Thursday, May 19, 2011
Christ-Centered Mindset
“Any discussion about core values as they relate to church volunteers must begin with a distinction between a volunteer-management mindset and a Christ-centered ministry mindset.” This is a powerful statement. We have been told to deal with our own core values when we consider our leadership styles. I have been so concentrated on doing this that I didn’t think about looking at the core values of my church volunteers, as well, when figuring out how best to serve the church.
When we use a volunteer-management mindset we are consider the church’s needs and then find persons who are willing to volunteer to meet those needs. We do not always consider whether those volunteers have the talents, gifts, or passions for those positions. This way of leading can result in failures of the volunteers as well as failures of the programs that have been established.
If we use a Christ-centered ministry mindset, we pay attention to the talents, gifts, and passions of our people within the church. We pray to get God’s guidance to know who God is calling for particular positions. This way we can encourage these people to help in certain areas and can help build programs the way that God intends them to be built.
The author of this article points out that through leading a church through Christ-centered ministry we sometimes have to let some ministries die. This is because there are not people available within the church gifted in the ways needed to make it succeed. We have to let God lead!
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Ruthie makes some great observations about selecting the right person to lead various ministries. Leader's core values do seem to be an essential key to the health of the organization. If a person is Christ-like more people would be willing to submit and be willing to do what it takes to get the job done whether it is leading VBS or leading a choir.
ReplyDeleteJim Cymbala of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir chooses every single member of his choir based on their relationship with Jesus Christ and their ability to articulate their faith clearly. An interview process is in place to select members of the choir. The church has been extremely successful doing ministry with this philosophy and action. The Brooklyn Church also prioritizes prayer over all their ministries and programs.
Terry Tykel in the United Methodist faith also trains churches to pray for their church, their pastor(s), and programs to make God the center of everything that the church does. It takes a person with core values to keep their priorities straight in ministry. God can do so much more in a second than people can do in centuries. May the leaders of the church be more prayerful about selecting the right person for the job.