Inside Track October 2004 - Leadership Connection

The Junk Drawer
Karen Lynch Bromby

You finally got it. The Special Tool that will meet all your work needs. It’s strong. It’s indispensable. And within a few weeks it’s in the junk drawer, because you don’t really know what to do with it, or some other more familiar tool will do.

At the church I serve, we got on the Ephesians 4:11-16 equipping wagon fairly early. As the champion for the priesthood of all believers, I read books and went to training sessions. And I had The Special Tool: spiritual gift assessments.

Before I knew it, we had dozens of pieces of paper that each represented a person who was brought to our church for a purpose. We were excited, and they were excited. Now what? For weeks, I couldn’t answer the question. Then it turned to months. Eventually the pieces of paper found their permanent home in my right desk drawer.

Meanwhile, back in the pews, people were asking themselves, “Did I do it wrong?” They assumed everyone else got a call to serve, so why didn’t they? They likely concluded, “Well, I guess I didn’t have anything to offer.” Teaching people about their God-given gifts and call without having a system to support them when they respond is like raising a banner that says, “You are gifted! You are called! So what?”

Ephesians 4 says we are to prepare God’s people for works of service. As leaders, that’s our call.

Okay, so now what? Read in 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 what the body of Christ is supposed to look like. Move forward slowly and carefully (full of care) toward building an intentional system that catapults people into their God-given call. A system that serves the people, not the program.

Learn from us; take your time. Don’t rush to give people spiritual gift inventories that will only find their final resting place inside a drawer. Start with self-analysis. Your church’s next steps will begin to emerge as you explore questions such as:

What would it take to get the people in my church to embrace the fact that they are the ministers? Does the pastor embrace it? The staff? Are we modeling it in our ministries?
Has the biblical foundation for the priesthood of all believers been taught? How can we teach it?
Are we tracking people’s attendance in worship and in groups, then inviting them to take the next step in their faith at regular intervals? If not, how can we get started?
Are we noticing when people go out the back door? If not, how can we?
Are we equipping our people through training, affirmation, feedback, and evaluation? If not, how can we start?
What tools are we using to help people discover their gifts, passions and abilities? Once they make the discovery, do they know what to do next?

And take heart. God wants to help you dust off the gift assessments that lie in your right desk drawer.

Karen Lynch Bromby is the former director of equipping ministries at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. She continues to worship and serve there while planting seeds of Ephesians 4 by coaching other local churches through her company, Mustard Seed Design.

This is a brief excerpt from the article Karen wrote for Church Volunteer Central. You can read the entire article in our Idea Depot by clicking here.