“Laborers are few”

Friday, December 10, 2021

Tonk Talk 

Luke 10:2, “And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” 

Jesus told us in Luke 10:2, that when it comes to Kingdom work, there is going to be a shortage of workers.  This is still true today, many congregations are looking for ministers, and even those congregations who have ministers are often looking for Bible class teachers, men to lead during worship services, and servants in other areas of the work of the church.   One of the disappointing aspects of ministry is to hear when no one will step up and serve; in fact, many good works have ceased because no one would lead or support those who lead these efforts.  The following are some suggestions on how we can get more volunteers to help with various works of the church:

·Plan ahead.  Too many times we do not have people to help us in ministry because we simply do not plan ahead.  Many will wait to the last minute to get helpers, and by that time many have already made other plans.  If you are in a leadership position, respect other people’s time, plan ahead, do not wait until the last minute to ask for help. 

·Be involved yourself.  Too many times we cannot find help because we did not support others’ efforts.   If you need volunteers, go help someone else.   When they see you helping them, they are more likely going to be open to the idea of helping you.

·Be an example - When I first came to the congregation here, our elders gave me a job description of the minister’s position.  There were several items listed that one would expect a minister to do such as doing the preaching, teaching, evangelism, etc.   At the conclusion of the job description were these words:

“If there is a good work done by the church, participate as a Christian family and as members of the Camden Avenue Church of Christ as much as possible.  We cannot encourage or expect our members to support efforts that we as leaders do not support.  There occasionally may be conflicts that make participation impossible, but when possible, elders, deacons, ministers, and other recognized leaders - lead by their example.”

These words of wisdom from our elders are wise words for all especially those of us who lead other people, lead by example.

·Go ask people to help – I once needed cookies for VBS, so I went to the best cookie makers of the congregation – the grandmas of the congregation.   They were happy to make the cookies for VBS.  After they agreed to make the cookies, I asked these wonderful ladies why they hadn’t made cookies for VBS before.  Do you know what their answer was?  No one had asked them.    This taught me a valuable lesson about recruiting volunteers, people need to be asked.  Too many times we put an announcement in the church bulletin or have it announced from the pulpit and people don’t pay attention because they did not hear it or read it.   Those who do hear the announcement sometimes think the announcement is referring to someone else.  If we want volunteers, go to an individual and ask them personally.

                   It is true as Jesus reminds us that we will always need workers in the Kingdom.  But these four things:   planning ahead, being involved yourself, being an example, and personally asking an individual to help, can be ways we can improve our recruitment of volunteers.    

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