Words Create Worlds: Some
Thoughts On The Power Of Words
Words create worlds. That’s a quote by an Old Testament theologian, Rabbi Abraham Heschel. Yes, your words. Much like God, who created everyone and everything with words, you also have the power to create with yours. The world you trod around in right now is the by-product of the words you tell yourself and the ones others tell you. We have the power to create the world we see with our words. We have the power to create the world other people see with our words. Change some of the words you use and you’re on your way to changing the system.
That’s why I’m starting to hate the word “volunteer.” To me the word has come to mean “I’ll give you what I want to give you; when I want to give it; and how I want to give it.” Volunteers ask, “How much is required of me?” This is often another way of asking, “How much (or little) do I have to do to get you off my back?”
Nowhere in scripture do we read about the volunteers God used to achieve his purposes in this world. During His ministry, Jesus didn’t go around recruiting volunteers: He called people to be servants. (Actually the Greek word is Doulos which means slave.”) Given the baggage attached to the word “slave” in our culture, it’s probably better to translate it to servant. Or is it? Is thinking of ourselves as slaves of God offensive to us? If that makes us uncomfortable, maybe we should pursue the image and try to understand why. That’s for another time.
Instead, I prefer to use the word “servant.” A servant gives based on their master’s wishes, which in our terminology means serving at God’s pleasure rather than our own.” Servants realize their lives and the time by which they’re measured already belong to the master. They go the extra mile in everything they do, doggedly pursuing excellence, because they believe their master is worth the effort. The church doesn’t need more volunteers who give away what time they can give. We need more servants whose lives belong to the Lord.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for me, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24.
In many thriving churches, you seldom hear the word ‘volunteer’. It simply isn’t part of their culture. Instead, they use terms like servant, team member, team-mate, worker, and leader. Churches that stay away from the “V” word have a better chance of developing leaders at a more rapid pace. The church doesn’t consist of a class of people to serve and others to be served. There are not servants and seekers. All are servants who sometimes serve, and other times are served.
I also prefer the word “servant” to “volunteer” because it usage sets the church up to have the kind of leadership development that is biblical. By that I mean the number one measure of any Christian leader is not their individual performance, their commitment, their knowledge, or their personal leadership but rather their effectiveness in serving others. When we serve others we actually demonstrate what it means to be a leader and a Christian. The key measure of servanthood is: How effective are we in reproducing ourselves into others? The key role of every leader is to equip others to lead. This is true of pastors, of governing board leaders, of all the servants of the church. Servants are about their master’s business. They aren’t simply filling slots that churches think they need filling. They are living out their God-given gifts and talents.
So How Do You Train Servants?
You don’t train them as much as you show them. That’s right. It’s an adaptive change that requires new learning. It’s not clarifying lines of responsibility, instituting a new form of governance, or improving processes. While these things are necessary, they’re not sufficient to create positive, strengths-based ways for organizations to thrive. Demonstrations are more powerful than training courses or programs. Perhaps one example will help explain:
A pastor asked his leadership group, “What’s the most important thing in the church service?” The group responded with things like “the message, the music, or the welcome.” His response to each of these was “No.” Then with a laugh he said, “The offering is the most important- that’s one of the easiest ways to involve new people in service. We ask first time guests (not visitors) to help with the offering. Like most things we do, it’s not hard. I say to a friend that I’ve brought to church” I need you to help me today with my ministry here.” They will say that they don’t know how to do anything, or I don’t think I am qualified. But I tell them it’s easy. All you have to do is pick up buckets.”
During the offering there are two jobs – pass out buckets – pick up buckets.”
One Sunday two people carry paper buckets down the side aisles of the auditorium while one of the pastors talks about the offering. One person holds the buckets while the other person was giving hand signals about where to walk, how to take the top bucket and pass it to the first person. A hand waves across their mouth followed with a smile to remind the person to smile.
A few seconds later buckets were passed down to the end of the row where the new person, a first-time guest was picking them up, stacking them inside each other and carrying to the back of the auditorium to hand to another person.
The pastor continued. The offering is one of our initial types of ministries. Most people move on to more challenging things fairly quickly.
What Servanthood teaches us…some practical advice.
· Keep the leadership track simple at the beginning. Pick up buckets, wave cars this way, and smile. They can be easily explained to another person and can easily be attempted with little or no training. Everyone needs a simple place to begin serving. Christ himself showed by his examples of simple servanthood the character of his followers.
· The servants are recruited by other servants personally and quickly and the tasks are accomplished with a friend close by. It is friends involving other friends. Say, “Come help me.” Rather than help the church.
The roles are visible and therefore important. Others, who did not come with a friend, see everyday people serving. Do the servants, especially first timers, sometimes mess up? Sure, but these things can be corrected quickly when a friend is close by to help. Better to build a heart for service and servanthood then let the quest for quality inhibit people in developing their servant hearts.
The roles make simple tasks fun. Service should not be drudgery, no matter how hard the task. Part of the fun is doing the tasks with a team. Part of it is providing an atmosphere that encourages the servants to enjoy their tasks in the midst of accomplishing them.
The behavior is modeled not “taught. This form of equipping doesn’t require curriculum or classes to attend. It requires leaders who live what they teach. It is the Jesus way of equipping.
Behavior is modeled not taught. You and I are the curriculum. Modeling is much more powerful than cognitive approaches that focus on education and understanding. Of course training courses don’t hurt, but they aren’t as powerful as seeing servanthood in action and being part of the action team.
Modeling goes like this: I do; you watch; and we talk. You do; I watch; and we talk. You do with another and they watch; and you talk. And so on and on.
How good are you in involving others in the joy of being a servant rather than a volunteer?
Heavenly Father, help us to be better than we are now. Teach us to be more like you, and less like the world around us. Help us to put aside our selfish desires and vain ambition. Teach us to be true servants in both word and deed. Give us a servant’s heart, just like Jesus. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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