Avoiding an Asterisk in Your Church
I saw one again today. It was on a website I enjoy reading from time-to-time. I went there to read a really good article on marriage and was encouraged. As happens on many sites (including ours), when I got near the end of the article, a small ad popped up at the bottom of the screen asking me if I wanted to subscribe to the site through email.
The ad said I would get every post through email, however, the ad also said something along these lines: “Always Free*.”
Wait…what was that? Why is there an asterisk after the word “free?” Either it’s free or it isn’t.
We live in a world of asterisks. We promise, but have to give a whole pile of disclaimers as to why that promise is only partially true. Part of growing up in this society is learning to read the fine print.
But I wonder if we are not guilty in our congregations of having an unspoken asterisk.
What is it? It is being able to participate* once a person is a member.
We teach, and try to help people see that they need Christ. We tell them that our congregation needs them. And we tell them that, once they are a member, they can get involved in the work and we have all sorts of programs and ministries that need a helping hand.
Then, that person becomes a member and…………….
They wait……..
and they wait……..
and they wait.
What we didn’t tell them is that we need them to help once we feel like they’ve been a member long enough. When they are part of “the group.” In other words, there is an unspoken asterisk that they are members, but not able to participate in those ministries we said needed help until we decide they’ve put in their time.
There is some unwritten rule in too many congregations that one has to be a member for “this long” in order to really serve.
To take a passage totally out of context, “These things ought not to be so!”
When a person becomes a member, that person needs to be helping the church grow. They may not assume as much responsibility as long-time members, but they still can be a vital part of the work. After all, they are probably amazingly excited, and who wouldn’t want to harness that excitement and use it to help the church grow?
When a person is baptized, or when a Christian places membership with your congregation, immediately let them see the program of work and help them plug in to an area where they can use their talents and where there is a need. Don’t make them wait for years to be part of the work. Don’t make it seem as if you have to join some exclusive club in order to teach class or be part of some ministry.
Let them co-teach with an experienced teacher. Or let them join a program of work, but just go to meetings for the first month or so to find out the way things operate. Let them host a youth devotional, but with the youth minister’s help, so they find out exactly how things are done.
But whatever you do, don’t promise they can take part as soon as they become members, then with your actions say, “Well, what we meant was…. you can….sometime.”
Remove the asterisk, and put everyone to work.
“When each part is working properly, [it] makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:16).
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AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
Photo background credit: Erich Ferdinand on Creative Commons
