Most of us in ministry are familiar with the idea of equipping the saints to do the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:11-12). However, when it comes to them doing the ministry, it seems like we want them to follow our instructions and not lead the way. So here is a radical idea.
Listen to their hearts.
After all, the church is theirs, too. Ministry needs to be about “we,” not “I.” I do not have Elders. We do. I do not have a budget. We do. I do not hold Sunday services. We do.
The church is a collaboration of giftedness and passion for advancing the Gospel and amplification of God’s great name.
So, as Pastors, we must empower the saints. We must supply them with everything they need to pursue their hearts for God. Part of that empowerment is giving counsel and direction so they do not run over their church family. Passionate people can get a bit myopic. They also can accomplish incredible things for God. I think the reward outweighs the risk.
Much of what has happened at our church in the past 35 years has originated with the laity.
For example, in 2018, our church decided to relocate. That is not unheard of, but the direction of the relocation has caught people’s attention in general. Our church decided to move from suburbia to an urban location. This is not a church plant; mind you, we brought our entire ministry. It was the hearts of our church family on display for the previous decade that caused our Elders to consider such a radical idea.
We left a fully paid-off campus in an upper-middle-class neighborhood to buy a 90-year-old orphanage in the heart of our city with all the struggles the cities of America experience.
Why do it? Because we listened to the heartbeat of our people.
Our city is a designated refugee location for people from Myanmar. A couple in our church suggested we start ministering to the refugees’ needs. So, we did. We hired a Burmese Pastor on our staff and got busy. That took us into our city.
Two couples came to my office and suggested we begin an orphan ministry (James 1:27). They had two ideas. We began to love our neighbors who were hurting by offering free privatized foster care for at-risk kids.
Ten years later, with over 1,000 placements, we have an independent ministry with over thirty churches helping these at-risk families.
Guess where most of that human suffering is….in the city.
One Sunday, an African American family walked into our very white majority congregation. A friendship formed, and some very plain-speaking conversations about race occurred. Listening to this family challenged our understanding of race in general, especially for people of color.
We began a weekly dialogue open to the public on race. That dialogue was before George Floyd or BLM and lasted for 1 ½ years. Cross-cultural ministry was only a handful of miles away. We leaned into our neighbor’s pain…in the city.
The point of these examples is that listening to the saints and hearing what God was doing in their lives shaped our decision-making as church leaders. Those decisions have transformed our church. Our focus is more purposefully on those outside our church and becoming a more welcoming group of people. None of it would have happened if we had not listened, trusted, and acted.
The body working together is amplifying the name of our great God!
