GENERALISTS OR SPECIALISTS?

When I started in ministry those many, many years ago in a depressed former coal mining community in the north east of England, I was under the impression that I had to be a multi-talented, all achieving superhero style of pastor.

So I lived with an ongoing sense of failure that threatened to bury me or at best send me back to school so I could get a real job.

It was several years into this escapade that has now spanned almost 37 years that I came to the gut-wrenching realization that God did not intend for me to either save the world or build a church single-handed. Rather he wanted me to do what I am wired to do and then enlist, equip and encourage others to get plugged in where their particular passions and skills fit best. That has made a whole lot more sense.

So when people visit us and wonder at the amount of folks who are involved in ministry, I let them know it's because the pastor has very limited talents! They're essential.

The kingdom of God needs specialists not a bunch of jack-of-all-trades who are master of none.

We specialize as a church too. We don't do a zillion things. We do three things and endeavor to do them exceedingly well.

1. Sunday services.

2. Small groups.

3. Missions / outreach.

I've heard a bunch of pastors say their missionfield is everyone around them and I agree with that statement. But where do you draw the line? If it's your own town's limits, you're missing the point.

We're focusing on our missions programs this week and it's exciting to be connecting with people that are making a major impact in the lives of others because of our support. People like Kathy Von Staden from South Africa who will be sharing at our missions banquet tomorrow night and Basil D'Souza from India who will also be there.

We do missions well - and plan to do it even better!!!

When it comes to that we are specialists who are always endeavoring to improve.