When I was a nonprofit manager our executive director wold always ask what would happen if we got hit by a Mack truck. He wanted to make sure that each of our departments weren’t becoming silos of singular responsibility. If the critical services we provided rested on just one person and that was not healthy for us, the organization, or our clients, Mack truck or no Mack truck. The work we did needed us, but was not ultimately about us.
I’ve carried this lesson with me into the church, sometimes more successfully than others. It can be tempting as the only paid staff in a church to do everything. Yet I realize that this is not what the kingdom of God looks like. We all have calls and gifts for ministry. I’ve found the most amazing richness in those times when I got to serve as a part of a team, and especially when that team could keep on leading after my ministry with the organization had come to an end.
This week our family missed both the Thursday & Sunday night SFC dinners. Luckily within the 17 people a week that we average at our gatherings, there are lots of people who can take on the dinners. Chris, Kat, & Michael hosted Thursday night at our house. Sarah, Josh, & Aaron hosted Sunday night at their house. I had no worries about the welcome that would be created or the conversation that would happen at dinner. Each of us has special gifts and a wonderful call to lead and minister. My role at SFC may be unique, but it doesn’t make me irreplaceable or the cornerstone of the ministry. God’s got that cornerstone business covered anyhow. It truly is a thing of holy beauty to be part of a ministry team and to remember my role as one piece of the many who make up this particular reflection of the Kingdom of God. I know that if something were to happen that this ministry could continue with these leaders, but I’m still going to look both ways before I cross the street.
-E
 |
| By Clyde Robinson (Flickr: Cement Mixer) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
Recent Comments