In the book, What they don’t teach you at Harvard Business School, Mark McComick, relates the story of Pro-Am tennis tournament. A Pro-Am is a charity event in which tennis professionals compete with and against the weekend warriors to raise some money for a good cause. One competitive tennis pro was highly ranked and wanted to win the tournament in the worst way. He approached his doubles partner with these words, “Do you want to win this tournament?” The bewildered amateur replied, “Sure.” The pro shot back, “Well, so do I. So, I want you simply to serve the ball and get off the court!” This strategy might be effective for winning a tournament or for any short-term goal but it won’t produce a winning team or build for lasting result.

In many ways, our churches can operate in this manner. Church leaders keen for excellence and to ensure that “things are done right” encourage those with less training and experience in ministry to “serve the ball and get off the court.” Okay, let’s ask ourselves, why? One, let’s face it, involving others, particularly those less experienced, is harder work. For pastors and coordinators, it is simply easier to do it themselves. Two, many of our pastors have been instructed in how to “do the ministry”, not necessary how to give it away. Three, insecurity among pastors causes them to protect their “turf”. Added to this, the unspoken congregational expectation can be, “Why utilise less capable individuals when we have trained ‘professionals’ around? After all, isn’t that what we pay for?” Four, perhaps the most significant factor is the absence of any clear, long-term vision. We approach ministry goals as filling immediate tasks as opposed to fulfilling people.

When examining the ministry of Jesus, often times we fail to appreciate the emphasis he placed on equipping the Twelve. When people describe what “missional” ministry looks like, we rarely hear the focus upon team-building and equipping. Yet, Ephesians 4:12 emphatically states, (God gifts men and women) “to prepare God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up”. Somewhere, can we not move beyond the notion of the pastors as the “hired help” who exist to allow the laity to get on with their ‘real lives’? Let’s consider a commitment to long-term goals of equipping and well thought out strategies for releasing our people for greater ministry. This year has been dubbed the year of the volunteer. Perhaps, it’s time that we in the God’s house began to view ourselves as essentially a volunteer agency with much of our God-given resources as vastly untouched.