What It Means to be a Committed Leader
I Corinthians 3:5-6
This past week I received the following “Christian One Liners” in an e-mail.
Don’t let your worries get the best of you; remember, Moses started out as a basket case.
Some people are kind, polite, and sweet-spirited
until you try to sit in their pews.
Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisors.
It is easier to preach ten sermons than it is to live one.
The good Lord didn’t create anything
without a purpose, but mosquitoes come close.
When you get to your wit’s end, you’ll find God lives there.
People are funny; they want the front of the bus, the middle of the road, and the back of the church.
Opportunity may knock once, but temptation bangs on your front door forever.
Some minds are like concrete thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.
A lot of church members who are singing "Standing on the Promises" are just sitting on the premises.
Don’t put a question mark where God put a period.
God grades on the cross, not the curve.
The best mathematical equation I have ever seen:
1 cross + 3 nails= 4 given.
This morning we are showing our appreciation for the teaching staff of our Christian School. We are also saying “thank you” to all who serve in any volunteer capacity in the various ministries of the Willow Vale Community Church. You are greatly appreciated. All who actively serve others are involved in ministry.
I Corinthians 3:5-6, (TEV)“We are simply God’s servants…Each one of us does the work which the Lord gave him to do. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plant, but it was God who made the plant grow.” We when we faithfully do our best in serving the Lord the Lord blesses and gives the increase.
Ephesians 2:10 (LB) “It is God himself who has made us what we are and gives us new lives from Christ Jesus’ and long ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others.” God created each of us what His purpose in mind. His purpose is that we serve the Lord.
We are not saved by the services we provide, we are saved to serve. We don’t serve God out of guilt or try to work out our salvation,; we serve out of joy and gratitude for all that Jesus has done for us.
Everyone who makes themselves available to serve is a committed leader.
I Corinthians 1:10 (Message) “Because of God’s great mercy…offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service.” The Bible teaches that every person who is following Jesus is called to be a minister. We are saved to serve and not just sit around waiting for heaven.
Pastor Rick Warren writes in the best selling book, The Purpose Driven Life, “If I have no love for others, no desire to serve others, I should questions whether Christ is really in my life.”
There are no insignificant ministries in the church. Every person serving in the church makes up a network of volunteers for Jesus. Each person is dependent on others in the network doing their job. Some of the ministry jobs are visible but most are hidden and behind the scenes. All are important to the health and vitality of the local church.
The committed leaders following Jesus stops asking, “Who’s going to meet my needs?” and starts asking, “Whose need can I meet?”
The Bible teaches that a day is coming when we will all give an account: How much time and energy we spend on ourselves compared with what we invest in serving others? God is more interested in how you live not how long you live.
God uses imperfect people to fulfill His purposes on earth. Throughout history God has used imperfect people.
Abraham was old, Jacob was insecure, Leah was not attractive, Joseph was abused, Moses stuttered, Gideon was from a poor family, Sampson was codependent, David had all kinds of family problems, Elijah was deeply depressed, Jonah was reluctant, John the Baptist was eccentric, Martha was a perfectionist and worried a lot, Peter was impulsive and hot tempered. Paul was sickly, and Timothy was timid. Regardless of their imperfections God used each of them in His service. God can use you also.
Romans 12:1, (Message) “So here’s what I want you to do. God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life --- your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life---and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.”
The most important thing in finding a place of service is finding a ministry job that best fits you. There are many spiritual gift tests and inventories. I personally like the guidance that Pastor Rick Warren gives in the Purpose Driven Life. He uses the word SHAPE to guide you in finding your place to serve.
Spiritual gifts. The “S” stands for spiritual gifts. Eph. 4:7 (CEV) “Christ has generously divided out His gifts to us.” The Apostle Paul taught that a “spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church.” (I Cor. 12:7 NLT) Spiritual gifts are given so we can glorify the Lord and advance God’s kingdom.
The Apostle Paul lists seven gifts in Romans 12:6-8, “God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is s peaking through you. If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. If you gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have the gift of showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”
Every Christ follower has at least one of the 7 gifts the Apostle Paul lists in Romans 12:6-8.
Heart. The S stands for spiritual gifts. The H stands for “heart.” Heart describes what you love to do and what you care about most. Your heart reveals the real you – what you say, why you say the things you say, why you to the things you do, who you feel the way you do and why you act the way your act
.Another word for “heart” is “passion.” A clue to where you should get involved in ministry is what you care about and what concerns you. Don’t ignore your interests. Consider how your interests can be used for the glory of God.
If you come up to me and say, “Pastor, why are the sidewalks dirty?” You are given permission to clean the sidewalks. Or that room needs painting. “Do you have a brush? Do you know how to paint? You have permission to paint that room.”
The Bible challenges you to “serve the Lord with all your heart.” Romans 1:9 & Ephesians 6:6. When you have heart felt passion for what you are doing you serve the Lord with enthusiasm and not out of duty. When you serve the Lord with your heart and passion you do so with joy and good results. Don’t waste your time in doing something that doesn’t express your heart. There are some things we do just because it needs to be done. I don’t feel I have the gift of picking up trash, but as I walk around the church grounds I often pick up trash. I don’t say, “that’s not my gift.”
What God gives you a heart to do, then do it for his glory!
Abilities. A stands for abilities. Your abilities are the natural talents you were born with. Some of you have the natural talent of talking. You haven’t stopped talking since you were born. Others have the natural ability to fix things while others have an ear for music.
All your abilities come from God. Whatever your ability you can use it to glorify the Lord or chose to use your ability for evil and unrighteousness. The Apostle Paul encourages us in I Corinthians 10:31, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
You should seek opportunities to serve in areas that match your God given gifts, passion and abilities. If you are tone deaf, you won’t want to lead singing or sing solos. The gifts and abilities you do have should not be hoarded for yourself, but shared to bless others. I Peter 4:10 LB, “God has given each of you special abilities; be sure you use them to help each other, passing on to others God’s many kinds of blessings.”
Personality. The P stands for personality. God loves all personalities. God loves introverts and extroverts, thinkers and feelers, those who are risk adverse and risk takers, perfectionists and those who go with the flow. I Cor. 12:6 – “God works through different people in different ways, but it is the same God who achieves his purpose through them all.”
In scripture we see a variety of personalities: timid John, persuader and impulsive Peter, result oriented Joshua, inspirational Apollos, compassionate Barnabas, and creative Paul. There is no right or wrong personality for ministry. Wouldn’t life be boring if we all were plan vanilla? Fortunately we come in 31 flavors.
We are called to be ambassadors and witnesses to others of our faith in Jesus but our witness will be through our different personalities. You witness by being yourself and not trying to copy someone else. With your unique personality, abilities, passion and spiritual gifts you can witness to certain people better than anyone else.
Experience. E stands for experience. Your experiences in life have helped shape who you are. Family, education, work, spiritual experiences, positive and negative experiences can all be used by the Lord in serving Him.
The key to being a committed leader is to use what God has given you in serving others. You never know when acts of kindness and compassion will demonstrate God’s love to others.
#Compassion demonstrated by a physician in Denver, Colorado
One of the best ways to get involved in ministry is to be alert to people who have a legitimate need and do what you can to help meet their need.
God isn’t looking for people to serve him with great abilities; He’s looking for people who will make themselves available.
# During a country church service, a man leapt up and cried, “Lord use me!” The startled pastor tolerated the outburst and returned to his sermon.
The next Sunday during the service, the same man stood up and cried: “Lord, use me!” The pastor again ignored the interruption and resumed preaching. After church, the pastor handed the shouter a can of turpentine and a scraper, telling him to strip the paint from several rows of old pews.
The next Sunday, the same man rose in church. This time he cried, “Lord use me…but only in an advisory capacity!” The man didn’t understand that scraping pews or preaching are both high callings from God. Every work for Jesus will be blessed whether they are great or small. Galatians 6:4 CEV “Do your own work well, and then you will have something to be proud of. But don’t compare yourself with others.”
The best way to get involved in ministry is to jump in and try. The Navy knew how to train seaman to swim. They would take all the new recruits out in the ocean and toss them overboard. Those who could swim swam to shore and all the others were ready for instruction.
You can jump in and experiment with different areas of ministry and if it doesn’t work, don’t give up, try something else. Committing to get involved in a ministry isn’t a life sentence to do that ministry forever.
Greatness according to God’s view is determined by how many people you serve, not how many people serve you. Committed leaders think more about others than about themselves. Committed leaders think of ministry as an opportunity, not as an obligation. Committed leaders serve the Lord with gladness.
God has shaped you to serve
Spiritual gifts
Heart and Passion
Abilities
Personality
Experience
Take the ministry sign up sheet and prayerfully note the areas you are willing to try and see if you are “fit” for that area of ministry.
