This blog entry is by guest blogger Steve Ogne, church planter coach and consultant with CRM. Steve and I worked together for a decade and collaborated on several projects together, including The Church Planter’s Toolkit. Steve’s most recent publication is TransforMissional Coaching: Empowering Leaders in a Changing Ministry World.
Many of us have been caught up with the noble vision of getting everyone to serve according to their gifts or passion. In the process of asking everyone to serve, we have forgotten to ask anyone to lead.
What’s the difference? Those who are called to serve are faithful, while those who are called to lead have adults following them. Those who serve well demonstrate gifts such as helps, mercy, and hospitality. Leaders are meant to lead and will demonstrate gifts such as leadership, teaching, and evangelism.
To let the leaders lead and the servers serve, you have to know the difference.
If we do not challenge leaders to lead, but rather allow them to serve at simple tasks, we will lose those leaders as they choose to use their leadership gift elsewhere. Not allowing leaders to lead also places extra demands on pastors and staff to do all of the leading, which leads to burn out.
To think this issue through within your own context, create a two-column chart. On the left, list all the ministry tasks in your church that require faithful servers. On the right, list all the positions that require true leadership. What observations can you make?
| Servers | Leaders |
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