Between school plays, little league teams and numerous other ways, we have all been given roles that we thought were below us.
We wanted the leading role, but got curtain duty.
We wanted to pitch, but got stuck in right field.
What was that role for you? (Or maybe I’m just speaking for myself.)
Like a director of a play, pastors view all the parts of our church in terms of how they contribute to the whole. Pastors determine what is primary, what is secondary and what is tertiary. You have to do this if you want to be a good leader.
The problem is when pastors do this to their church members and attenders, too.
We have a tendency to cast them for roles based on our concept of our church’s narrative, rather than on the basis of God’s grand unfolding narrative for his kingdom.
Three ways NOT to cast your church members and attenders:
1. Extras.
Extras don’t affect the storyline at all. They add motion to the scenery. They are props.
Is that how you view visitors?
Is that how you view people who don’t serve or lead?
In the drama that God has written for human history, there are no extras. Everyone is wrapped in a narrative of their own. The fact that God wrote their story gives it dignity and purpose.
Your job as a pastor is to learn whether and how Jesus has become the main character of everyone in your church.
If your church is too big for that, then you need to facilitate it through your elders, small groups, an assimilation process, etc. You are, after all, responsible for the care of their souls (Heb. 13:17).
