MOTIVATING THE CHURCH

Motivation. The bane of any professional minister. The bane of churches and of denominations. Why is it, in our day and age, that generally only 10% of people participate and do all the work while the others just sit back and do nothing? Is it an artifact of our religiousity, of the way we "do" church? Or is it a failing on the part of church and denominational leaders?

This is a universal problem. It is not just isolated to one church or one denomination or even one continent. When I googled the term "Motivating Churches," I came up with 1,200,000 websites dedicated to solving this problem. I get advertisements in the mail on an almost daily basis, "How to grow your church," "How to motivate your members to excel," "How to emphasize outreach in the 21st century." Why are we struggling with trying to get our members to participate in church, to participate in the life of our communities of faith? Why are our churches so ineffective in ministering the gospel of Christ and motivating our members to get out and make a difference in the life of another?

The writer of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 10:24-25, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing but let us encourage one another -- and all the more as you see the Day approaching." What can we do, as professional ministers and church leaders, to motivate the church to do more, to be more, to live more?

While I certainly don't claim to have all the answers, I do have some ideas of how we might encourage and motivate our members to move forward into the life-transforming business of a life of faith.

1. Capture the Calling. When I look at the members of most churches today, I sense a lack of purpose, a drifting on the sea of religiousity. Many members just simply don't know why they are at church, other than it's Sunday and they're supposed to be there. I think that's one reason why Rick Warren's book, "The Purpose-Driven Life," was such a success. People are looking for a purpose, they are looking for a reason, they are searching for meaning in their lives. The problem is they are not finding it at church. As church leaders, we need to help people recapture their calling in Christ, to identify their spiritual gifts, and to encourage them to actively live out their gifts outside the walls of the church and in the communities where faith is put to the test. We need to turn the focus off of the church and onto the community. Jesus spent most of His time ministering in the streets and in byways of Israel. He came for the sick, not for those who didn't need a doctor, and so He went to where they were. He knew His purpose. He knew His calling. And we need to help our churches know what Christ is calling us to, the mission He has given us, individually and corporately. The Bible says, without a vision, the people perish. We can just as easily say, "without a vision, without a purpose, the people become apathetic."

2. Determined Discipleship. One of my concerns with the church in America is that we are not building up the body of Christ as we should. We have programs and services to bring in the unchurched, to get them to the altar, to get them saved, and then we shake their hand, add them to the church roll, and go on to the next prospect. We leave them lost at the cross without any direction or focus in their life. And, statistics show that they stay for a while, and then they wander off in search of something else. Several years ago, Ted Haggard wrote a book where he addressed this issue in his own church in Denver. Their evangelism rates were out the ceiling. People were coming to Christ in large numbers. But, just as quick as they were coming in the front door, they were leaving out the back. There was no staying power, and I attribute this to a lack of intentional and determined discipleship. Jesus demonstrated for us the practice of discipleship. He took a handful of men and spent time with them, teaching them with His words, showing them the in's and out's of service and ministry with His life, and building into this new community of faith. And, when they were ready, He sent them out in pairs to find others to disciple. As a general rule, we have lost this in our churches. Rarely is there intentional and determined one-on-one discipleship. At best, we have small groups that meet for fellowship, but how much intentional discipleship is going on? If we want to encourage our members to grow, if we want to motivate them to minister to others and to experience the life-changing transformation of Christ working through them, then we are going to have to build them up and instill in them a mature faith.

3. Challenge the Called. Our modern age of entertainment has been detrimental to the church. Instead of viewing church as a training ground for ministry, many now view it as a source of entertainment, something that they come to view, not to live or to experience. I have found that most people in our churches are interested in doing something, but first they have to get out of this "entertainment" mode and into "action" mode. They need to be challenged. They need to be encouraged. They need someone to come to them, individually, and say, "You are gifted in this area. You are the person Christ has called to do this. Now, come on, let's get it done." It doesn't matter if it's serving the elderly, preaching in the streets, knocking on doors, or feeding the homeless, the people in our churches are more than ready to do so, IF, and this is a big "IF," we confirm their calling, we disciple and train them so they get past their fears of doing ministry, and we challenge them to step up and do what Christ is calling them to do.

It all comes down to making people care. Like the quote in the picture above from the movie, "Office Space," it's not that most people in the pews are lazy, it's just that they don't care. They've been taught to not care by churches that turn worship services into productions and who focus solely on numbers and not discipleship. It's time we change the way we do church and start motivating our members to be all they can be, to trust in the Spirit to work in them and through them as they minister to others.

What do you think? Let's start a discussion on this. How can we motivate? How can we encourage? How can we stop the revolving door in our churches? How can we truly be effective in ministry to those around us? How can we turn our members from being consumers to being producers for the kingdom?