All church leaders should regularly ask themselves: how do we encourage serving while regarding people first and foremost as disciples and not volunteers? There is no black or white answer, but all leaders need to wrestle with this question since God’s church is a precious and treasured people. Certain strategies can help, such as writing clear job descriptions, explicitly anchoring the purpose of all ministry tasks in Christ’s mission, and providing support through training and mentoring. Whatever we do, we need to consider something fundamental: the hearts of those who are giving their time to serving the church.
The Heart Matters More than the Task
Good leaders don’t merely care about the bottom line—numbers, bums on seats, percentages of people volunteering, and the like. Good Christian leadership is motivated by love, and every individual’s maturity matters—from the mature believer serving in three or four areas to the newcomer who knows very little about Jesus. The good Christian leader doesn’t care only that someone is serving in church, they want to know about the heart of the person serving. The same outcome on the surface can have radically different motivations fuelling it.
Are some people serving out of a desire to please the ministry leader? Is someone serving out of guilt? Does this person think his serving might tip the balance of God’s favour towards him? Is someone else lonely and wanting to feel needed? Is still another trying to distract herself with frenetic activity, including in church? Yes, a mix of motives is inevitable, but a gospel-driven ministry cares that the core motivation of God’s people be to serve the him in response to his loving kindness to us. The heart matters more than the task.
The Example of the Apostle Paul
The apostle Paul was an ambitious ministry leader wanting to present “everyone fully mature in Christ” (Col 1:28). “To this end,” he writes, “I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.” (v. 29). A larger vision will be hard to find. What’s more, he desired commitment from those who served with him. It seems that Paul didn’t find John Mark resilient enough to join him on mission, while Barnabas disagreed (Acts 15:36–41). Yet Paul often showed his abiding concern for the internal life of members of the church. He does so most regularly through his prayers (for e.g. Col 1:3–14).
An in-depth example of Paul’s concern for motivation is found in his interaction with Philemon, the wealthy slave owner.[1] The subject of Paul’s letter to Philemon is Philemon’s escaped slave Onesimus. After escaping, Onesimus had become a Christian, and part of Paul’s team. Paul writes to Philemon to request that he forgive and receive Onesimus back. Paul speaks of his God-given authority as an apostle (Philem 8), but instead of commanding Philemon he makes an “appeal” (v. 9).
Paul details his deepest desire in the situation—to keep Onesimus with him (v. 13). “But,” he says, “I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favour you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary” (v. 14). He also praises Philemon’s character and anticipates his response exceeding his expectations (v. 21). The apostle Paul had the authority to serve Philemon a cease and desist letter regarding his ownership of Onesimus. Perhaps he could have celebrated his newfound assistant and kept it to himself saying: “It’s none of Philemon’s business since this man has a new life in Christ.” Instead, Paul says, “I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love” (v. 9).
Church leaders, are you like Paul? Are you concerned for the motives of God’s servants? It would be a tragedy to put on wonderful events and ministry programs, but for them to be run by saints serving unhappily or for the wrong reasons. I’d rather have people joyfully serving Jesus. It is a beautiful thing when people use their gifts to grow the body of Christ with their hearts captured by Jesus.
[1] My purpose is not to have a conversation here about the ethics of first century Roman slave ownership. That topic has been covered extensively in many good Bible commentaries, such as the Bible Speaks Today series.
