Nov
21
Written by:
host
11/21/2008 7:00 AM
I’m working on eliminating a word from my vocabulary, and it’s really hard. No, not a word of the 4-letter variety or a slang word that the youth remind me is years out of date. The word I’m trying not to use (at least in my "church life") is “volunteer.” It’s a word I’ve used a lot in the past, but I’ve decided it’s time to break the habit.
Churches generally love volunteers. There are always “slots to fill”, whether it’s for Sunday school teachers, ushers for the 8:30 a.m. service, or people to wash a few windows. So, they develop what seem like great methods to survey the congregation to discover where its members would like to get involved. These lists are helpful tools for those groups and committees that are looking for someone who loves to wash dishes, bake cookies, and stay up all night at youth lock-ins. (OK, I made that last one up—I have yet to meet anyone who loves doing that!) Sometimes, these methods really do help us link members to ministries they find meaningful.
But there are lots of problems with a method like this. Sometimes, people sign up but don’t ever get called to help. Sometimes, people sign up but didn’t really know just what they were signing up for. Sometimes…well, lots of times, actually…people just never bother to turn their sign-up sheets in.
Here’s the truth of the matter: Jesus didn’t use sign-up sheets in his ministry. He didn’t stand up at the temple or by the Sea of Galilee and ask for volunteers to go on a “fishers-of-people expedition.” Instead, Jesus called people to growth in discipleship, initiated through his personal invitation. He saw things in particular people that he thought would be right for his mission, and he asked them to join him. Jesus asked his closest friends to go out and make disciples—not volunteers—of all people.
(Side note: "Volunteer" only appears twice in the NRSV - both in Chronicles; one has to do with the building of the temple; the other with a volunteer army.)
When you or others in your church take recordings of the worship service to shut-ins, make changes to the church website, lead a Sunday school class, or even sweep the floor after a soup supper, you’re not volunteering, believe it or not. Instead, simply put, you’re practicing your discipleship. Volunteers are such because they do things without pay—and in that sense only it’s perhaps appropriate to think of yourself as a volunteer. Disciples are such because they have committed themselves to a particular way of life, one of servanthood, humility, action, and compassion. It’s not just a matter of semantics, but one of faith.
Tim Gossett