ARE YOU THE 80 OR THE 20?

BY: MARILYN MILLER

Discipleship is important at Faith Church. This means we want to help you become more and more like Jesus - talking like Him, acting like Him, being like Him. Once we RESPOND to Jesus, we become His disciple. And He tells us to “grow in every way” (Ephesians 4:15).

His Spirit helps us as we REDIRECT our lives - He helps us change into “new creations.” And as we grow, we continue to REFINE and then we REPRODUCE - we become “disciples who make more disciples.”

But what’s involved in the “REFINING?” Part of refining is molding and changing by serving Jesus, His Church and people. We serve because Jesus modeled serving.

How are you serving right now? If there is nothing in your “serving column,” you may need to refine your priorities. Have you fallen into the trap (we all do at times) of viewing church as a consumer? What can they do for me?

It’s said that most churches are sustained because 80 percent of the work is done by 20 percent of the people. I don’t think that is totally true at Faith Church. But to the 20 percent of our people it may feel true. COVID changed so much of our world. And to be honest, since COVID, the percentage of us who are serving is down significantly. We all need to remember, there is community in serving! We don’t want to sustain, we want to thrive and take the message of Jesus to our communities and beyond.

“When you are part of a serving team - like making coffee, greeting people, handing out programs or by holding a baby, you are getting to know people and serving others,” says Jen Stevens of Faith Munster.

What if we all stepped up and decided to serve once a month - no matter our age, situation or location. What difference would that make at Faith Church? At your location? But mostly what would it make in your heart?

Pastor Jason DeVries says it this way, “It’s like diving into a pool. You may not hit the exact spot the first time around but try something. If that’s not a fit, jump again. Keep jumping until you find your target - exactly what God has prepared you to do.”

Not sure where to begin?

• Ask people who know you. You may be surprised at their suggestions.

• Ask people at your location. They know the greatest need - and it may be a need God is waiting for you to fill.

• Take the Spiritual Gifts assessment at WeAreFaith.org/spiritual-gifts-survey

What would it take for Faith Church to be a church where 80 percent of the people are actively serving? The first step is yours!

“God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. . . . I have a part in a great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall love as Christ loved, I shall do His work.”

John Henry Newman 1801-1890