Sometimes the “Laity” in the church relies on paid church staffers to do the work of the church. The problem is, we are all the church. Here are four questions every pastor should ask the people of the church, and four questions every pastor should ask him or herself:
- Called in a visitation request to the church in order to get a “pastor” to visit a person in need?
- Let the church know of someone in the hospital who needs a “pastor” to come pray over them?
- Sent people to a church food bank before opening up your own cupboards or sharing a meal first?
- Given all of your tithes and offerings to one church or charity so you don’t have any personal responsibility to hear from God about how to spend those resources?
For those of us with professional titles and positions–have you ever:
- Opened up the pulpit for the rest of the congregation to share what God has spoken to them?
- Limited ministry opportunities to only those who serve you and your church’s specific vision?
- Created systems of hierarchy which isolate you from the rest of the church body?
- Found yourself burdened that you don’t have enough staff to do all the work?
Are we comfortable with our current ministry models just because they are what we are used to? Are we willing to ask hard questions of ourselves and our organizational paradigms?
