Caught

In a previous church setting I knew my time was short and so did everyone else. I was the volunteer Sunday School director, and I was taking a paid position out of state. It was time to line up a successor, at least to attempt it.

As I looked the church over, I spotted a talented, educated, youthful and energetic, stable adult. Her career lent itself to skills useful in education ministry. She was not yet over committed in additional Christian service roles.

We talked. I laid out the challenge and the reward. “Please, think and pray about it and do as God leads,” I said. Nothing happened. This staffing solution looked good to me, but it didn’t fit. I don’t know why; it just didn’t.

The post sat empty for a while. Then someone stepped up to serve. He knew me and he knew my wife. His family and my family had shared time together in each other’s homes. We were among the first to welcome them into that church family. We responded to the needs in their household. We supported them in new endeavors. We served in front of them at church. When we loaded the moving truck, he was there eager to do all he could to assist.

Why did he take on the service role of Sunday School director? He had seen another’s life invested in the lives of those around him. He had witnessed the ministry of hospitality and compassion. He had observed a responsiveness to opportunities for expanding the life and breadth of the church. He had caught what it takes to make a difference. And he stepped up.

There was no difference in the capacities of either candidate. There was a significant difference in the exposure of one over the other to a model in ministry. It was all the difference in the world when it came to who chose service. I hadn’t even mentioned the opening to him. I didn’t need to. He saw it lived out and chose it for himself.

So what does all this mean? Leaders, count on this reality: when you touch lives through ministry, you open the door for others to minister. The result of other believers seeing your calling fulfilled is that they are moved forever forward in fulfilling their own God-given passions for service.

Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
South Haven Baptist Church
December 1, 2009