You’ve heard the complaints about consumer congregations. The statistic has almost become cliche—20% doing 80% of the work. But there is another form of consumerism in the church that may even be worsening the problem, possibly even a root of it. Consumer pastoring.
What is consumer pastoring?
Most leaders would say they’ve been called to their roles, that God gave them this vision. But it’s a quick step from there to asking, “How can I use the people here to make my vision come true?” Because if God gave you the vision, it’s easy to feel that almost any means are justified. You can then use people to fill slots, get your agenda done, and take care of necessary tasks. It’s particularly easy to forget that maybe God didn’t give everyone else the same vision he gave you. Once you do that, you’re a consumer pastor.
There is a significant difference between casting vision—to create shared ownership and a shared picture of a desired future—and using people to accomplish your own goals.
A bigger vision
Sometimes the distinction is that of getting true buy-in and ownership from the people. But other times, it’s you who needs a bigger vision.
As a ministry leader, God has called you shepherd those in your care. God has placed each person in your congregation under your care for a purpose. You may be raising them up to help move your vision forward, or raising them up for God to use in a different way. If your vision doesn’t have room to discover the unique calling God has placed on every one of your congregants and help them live into it, it’s time for a bigger vision.
Work against consumerism in your church
Sometimes when we as leaders step back and get a bigger vision for the whole Kingdom of God, we recognize that our own individual role is smaller and less central than we had thought. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Here are some questions to help you expand your vision to include the vision of others and increase the participation in the mission.
- What needs to change so your vision to be informed and expanded by other people in the Body of Christ?
- In what ways can you better encourage your congregants to identify and live into their own gifting and calling?
- What tweaks need to be made to your systems to demonstrate value in a diversity of giftings?
- Where do you see boundaries in your own vision? How can you extend them?
Resources
You are likely thinking that the job of identifying and empowering every person in your congregation is too big. You are right. Here are a couple of powerful resources to help you develop the people you need to get the job done:
Barnabas Ministry Training- Coaching is a powerful way to come alongside people and help them become all God made them to be. This turnkey kit is a simple and reproducible system. It contains everything you need to provide basic coach training for their staff and lay leaders.
The Leadership Multiplication Pathway– This pathway lays out clear steps to multiplying disciples and leaders. It covers basic discipleship, defining calling, building leadership skills, and raising more disciples and leaders.