Owning ministry

here's another question from tony morgan's list of questions that growing churches ask:

#2 – Do volunteers “own” the ministry of our church? We simply can’t hire enough staff to accomplish all of the ministry that needs to be accomplished in a growing church. With that in mind, we need to create a culture here where the volunteers expect to do it before staff can get to it!

this whole concept of "owning" ministry is a good one, but it seems like there are some fundamental difficulties in making it happen. the first is time. how can someone really "own" a project or a ministry or a program without putting adequate time into it? we are all living in such a complicated world with time demands that stretch us beyond our limits...and the thought of adding another commitment is just too overwhelming. it's just easier to let someone else do it.

another reason that i hear from people is that they just don't feel qualified or equipped enough to take on a task as important as a "ministry"! that's fine. even moses spent a bunch of time trying to talk god out of using him because he didn't feel qualified (for the record, don't try to bargain with god on this one...he always wins). the bottom line, though, is whether or not we will trust god to provide if we decide to take the responsibility. it's not any more complicated than that.

i spend a lot of time wondering what it will take to help people feel passionately about the things of god, because, really, it's all about what we believe strongly enough to invest ourselves in. there will never be enough time. there will never be enough training. there will never be enough ability or even self-confidence.

there will always be enough god, though. and with god, all things are do-able. the question is whether or not we believe that...at least enough to do something about it!