A healthy human body has no non-functioning cells. Every part of the body is busy. A healthy body accomplishes things collectively that no cell, organ or body part could accomplish alone. In the epistles, the church is likened to a body. Church leaders should be pursuing full employment. Accomplishing anywhere near full employment will require what may be an embarrassing self-assessment and then an intentional long-term response to what is clearly a problem.
While writing these words, I can hear the late Kenneth Haney speaking of converts, “Use them or lose them.” The words of David K. Bernard also echo, “As a church planter or pastor be constantly working yourself out of a job.” Both men were describing the need to involve people.
Some years ago, it dawned on me that the church I led was not a healthy body. A quick assessment showed that 22% of the congregation was involved in a defined role of ministry. In no way is that a healthy body. Would the 78% who were sitting even be saved? Their talents were not being used. Were they even a saint? It inspired me to read the late Jack DeHart’s book, So You Want to Serve as well as Don and Katie Fortune’s, Discovering Your Motivational Gift. From them I learned that Romans 10 includes a list of personality gifts. Every person has a primary motivational gift. An effective church leader would do well to employ a person using their motivational gift.
It stirred me to the development of Fitly Framed. These seven lessons are designed to discover each person’s motivational gifts and then put the gifts to work. Fitly Framed is the third level of my disciple-making strategy. When Fitly Framed was fully employed, it lifted our level of participation. With consistent effort, 68% of the congregation was eventually involved in a defined role of ministry. Fitly Framed is available at CarltonCoonSr.com. More important than using Fitly Framed, use something – strategically, repetitively and intentionally. As the late Bishop Haney said, “If you don’t use them – you really will lose them.”