The next topic that we will be discussing is about the Benefits of Gift Based Ministry.
Reliance to the Holy Spirit is better demonstrated – There are people who were born gifted, while most people develop their skills better when they practice and learn more things concerning their gifts. What’s good with this is that reliance to the Holy Spirit is also practiced in the development of these gifts.
Let us look how the Apostles chose Matthias. Acts 1:23-26 “And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”
READ: 8 Essential Qualities of Healthy Churches
The context of the story is that they have to choose someone who needs to replace Judas to do the ministry that was left. Here we can see that first, they choose people based on the length of their involvement in the ministry. Then when they have chosen a set of people, they give it to the Lord of who’s who to choose.
Interdependency is more relevant – For quite some time, we have been mentioning about “interdependency. 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 tells us what it is about: 12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
Obviously, a body is not just built up by 1 part. A body is made up of different parts. Another example is the engine. An engine is composed of different tiny parts, and each part is very important for a specific function. Just one bolt that gets loose can tremendously affect how the engine runs.
Interdependency is about valuing one another seeing each other as an important body part. Each one should look at themselves in two perspective: how important they are in the body, and how important others are in the ministry.
Each one should find themselves important in this church because the church is a body, the body of Christ. Each one should be working harmoniously with other people. But what happens if someone says, “I don’t want to become a part of this body anymore, I want to transfer to another church.” Is it really possible to transfer one part to another body? The answer is yes, but it usually undergo painfully. And in the same way, that body part should function well to the body where he transferred.
Promotes value and love – Gift based ministry recognizes the God-given gift to each individual, thus, it is important that we learn to love each other and value each other as an important body part and that each part should work well else, all the operational functionalities of the body will literally be affected.
READ: 8 Essential Qualities of Healthy Churches
Now remember that a church is also a community, it is where love to each other should be exemplified. Valuing each other should develop self-esteem which is very important to each one of us because that builds up our social life. Lots of people commit suicide because their self-esteem was crushed.
Love is the main message of God to mankind, and that love should be reflected to others as well. Each of us exists to reflect that love to other people. This is the driving force why we minister, why we sacrifice, why we work for the Lord, why we come to church.
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Natural Church Development: A Guide to Eight Essential Qualities of Healthy Churches
By Christian A. Schwarz / Churchsmart Resources
When Natural Church Development was first published in 1996, it not only opened a new chapter in the international discussion on church growth, but it also initiated a vibrant movement of striving for church health that now encompasses more than 65,000 churches in 70 countries. With this new edition, Christian A. Schwarz presents and updated and revised version of what has become a classic on church health.
