When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13
Introduction
Accomplishing great and mighty things through lay and ordinary people is the act of strong leadership and excellence.
Do you think that this Jesus the One who called men to follow Him is concerned about titles after one’s name? This does not mean those with titles do not matter but under a given context, emphasis is placed on the lay people in society today as our subject of discussion.
Who Is A Lay Person?
According to the Cambridge International Dictionary: A lay person is someone who is not an expert in or does have a detailed knowledge of a particular subject:
The Collins Dictionary renders it this way: A lay person is a person who is not trained, qualified, or experienced in a particular subject or activity.
Therefore, a lay person is a common person. They're unschooled and unskilled persons in the society. They're people with no name and no title found on the streets snd verandas.
How To Achieve Great Things through Them
Lay people are ordinary people and God Uses Ordinary People in Extraordinary Ways.
Lay people were the backbone and pillars of Christ's successful ministry exploits on earth. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah used the lay people to achieve Ghana's independence and the United Gold Coast Convention Party failed miserably because their focus was on the prominent people in society only. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah achieved greater things through the veranda boys and girls he mobilized on the streets.
Below are some of the measures we can undertake to get the maximum out of the lay people to be a blessing, first to the kingdom of God and second to society.
1. Mobilize them: This implies you organize and lead them. Jesus organized and led His disciples.
2. Train Them: Remember, the Apostles were uneducated and had no formal theological training before they met Jesus.
They walked with Jesus for three years day and night, watching Him perform miracles and hearing Him teach them and as He taught others.
Train them with the Word, prayer and vocational skills. Send some to school to learn a professional career.
3. Have Confidence in them:
God took a shepherd boy and made Him King of Israel. God used a donkey after all to deliver a message. God uses ordinary people in extraordinary ways.
4.Feed them: You dont only feed them with the Word. Most times these people aslo need Food, Clothing and shelter. To get the attention of His disciples, Jesus gave them a lot of fishes. John 21:5-7
5. Motivate them: This is where you give them inspiration and words of Encouragement. Show them what they can do. Jesus Matthew 4:19; John 14:12
6. Listen to them: A leader is a great listener. You have to sit down with them to hear their heartbeats. When they see that you have time to listen to them, you win their confidence level. Jesus always had time to listen to his followers. He even requested little children to come to them.
7. Be their Friend: In John 21:5 Jesus Jesus called his disciples friends. This means that we are to come to their level before we can get them to achieve greater things for the kingdom and society.
