Friday, September 07, 2012

Gift-based Ministry Mobilization

Hubs is taking a class on "ministry mobilization." Nerdy girl that I am, I used my Labor Day holiday to go to school with him and check it out. After all, I've been calling myself a mission mobilizer for a long time now. I wanted to see what his seminary professor meant when he used the word mobilize. I wondered how much of what is being taught and written about mobilizing people for ministry, in general, might apply to mobilizing and strategically placing people in pioneering mission efforts.

This week's class explored theological foundations. The professor started by talking about the reality that God, as Creator and Redeemer, made each and every person the way they are on purpose and made them in his image. That's why gift-based ministry mobilization is the way to go. Because everyone is gifted by the Spirit of God for the sake of the common good - for his mission in the world. And when people turn toward God, his power is at work within them to redeem their experiences and to restore and renew them, working his purposes out in and through them.

Anyone who's been a recruiter or mobilizer very long tends to discover this. People ask you, "What kind of people are you looking for? What should I major in? What kind of person do I need to become if I want to serve overseas?" But you can't just talk to them about the job market. You have to ask them questions about who they are, what their story is, what they have a passion to do, what they care about ... and what they've learned about how God designed them to serve.

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:10-11)

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