Last week in the first part of this series, I shared the first two of the eight biblical principles to help you think critically about how and why people serve in your church. As you work through each one, let it spur you toward clarifying your own theology of ministry, so you can move forward with building your ministry system on a proper foundation.

Principle #3: The goal of the ministry system is to help people become like Jesus.
As church leaders, you and I are responsible for helping our people become more and more like Jesus. That’s God’s goal for every individual He has placed under your care. So, as you begin to think about developing an effective ministry system and doubling your volunteer base, the real question isn’t “How many more volunteers can I have?” but rather “How many of my people are more like Jesus because they are connected in serving?”

Principle #4: You cannot become like Jesus Christ unless you learn to be a servant.
Helping people learn to be servants, then, is an essential part of discipleship. In order to strip away selfishness and move people toward being servants, we need to model servanthood, teach on servanthood, and challenge volunteers onward as we celebrate and reproduce the Jesus-like characteristics in their lives. Just remember: Serving is essential to becoming like Jesus.

Join me next week for the next two principles.

Click here for Part 1 of this series.

Your partner in ministry,

Nelson

© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.

About Nelson Searcy

Nelson Searcy is an experienced church growth strategist, pastor, church planter and coach, consulting with churches around the world. As founder of Church Leader Insights and the Renegade Pastors Network, he has personally trained more than 3,500 church leaders in over 45 denominations through live events, seminars and monthly coaching. Nelson is also the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.” He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 18+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life, Ministry and The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and At the Cross with the People Who Were There. He and his wife, Kelley, have one son, Alexander.