God Wants All Whom He Has Saved To Serve Him In Whatever Situations He Puts Them.
Why is total member involvement so vital for the church and its members? I believe that every-member mobilization is crucial to the very life and witness of the local church. The growth of any movement, secular or spiritual, is based on its ability to mobilize its membership in effective, continuous, expansion-related activity. The church is no exception.
For this reason, the church must be intentional about
helping people find their places in ministry and become
members of the believer’s priesthood, thus providing the
discipleship necessary for service. We should understand
and begin to practice the basic habits
necessary for spiritual growth and ministry,
including intercessory prayer,
Bible study, worshipping, and sharing
one’s faith with others on a personal
level.
A good way to reach this goal is to
offer specialized training to members
for a specific ministry, such as usher,
greeter, small-group leader, Sabbath
School teacher, outreach coordinator,
and other areas of service.
Training helps believers
maximize their ministry gifts
and provides opportunities
for them to find a place of belonging, support, and relationship with others. They
develop a sense of community. Ellen G. White says, “Every
church should be a training school for Christian workers.
Its members should be taught how to give Bible readings,
how to conduct and teach Sabbath School classes,
how best to help the poor and to care for the sick, how
to work for the unconverted. There should be schools of
health, cooking schools, and classes in various lines of
Christian help work.”1
How important it is for church members to discover
the meaning and importance of having a ministry! It helps
them to understand and accept their identity in Christ.
Explaining the biblical teaching of the priesthood of all
believers and the biblical guidelines for using their Godgiven
gifts will help them understand the church’s mission.
So, teach members about the place of service in
their spiritual development. Discuss spiritual maturity and
why it is required for effective ministry.
Church leaders must help believers discover their
God-given gifts, calling, personality strengths and limitations,
interests, abilities, motivations, and skills. People
need to discover God’s unique design for their lives.
If we are followers of the One who came to seek and
save the lost (Luke 19:10), we must commit ourselves to
the same goal. Think about it!
1
Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, 148, 149.
