Have you ever heard this said in a church before?
“I do not know why they do it that way, I think they should…”
This is a description of how “church” works in a lot of places. The church staff is expected to do all the work of the ministry while the congregants all get to show up and act as critics. The problem with this model is that it is unbiblical (and little real work will ever get done). The Bible tells us
I Corinthians 12:27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular
And also in verse 18 of the same chapter, “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him”.
Considering that God has made us to be, and calls us to be, members of his body (local church), this allows us to have a right perspective of how the church should operate. Just like our physical bodies must have all its members (body parts) functioning as they are designed to function in order for the body to work right, the local church must have all its members functioning as they are gifted to function. Every believer is gifted to profit the rest of the body.
This means that you have been gifted by God (I Cor. 12:7) and placed in this local church (I Cor. 12:18) in order for you to serve God and be a part of furthering His kingdom through service to the church (I Cor. 12:7). We greatly encourage this at Living Faith. This principle is one way we help keep a biblical perspective on the way the local church should function. You will find great fulfillment in joining us by using the gifts God has given you. You are not only invited to jump in and get busy, but we say that you are Biblically instructed to do so. This will always be challenging for you, but it will always be good.
We function in teams, so after prayerfully considering how God has gifted you, seek out the team leader in that area to see how you can get started in the ministry of LFT. Be patient though. Although you are gifted, nobody gets to start out as a team leader. It may take some time for you to get used to the way the team works. At LFT, there is no “they” or “them”; only “us” and “we”. We are not a church that separates membership and “staff”. All of our leaders will encourage and train other members to do what they are doing.