Sermon

The greatest need in  churches is the release of members for ministry. 

A Gallup survey discovered that only 10 percent of American church members are active in any kind of personal ministry and that 50 percent of all church members have no interest in serving in any ministry. Think about that! No matter how much a church promotes involvement in lay ministry, half of its members will remain spectators. 

These are the people who say, “I just don’t feel led to get involved.” 

The encouraging news that Gallup uncovered is this: 40 percent of all members have expressed an interest in having a ministry, but they have never been asked or they don’t know how. 

This group is an untapped gold mine! If we can mobilize this 40 percent and add them to the current 10 percent already serving, your church could have 50 percent of its members active in a ministry. Wouldn’t you be happy if half of our church were fully functioning lay ministers? 

Most pastors would think they had died and gone to heaven if that occurred.

 While large churches have many advantages over smaller churches, one thing I greatly dislike about them is that it is easy for talent to hide in the crowd. Unless they take the initiative to reveal their giftedness or expertise, talented members could be sitting in the crowd every week and you will have no idea what they are capable of doing.

 This worries and deeply disturbs me, because talent that sits on the shelf will rot from disuse. Like a muscle, if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.

So I want to share with some biblical truths about your service in the church.

Pillar # 1 : Every believer is a minister Every believer isn’t a pastor, but every believer is called into ministry. God calls all believers to minister to the world and the church. Service in the body isn’t optional for Christians. In God’s army, there are no volunteers—he’s drafted all of us into service.

To be a Christian is to be like Jesus. Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45, )

Service and giving are the defining characteristics of the Christlike lifestyle expected of every believer. 

I believe that every Christian is created for ministry (see Eph. 2:10), saved for ministry (see 2 Tim. 1:9), called into ministry (see 1 Peter 2:9–10), gifted for ministry (see 1 Peter 4:10), authorized for ministry (see Matt. 28:18–20), commanded to the minister (see Matt. 20:26–28), to be prepared for ministry (see Eph. 4:11–12), needed for ministry (see 1 Cor. 12:27), accountable for ministry, and will be rewarded according to his or her ministry (see Col. 3:23–24).

Pillar #2: Every ministry is important. There are no “little people” in the body of Christ, and there are no “insignificant” ministries. Every ministry is important. God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. . . . The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. 1 Corinthians 12:18–22 

Some ministries are visible and some are behind the scenes, but all are equally valuable. Small ministries often make the greatest difference.

The most important light in my home is the little nightlight that keeps me from stubbing my toe when I get up to use the bathroom at night. It’s small, but it’s  useful to me . (My wife says that my favorite light is the one that comes on when I open the refrigerator!)

Pillar #3: We are dependent on each other. Not only is every ministry important, every ministry is also intertwined with all the others. No ministry is independent of the others. Since no single ministry can accomplish all the church is called to do, we must depend on and cooperate with each other. Like a jigsaw puzzle, each piece is required to complete the picture. You always notice the missing piece first. When one part of your body malfunctions, the other parts don’t work as well. One of the missing components in the contemporary church is this understanding of interdependence. We must work together. Our culture’s preoccupation with individualism and independence must be replaced with the biblical concepts of interdependence and mutuality. 

Pillar #4: Ministry is the expression of my SHAPE. This is to explain the five elements (spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality, and experiences) that determine what a person’s ministry should be.

When God created animals, he gave each of them a specific area of expertise. Some animals run, some hop, some swim, some burrow, and some fly. Each animal has a particular role to play based on the way they were shaped by God.

The same is true with humans. Each of us was uniquely designed, or shaped, by God to do certain things. 

Wise stewardship of your life begins by understanding your shape. You are unique, wonderfully complex, a composite of many different factors. What God made you to be determines what he intends for you to do. Your ministry is determined by your makeup. If you don’t understand your shape, you end up doing things that God never intended or designed you to do. When your gifts don’t match the role you play in life, you feel like a square peg in a round hole. This is frustrating, both to you and to others.

Not only does it produce limited results, it is also an enormous waste of your talents, time, and energy. He would not give each of us inborn abilities, temperaments, talents, spiritual gifts, and life experiences and then not use them!

By identifying and understanding the five SHAPE factors, we can discover God’s purpose for our lives—the unique way he intends for each of us to serve him. 

When it comes to ministry, your function flows out of the way God formed you. God has been molding and shaping you for ministry since you were born. In fact, God began shaping you before you were born: You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit them together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it. You were there while I was being formed in utter seclusion! You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Psalm 139:13–16 LB 

The church’s best-kept secret is that people are dying to make a contribution with their lives. We are made for ministry! The church that understands this and makes it possible for every member to express his or her shape in ministry will experience amazing vitality, health, and growth. The sleeping giant will be awakened, and it will be unstoppable.