Since we are launching a new location in Agawam this Fall, everyone is recruiting volunteers like crazy. You’re either recruiting volunteers for the new location or trying to backfill volunteer roles in Enfield for people who are leaving to go help Agawam get up and running.
That being the case, I think it’s really important that (if you haven’t already) you develop a proper theology of volunteerism, because if you don’t your recruiting approach/tone will be all wrong.
It’s so important to understand that having people serve in the church is God’s idea, not yours. In the church there are elders (the pastors) and deacons (the servants who help run the various ministries of the church).
And God’s desire is for the elders (the staff) to raise up deacons (the volunteers) for the work of the ministry. As the apostle Paul put it, our job as staff is “…to equip the saints for the work of ministry…” (Ephesians 4:12, ESV) Likewise, the apostle Peter instructs elders “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers…” (1 Peter 5:2, ESV). Peter says overseers, not overdoers. In other words, we’re not to do it all ourselves. We’re to raise up others and lead them in doing the work of the ministry.
We see a beautiful example of this in Acts 6. When the Grecian widows were being overlooked in the church’s food bank ministry, the people came to the pastors, expecting them to solve the problem. But the pastors turned right around and said in essence: That’s your job! Our job is to give ourselves to the ministry of the word of God and prayer and your job is to staff the ministries of the church.
We see from 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12 and 1 Peter 4 that God has gifted each believer with something that will benefit the church (helping it grow and fulfill its purpose). And it’s our job as the pastoral staff to invite people to use their gift(s) for the Lord, and to equip them to do it.
Now if you have this biblical mindset when recruiting volunteers, here’s what your meeting with someone you’re trying to recruit might sound….
Tim, thanks so much for meeting with me. I wanted to chat with you about getting involved here at our church. God’s desire is that we would work together to reach the lost, and He has gifted each of us in ways that will help us fulfill our disciple-making mission. I’ve seen how friendly you are and believe that God wants to use that friendliness to help our church be the most warm and welcoming church in all of New England. Yes, ultimately we want people to accept Christ but will people really stick around long enough to hear the gospel if they don’t feel our church is a warm and friendly place? No way! So I would love for you to help us lead people to Jesus by serving on our Host Team. So let me share real quick what’s involved so that you can go home and pray about if this is something you could do – and I’ll follow back up with you in a week. How does that sound?
In this scenario you believe in your heart that 1) this is God’s plan for Tim and 2) you’re doing something good for Tim by inviting him to serve so you boldly invite him to start serving (which is exactly what we want). But listen how different this meeting would sound if you don’t have a biblical theology of volunteerism…
Hey Tim, thanks for meeting. I’m really sorry to have asked you to meet today but we’re just short on Host Team right now and I was wondering if you might be willing to step in to fill one of the roles? I know how busy you are and I’m really sorry to be asking you to add one more thing to your already full plate, but it would really mean a lot to me if you could help. What do you think?
In this scenario you’re apologetic (feeling guilty even), as if you’re doing something to be ashamed of. In this scenario you don’t believe you’re giving Tim the chance to do something that will help him be a better disciple of Jesus and add great value to his life, rather in this scenario you believe that you’re inconveniencing him. So you give an uninspiring, apologetic invite that will rarely get the kind of results you’re looking for. And when in rare instances it does succeed, the person is now serving for all the wrong reasons.
So do you see? Having the right mindset – having a solid biblical theology of volunteerism is essential to effectively recruiting people into ministry and for having them serve for the right reasons (for God, not for you). So stop acting like you have something to apologize for. Stop acting as if what you’re asking them to do is going to be a burden to them. When you invite people to serve you’re inviting them into God’s plan for their life and giving them the opportunity to do what God created them to do. This is certainly nothing to feel bad about so before you have your next meeting, get in the right frame of mind before you extend the invite. It truly will make all the difference!
DISCUSSION QUESTION: Do you struggle with feeling guilty for inviting people to serve? Why or why not?
BONUS CONTENT AFTER DISCUSSION
In our discussion we uncovered three wrong mindsets to have when approaching a volunteer to serve.
- I don’t have the right to ask them to serve because I don’t pay them. FALSE! That’s a corporate mindset, not a biblical mindset.
- I don’t want to ask too much of them. WRONG! Jesus has no problem asking a lot of people (Matthew 16:24, Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”)
- I would hate this job so everyone else will too. NOPE! Your nightmare is someone else’s dream. Just because you’re not gifted for something or passionate about something doesn’t mean no one is.