In Matthew 9:37 Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” The vast shortage is that of workers for the harvest. Workers are the solution to the plentiful harvest. Evangelism (working in the harvest) and discipleship (training future harvest workers) is our high calling. Linked to working in the harvest is “asking the Lord of the harvest” – the work of prayer. Prayer recognizes that God is able to work as powerfully when we are away from a person as when we are by his side personally discipling him. God can do in a moment what men cannot achieve in a lifetime of labor.
OTHER WORK
Is other type of ministry work important? Without a doubt it is. Acts 6:3 records that deacons were appointed to take care of food distribution. “In Galilee (some) women had followed (Jesus) and cared for his needs” (Mark 15:41). Is administration necessary? Are creative prayer letters more effective than dull ones? Does someone need to arrange rides to the Fall retreat? Do we need a sharp weekly meeting? The answer to all of the above is “of course.” But let us not forget that our highest priority is directly helping to accomplish our primary result: that of “turning lost students into Christ-centered laborers.” Other “support ministries” are necessary only as the means to this greater end. Let us never perfect the means while woefully neglecting the end.
WHAT IS THE WORK OF A FULL-TIME LABORER?
Having looked at the work of the Lord from a biblical viewpoint, it is easier to cross the bridge to defining our work. The work of a full-time campus laborer is primarily to be involved in winning students to Christ, building them up in their faith, training them in the ministry, and sending them into the “harvest field” to do likewise. It is to be a kingdom laborer, for it is “laborers in the harvest” that are in short supply not necessarily program managers. Any work that does not directly contribute to this objective is work that is secondary to the task.
WHERE DO WE MEASURE?
We measure the effectiveness of our ministry, by measuring the impact we are having on the campus. Peter Drucker in Managing the Non-Profit Organization, writes, “We need to remind ourselves again and again that the results of a non-profit institution are always outside the organization, not inside.” Research by social scientists has concluded that a working group (or missional team) has only a limited amount of energy. That energy is spent in two areas: maintenance energy and production energy. Maintenance energy is the work we spend on maintaining relationships – making sure everyone is happy, motivated, and in good fellowship with one another. Production energy is what we expend on accomplishing the task. Often so much time and energy is spent on the maintenance side that we have little energy to spend on the production side.
REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS
Expectations have to do with what your team is expected to accomplish on campus. Most team members would rather know exactly what is expected of them than to continually play a guessing game regarding what it is you are hoping they would do. You and your team should be able to answer the following questions with clarity and precision:
What do we do?
Why do we do it?
How do we do it?
How often do we do it?
It is difficult to write or talk about specific expectations without coming across as a task master. But as you read through the following expectations, try to grasp the reasonableness of the heart and logic behind them. Adopt them or adapt them but don’t ignore them.
HINGE POINTS
Hinge points are those small things we do, that when done on a consistent basis make a very big difference in the outcome. If you, as a team leader, can monitor these few areas that you can measure and control, you’ll reap a myriad of positive results and benefits.
SPIRITUAL BASE
Because the nature of our work is primarily spiritual, it is imperative that we are developing the spiritual resources that are sufficient for the task. To attempt to do spiritual work in the energy of the flesh is futility. As a team leader, you need to hold your team accountable for walking in the Spirit, systematically getting into the Word and praying.
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