and transform their lives.
Jesus recruited workers from the most unlikely of people. He trained them and continued to go and minister to the most unlikely of people. He seemed to specialize in ministering to the outcast. Not only did he deal with the lame and sick who were condemned as being under the judgment of God, but he also met the woman at the well who had relationship problems with men or little tax collectors with a bad reputation like Zacheus. While we wait for God to send us a Timothy or a Titus, or even an Epaphras, we need to be building disciples, and reaching the unlikely so that we might see God raise up workers from those who come to Christ through our ministry.
