Moving from Entitlement to Servanthood - adapted from Thom Rainer The biblical basis of church membership is clear in Scripture. The Apostle Paul even uses the “member” metaphor to describe what every believer should be like in a local congregation. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, Paul describes church members not by what they should receive in a local church, but by the ministry they should give. There are however a number of reasons people leave a church. Certainly we recognize there are many legitimate claims by church members of unfulfilled expectations. It can undoubtedly be the fault of the local congregation and its leaders. But many times, probably more than we would like to believe, a church member leaves a local body because he or she has a sense of entitlement. I would therefore suggest that the main reason people leave a church is because they have an entitlement mentality rather than a servant mentality. Look at some of the direct quotes from exit interviews of people who left local congregations: “The worship leader refused to listen to me about the songs and music I wanted.” “The pastor did not feed me.” “No one from my church visited me.” “I was not about to support the building program they wanted.” “I was out two weeks and no one called me.” “They moved the times of the worship services and it messed up my schedule.” “I told my pastor to go visit my cousin and he never did The solution is therefore to move members from an entitlement mentality to a servant mentality by: - Equipping as the Body of Christ - Informing on the opportunities - Training for life impact - Encouraging to fulfill their Kingdom purpose - Releasing in power and authority
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 21:02:23 +0000
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