At Work in the Church
Working in your local place of worship is
supposed to be fulfilling and enjoyable. However, many find it difficult in
finding a niche in which to serve.
I’m convinced that many of those experiencing displeasure in the church where
they attend are unhappy simply because they either are not serving or have not
yet found their niche. It is somewhat
like asking a high school graduate what they want to do in life or which
college they will attend. Many simply don’t have a clue.
I personally
believe that working [perhaps the better term is serving] in the church ought
to be fun, exciting, and challenging—though often it is not. To the contrary
often one may find themselves bored, overworked, disgusted, and frustrated. To
be sure the task of serving may, at times, be daunting and laborious, if not
tedious.
When speaking
with young people about their choice of fields of occupation, I often tell them
to do both what they are good at and what they enjoy doing. Most often this is
the place they will be most fulfilled at and the most effective both in their
life’s career and in serving in their church.
I’ve met
frustrated school teachers who long to be professional golfers, or
veterinarians. Moreover, I tell them that no matter how many years they put into
college their education is never wasted, even if and when they switch
professions as their education and skills are transferable to other professions.
The same is true with serving in the church.
80/20 Rule
There is an unwritten rule in churches called the 80/20
Rule, which has a twofold meaning:
1. 80%
of the work is done by 20% of the people.
2. 80%
of the tithes and offerings are given by 20% of the people.
I have no idea
why this rule is true, but church statistics have proven it time and again,
that’s why so many burn out in such a short period of time. It also accounts
for churches pleading for money time after time. Both are necessary for a
church to operate and grow properly. The only exception to this rule, that I’ve
found, is found in Exodus 36:4-7 when Moses had to instruct the people not to
bring any more supplies for the building of the sanctuary of the Tabernacle for
they had brought too much, because of their generosity. Oh, that it would be
like that today!
Note: that their giving was the result of the
Lord God had stirred their heart to give and to work. (Ex. 36:2) Perhaps the
key lies within this lesson: the Lord has to stir up the hearts of the people
to work and to give.
Note also: their work was according to
their God given talents: goldsmiths, silversmiths, seamstresses etc.; everyone
operated within their God given talents and abilities. To attempt to operate
outside of one’s talents or skills would be to invite disaster. For example to
have a seamstress attempt the work of a gold or silversmith or vice versa would
certainly be the wrong move. Given, however, that there are so many tasks in
the local church it is not uncommon for one to have multiple skills. It is also
true that one might train for additional skills within the church.
It is also a
proven fact that churches depend heavily on volunteers as a fledging church has
too much to do for one pastor or a staff and must rely on its volunteers. Sadly,
this often means overworking the 20%.
Edification of the church:
Romans 12:4-8; 1Corinthians 12:1-31; 14:4 and
other passages let us know that whatever our talent or gift it is for the
edifying or building up of the church body and not for self-edification. Sad to
say many are serving for self gratification.
Unused talent:
Matthew 25:14-30
records the parable of the talents, whereby Jesus admonishes the use of
whatever talent given you, for the advancement of the kingdom, not regarding
the size in comparison to someone else’s. To do so is to invite rebuke and reproof
from the master. Here a talent is used as a representation of monetary value;
however it is often used as a metaphor of a physical talent, as recorded in
Rom.12:4-8 and elsewhere. It is also emphasized that every talent is important
and of great value in the kingdom, no matter how insignificant it may seem.
Better to use that which you have than to hide your talent and risk losing all
in the end.
Definition talent verses gift: for
simplicities sake, I define talent as those natural given virtues whereas a
gift is attained from the Holy Ghost, and are therefore termed spiritual gifts. Both are for use within
the church for its edification. The talents listed in Ex.36:4-7 speak primarily
of natural talents as opposed to spiritual, but were used to edify the church,
not any one individual.
Right priorities
The following is a list of priorities. If your life feels
like it’s running on one or more flat tires, or upside down, your priorities
may be out of synch. Many a relationship has been destroyed because of upside
down priorities.
1. Relationship
to God [most often confused with service to God]
2. Relation
to your spouse
3. Relationship
to children
4. Relationship
to extended family
5. Relationship
to employment
6. Service
to God [don’t substitute for your relationship with God] working in the church
is easy to get your priorities out of line.
Many a marriage
and family has been destroyed because one spouse or the other has their
priorities out of line. It may also happen outside the church when one or the
other pursues their career and jeopardizes their family in return.
The key is to
find your place or niche to work within the church, give it your best, and let
others take up the slack. For to be overly burdened with several tasks is to do
a disservice to all areas, as it is impossible to spread yourself so thin and
still do a satisfactory job in all areas. There are so many worthy ministries
within a church that cannot be fully satisfied by a few so new comers must be
recruited to fill such positions.
Faith
Building Practice and Review
1. Are
you part of the 80% or the 20%?
2. Make
a list of your talents.
3. Are
you putting them to use in the church?
4. Are
you involved in multiple ministries in the church?
5. How
do you feel about that—be honest?
6. Do
you often feel like giving up altogether? Do you feel burnt out?
7. Being
honest—are you in the correct ministry for your talent?
8. Do
you feel inadequate or like you’re not serving in the right place?
9. Are
you serving for the edification of the church?
10. Or
for self-edification?
11. In
order to be fulfilled make the appropriate changes.
12. Honestly
review the priorities and pray to get them in the proper sequence. It may take
major changes to get them straight.
