Over the years, many people have come to me asking some variation of this question: “How do I get into ministry?” My response is almost always the same, “Start by cleaning the toilets.” Usually the person who asked the question will laugh nervously, until they realize I’m not joking.Sometimes they will never contact me back. Sometimes they will come and serve once and feel like it is a “dead end.” And on occasion they will throw themselves wholeheartedly into serving.
Leader, servant … or both?
They were expecting me to suggest a school or a mentorship program, and instead I suggested servanthood. This logic comes straight from the words of Jesus in Matthew.Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant. – Matthew 20:26I suggest that people start by serving in some lowly function because that requires an attitude shift. The question that people often ask is, “How can I get someone to serve me? How can I get more from my team?” Instead of the harder question, “How do I serve people to the best of my ability?”
As a leader, I cannot do every job, but there is nothing that I am too important to do.
As a tech director, there are probably many tasks that you would probably prefer not to do. Things that you dread doing, but you have to do. These things tend to wear you down, especially around holiday times.I often tell my team that there is no job that is below me. As a leader, I cannot do every job, but there is nothing that I am too important to do. Now, when we ask our team to do things, it's not because we are trying to off-load tasks that we don't want to do, it is because we all want to serve and be the most effective we can be for the Kingdom of God. When the leader sets a culture of servanthood the rest of the team will soon follow.
As Christmas approaches it can feel like there is so much to be done and not enough time or help to do it. Many sacrifices have to be made in order to pull together all of the details of your production. Your team will be looking to you to set the standard for the preparations. Is the standard you set a “quality standard” or is it an “attitude standard”? Let us set servanthood as the highest standard.
Heavenly Perspective
In the times of frustration and stress, let’s not lose track of what we are really doing. We are being servants. Will the crowds always notice the effort that went into running cables, programming scenes and training volunteers? Probably not. But the work that we do is to be seen by God and not by other people.The same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is alive and powerful within us. He is with us and empowering us even in the mundane. He loves to empower us to serve each other in love for the advancement of His Kingdom.As we move into Christmas, let us be mindful to cultivate a heart that is willing to serve one another.
