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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for December 21, 2009
“How to Get More People Working at Church”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
As a media guy, I’ve met a lot of technical people over the years, and it’s always interesting to hear about their jobs.
For example, one guy sets up those cameras that dangle over the field at football games. Did you know that they hang from super long cables that string all the way up to the four corners of the stadium? And they have to put them up and take them down for each game.
Another guy told me about his job, which was simply to keep track of the cable for a TV cameraman who roamed the sideline. When you see sideline shots, you probably don’t even think about the cameraman, let alone his cable guy. And yet that’s his one job. Get out there and keep that cable straight.
But somebody has to do it. I’ve been a roving cameraman, and if you have to keep your own cable straight you won’t be nearly as affective. You get fewer shots because you have to spend part of your time messing with the cable.
Getting a football game on TV is a massive undertaking. It’s a wonder it happens at all, but here’s the key – each task must be assigned to someone.
And that means someone has to do the assigning. Someone has to know all the jobs that need to be done, and then assign them to someone.
So in your church, who is this person?
This is a hugely important question, and here’s why. I think that most churches are full of two things: people with untapped abilities, and jobs that aren’t being done.
When I think about the pews that we fill up across America, I think of millions of people loaded with skill and ability. Meanwhile, the church is not nearly as effective as it could be because we aren’t putting these people to work.
Oh I know it’s not easy. You stand up in front of the church, announce that a certain job needs to be done, nobody responds, and you move on. After all, you can’t twist arms.
Well no, you can’t twist arms, but you can be more effective. You can get a lot more people doing things in the church.
Here’s a simple, biblical example in the Old Testament book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah needed to get more work out of the priests and Levites, so what did he do? Here’s what it says. He “…assigned them duties, each to his own task.”
Now I realize our churches are volunteer organizations, and people don’t take kindly to being bossed around. But here is my experience. If we ask people to do a well-defined job that fits within their interests and abilities, and it isn’t too demanding, they will often agree to do it.
For example, I remember when our church started a new men’s ministry. If you want to join, give them a call.
I didn’t call. It was too vague and I wasn’t looking for something new to do.
So they formed the ministry, and announced they were going to be doing some workdays. If you want to do some workdays, give them a call. Oh, and some golf outings.
Well, I wasn’t interested in golf or in generic workdays, so I didn’t call.
But then they announced that coming up Saturday at 9 a.m. we’re going to clean up a certain yard. If you have a weed eater or a rake, can you come out and help?
Now that I could do. The job and the time were clearly defined. It had a beginning and an end, so I went.
And then they did a great thing. They took down our phone numbers. And from then on, when they had a specific job to do, they could make personal contact.
That’s just one example of someone going from pew sitter to worker.
I’ve organized many fundraisers over the years, and people usually don’t respond when you say, “Hey, anyone out there want to help with a fundraiser?” They won’t respond to church bulletins or newsletters and maybe not even e-mail.
The line I always use is, “You have to hit the phones.” You have to call people personally, make a personal appeal and get that personal commitment.
You have to make your list of tasks, and then find a worker for each task.
I used to work with a Christian concert promoter who was hyper-organized. He had a list a mile long of every single job, then made sure someone was assigned to each task. I ended up with a few jobs I wasn’t prone to do simply because he asked me and I knew it needed to be done.
Doing the Lord’s work is a massive undertaking. There are so many things that need to be done, but I believe there are plenty of people to do them – we just have to organize them.
Ephesians 4 says the church will grow as every part does its share of the work. That’s the way the body of Christ is designed to work.
And one part of the body is the organizers, the people who know all the jobs that need to be done and then find people to do them.
So I’ll ask again. In your church, who is this?
Someone needs to be the Nehemiah, to see what needs to be done, and organize the people to do it.
There is so much talent out there in the pews. And I think they are willing to do their part to help the church grow, but it takes a Nehemiah, someone who can “assign them duties, each to his own task.”
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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