Muddy River Media

There are a number of blogs and twitter accounts I monitor on a regular basis... some are about ministry while others deal with graphic design and video production. One blog/twitter account I regularly get information and inspiration from is Michael Zhang's PetaPixel.

Recently Michael related the story of a unique social experiment involving a journalist and a world-famous musician. Here is what Michael said:

In 2007, Washington Post writer Gene Weingarten conducted a social experiment in which he recruited one of the world’s great violinists, Joshua Bell, to play in a Washington D.C. subway station. Just two days prior to the experiment, Bell had played in a sold-out Boston theater in which ordinary tickets sold for $100 apiece. The entire experiment was filmed using a hidden camera.

In the end, of the 1,097 people who passed by Joshua Bell, only seven stopped to listen to the music. His 45-minute performance of six famous (though not necessarily recognizable) classical pieces earned $32.17 from 27 passersby, with some dropping pennies. As a result of his experiment and subsequent article for the Post, Weingarten won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing."

The hidden camera video of this experiment is located at the bottom of this blog post.

Since Michael's blog focus is photography, he went on to ask whether people are able to recognize great photography or not.

As somebody who has pastored for a number of years, this social experiment brought a different question to my mind... Are those in ministry leadership able to recognize the gifts and talents of the people all around them?

Talented AND Gifted

I firmly believe God has given every believer not only natural talents (such as music, design, acting, sports, accounting, construction, electronics etc...) but He has also given them at least one supernaturally charged spiritual gift (such as evangelism, teaching, giving, mercy, helps, leadership, exhortation among others).

However, I often wonder if we're that good at recognizing the gifts and talents of those who regularly attend our ministries... recognize and involve them in some sort of service for the Lord? Or do we, like the 1,100 people mentioned above, walk by the talented and gifted without ever realizing it?

You often hear ratios like 10% of the people do 90% of the work in most ministries, and I realize some of that is due to an indifference of some believers to get involved in any type of sacrificial service. But I also think a large part of it is that the church, historically, has done a poor job of recognizing the gifts and talents of those who regularly attend. Recognizing and involving them in areas of ministry.

Little do they know the solution to their website woes is that grade 11 student who spends most of the service texting his friends.

Or that the lady who has always sits in the third seat of the fourth row on the left hand side (as seen from the pulpit's perspective) would be the solution to their accounting needs.

Or that the small group leader who will help transform the lives of those grade 7-8 girls has been attending the church for years without anybody even knowing she has the spiritual gift of exhortation.

The local church is a body... and God has given every body the necessary parts needed for it to function whole and healthy. But why doesn't that happen all the time? Other than spiritual indifference in the lives of some, why are so many gifted and talented people attending our churches without being encouraged and assisted into some type of service opportunity?

Time and Frustration

I think the answer to that is quite varied. Often I think that the 10% of the people mentioned above, who are doing 90% of the work, are often so busy doing that work they don't have time to recognize and involve others. Doing so would take more time, and perhaps frustration, so they just do it themselves. But that view is shortsighted because, while it will take more time and effort to involve somebody new... in the long run it will lighten the load, grow the ministry, and increase the impact of the church.

A good volunteer training strategy would be:

Step 1: Invite somebody to watch you do the ministry.
Step 2: Have that person help you do the ministry.
Step 3: Help that person do the ministry.
Step 4: Watch that person do the ministry.
Step 5: Move on to another ministry leaving that person in charge.

It's a Control Thing

Sometimes, however, it isn't just because of the extra time and effort that ministry leaders don't involve others whom God has given them. It is because they refuse to let go of specific areas of ministry. You see... in their minds nobody can do it quite as good as they can. This is an attitude that holds the church back, because sitting in their midst are many people with gifts and talents that far supersede the leadership's in many areas.

When a leader micro-manages the ministry to such a degree he/she HAS to be involved in every decision and its implementation, that ministry will not be healthy and grow in the long term. The scripture is quite clear in this area... church leaders are to equip the members to do the work of the ministry.

Removing Hurdles

Finally, I believe that the ministry opportunities themselves are hurdles for involving new people. Churches have to become better at identifying a person's gifts and talents... and streamline the process of getting them involved in a ministry where they fit and will experience fulfillment, success and growth.

Ministry volunteer descriptions are often so out-of-date or unrealistic they either discourage a person from joining, or the volunteer doesn't stay long. A good example of this is how I've seen many churches handle the role of Sunday School Teacher (or whatever you call them in your church).

In many churches finding people to be childrens Sunday School teachers is a difficult task. Most avoid that volunteer opportunity like it's the kiss of death. Churches end up with some who stay and do it for 49 years, while others last a year or less. Why is that?

The biggest reason, I believe, is because the expectation is totally unrealistic. Consider what, in my opinion, is needed to be a good teacher in a traditional Sunday School:

1. Have the Gift of Teaching since they will be teaching the kids.
2. Be Creative and adapt the curriculum we force upon them since it is either dry or will obviously only work with a focus group of perfect kids from the curriculum editor's daughter's Christian School class located in the buckle of the Bible Belt.
3. Be an Encourager since we want them to encourage the kids
4. Be a Disciplinarian since we often dump them in a room with 10+ kids.
5. Have some Sense of Humour, after all... they're working with kids... kids don't want a cranky Sunday School Teacher.
6. Be Somewhat Crafty since there is usually some sort of crafty thing involved with the curriculum.
7. A Reader since a successful Sunday School class requires an understanding of the curriculum beforehand.
8. Be Organized since a successful Sunday School class requires preparation of supplies, resources and curriculum beforehand.
9. Have the Gift of Pastoring since it would be nice if they followed up with the kids during the week... you know... called them if they missed a Sunday... wished them a happy birthday... asked how their basketball game went.
10. Be Culturally Relevant since it's important they understand the world the kids live in so they can take them from the known to the unknown.
11. Be Committed Short Term because we don't want them to miss any more than a couple Sundays each year.
12. Be Committed Long Term since we often ask them to stay in the position until the Lord calls them home.

If that is indeed what we are looking for in a childrens Sunday School teacher, then every church in the entire world has exactly... NONE OF THEM!

I know this list may seem a bit extreme... but if we really sit down and think about what we're asking of our Sunday School teachers, it's quite unrealistic. And then we wonder why we can't recruit new people to this volunteer opportunity.

Because the expectations are unrealistic and often people are afraid of making a long term commitment to a service opportunity that will be drudgery to them. A service opportunity where they will be a square peg in a round hole.

I think of one lady who, I felt, would be a great small group leader for a group of grade 5-6 girls. However this lady didn't feel she could make that commitment, so I asked her to be a greeter for the ministry. For that year she helped greet the kids and parents while working at the sign-in table, plus she helped serve the snack to the small groups.

The next year you know what she was doing? Yup... she was a small group leader.

We created two new types of service opportunities:

1. Affinity Service Opportunities

Encouraging people to serve in areas which dove-tail with their interests. I had people who didn't want to work with children, and would have never said yes to being a traditional Sunday School teacher, but they were ecstatic to help with music, or drama, or puppets, or audio video stuff.

2. Easy Access Service Opportunities

These easy on-ramps into the ministry didn't require a great deal of skill, preparation or commitment, but got people involved.

This allowed many to get a taste of serving in that particular ministry. From there their God given talents and gifts begin to shine forth and many of them took on extra responsibilities as they matured in their faith.

I think the onus is on church leadership to identify the abilities and interests of those attending our ministries... and to create an environment where these people will experience success serving with the talents and gifts God has given them.

Until that is done I fear we will always walk by the severely gifted without realizing the missed potential and opportunities.

And now, as promised, here is the video of the world famous violinist Joshua Bell playing for pennies in the Washington D.C. subway system.