One Simple Rule for Getting Church Members Active

“I know exactly what I am expected to do and exactly how to do it.” If church members cannot state that about themselves, how do we expect the church to grow?

One of the tasks of leadership is division of labor. Sometimes leaders get discouraged and think that no one is interested in doing work, but that is not true. Everyone knows that some people refuse to work, and many leaders resign to this as fate. They assume the people are carnal, worldly, and simply uninterested in spiritual matters. Undoubtedly that may be true for some people, but (for the most part) if a person attends a worship service they are interested in spiritual things. So why is it so difficult to get people involved?

Many factors may be involved in this. You may not be able to overcome many factors, but you can overcome some of them. When you do, you will generate ambitious workers. They may surprise you! The sad thing is, most of the resources for doing the work of the Lord are squandered, lying lifeless in the pews. This is not because of the laziness of the workers but because of the failings of the leaders. Leaders lead. They find ways to get people working and growing. They find the obstacles that are in the way of the followers and they remove those obstacles! Over time we will cover many obstacles. For today, consider the importance of communicating expectations.

One tremendous obstacle to helping people get to work is a lack of communication. If someone is assigned a task, he must know what the task involves. If he is not sure what is expected, he is less likely to do it. We cannot always leave it to the worker to discover his mission in the task, even if it seems obvious to us. They may have completely different ideas about how to do it and why. No one wants to hurt the work of others by failing to accomplish what is needed. So communicate the goals and activities they need to perform so they can succeed.

A lack of communication results in confusion. Some leaders mistake this confusion for apathy. This may come as a surprise, but many people are afraid to look stupid. If you come to me and say, "I need you to work the sound booth for our worship services" and I have no idea how to do it or what is required, I am more likely to say that I can't do it. I may not tell you that I have no clue how to turn the thing on, much less be responsible for recording the services. I can run the risk of looking stupid by saying I don't know how to perform a simple task, or I can just say "No" and avoid the risk. Which do you suppose I will choose? What some consider apathy may actually be confusion about how to complete the task--and perhaps a lack of confidence in their ability.

One major key to getting people to work in the church is for leaders to assign tasks and explain in detail exactly what will be required. A good way to approach the illustration above would be to invite me into the sound room, show me how everything works and how easy it is to record the worship service. After showing me, you should then ask if I would be willing to do exactly those same things next week with the promise that you will write down instructions in case I forget what I learned. Once I see that is it easy and that I can do it, I will be much more willing to help! People love to help others when they know exactly how to help them.

Another important part of that is the timeframe. We need to communicate how long the task will take and how often we will be expected to perform it. We all fear being asked to do something that we can never escape. If a person is needed for a period of time, tell him that in advance. State exactly how long the task will be required. And offer a way out if it gets too difficult. They may never take the "way out" but it is nice to know it is there.

If you ask people to write something. Tell them how long it should be. If you ask them to preach or teach, make sure they are clear about what they will teach and who the audience will be, and what the goal is. The bigger the task, the more information is required--especially for someone who has never done it.

The job of any leader is to make sure everyone has something to do. If we want a congregation to grow the way the Lord desires, that is only possible when all the members become active. Ephesians 4:16 says that in the body of Christ, “every part does its share” and this brings growth. This requires planning, foresight, and wisdom. When we have a plan we must include others in it and be specific about what they need to do to achieve success.

Next time we will look at the role of "purpose" in leading others to action.