Category Archives: Staffing – Recruitment

For our churches to get to the point where everybody does their parts will take a culture shift — an ongoing change in the way we think and feel about serving along with actions toward it. Part of the shift involves understanding why it is so important.

Important Because Serving One Another is Based on God

• based on God’s knowledge of how we can best function as a church, to be healthy and to grow (Eph. 4:11-16; 1 Cor. 12; Rom. 12)
• based on God’s heart for us to demonstrate love for Him and others through serving them (Matt. 22:37-40; Gal. 5:13)
• based on God’s will for us to administer His love and grace to one another (1 Pet. 4:8-11)

Culture Shift Based on God’s Commands About Serving

According to God, doing our part isn’t optional. Here are just a couple commands God gives in His Word about serving:

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. (Gal. 5:13)

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. (1 Pet. 4:10)

We must take people beyond a request from ministry leaders to do their part. While the vision for this culture shift from church leaders may initially seem to get people moving, it’s insufficient to keep them going. They need to realize that this expectation comes from a higher authority to whom we’re all accountable — the Lord of lords and King of kings, the Almighty Sovereign God.

Perhaps the starting point may be to help people gain a better grasp of who God is so they understand not only His sovereignty to command us to function a certain way but also His grace and love upon which He exercises His rights. Because God knows best and has our good in His heart, it only makes sense that we follow His commands.

God’s blueprint design for church health and growth is that everybody does their part.

From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Eph. 4:16)

Yet, many churches fall short of this reality. We struggle with recruiting people to do the work of God in the church. Some may even question if it’s a valid goal. God would answer “yes” or He wouldn’t have commanded it.

What’s it going to take to line up with His design? — a culture shift. When something becomes part of our culture, it becomes engrained in the way we operate. People recognize it as an expectation when joining with us and anticipate such engagement as the norm.

We must realize, however, that something doesn’t become part of our church’s culture just because we will it to be so. It takes a shift in our attitudes and the way we think as well as our actions. Affecting the culture takes time and patience. The steps to begin may seem simple but they must be consistently applied.

Steps Toward a Culture Shift in Functioning According to God’s Design for Everybody to Do Their Part

The following steps could apply to any situation in which the church needs a culture shift. Click on the links to look at each of the steps in light of the need for everybody to do their part.

1) Understand God’s commands.

2) Accept the challenge.

3) Develop a course of action.

Seek God’s Help Each Step of the Way in Promoting a Culture Shift in Your Church

Of utmost importance is that we recognize that God must enable us as we do each step.

1) God, through His Spirit, is the One who makes it possible for us to understand His Word.

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. (1 Cor. 2:14)

2) God is the One who prepares our hearts to accept the challenge.

for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (Phil. 2:13)

3) God is the One who will get us on the right course.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Prov. 3:5-6)

God exhorts us to “consider how we may SPUR ONE ANOTHER ON toward love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24). So, how do we help busy, stressed out, disillusioned, or spiritually immature people to engage in true fellowship, attend training opportunities, get involved in ministry, etc.? How can we help unmotivated people get motivated?

Hebrews 10:24 suggests it may take some time and effort to carefully think through how we may spur others on. If motivating unmotivated people was an easy process, we wouldn’t find a command to fix our minds on how to do it.

Start by Being an Example If You Want to Spur People On

In considering how to spur others on, think of Jesus’ example. He lived out what it meant to be in a relationship with God. “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray …'” (Lk. 11:1). This undoubtedly wasn’t the first time they saw Him praying. His example motivated them to want to pray.

If we model not only the proper actions but also the right attitudes to go along with what we do, we just might find unmotivated people become motivated. Zeal tends to be caught more than taught. So, let’s ask what our lives teach. Are we able to say “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1)?

Other Means of Helping Unmotivated People Become Motivated

In addition to being an example, the following will help to motivate people. Click on the links to read more:

• Body Life Results in Motivation in Church due to Love & Grace
• Use Your Spiritual Gifts to Spur Others on to Serve
• Value Motivates to Serve
• Motivate People by Meeting Them Where They Are

Most importantly, let’s remember that it’s the Spirit’s job to convict and convince people. We’re simply conduits He may use in the process. As we “consider how we may spur one another one”, let’s embed all we do in prayer and “keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25).