I have made a decision that many people will not agree with, but what’s new? I am going to work part time until Baypointe gets off the ground. Now before all my “full-time” pastor friends blast off on me and tell me how I should be focusing solely on the church let me give you a few reasons.
- I do not want to take a full salary from the church yet. I could, but I would rather take only half and use the other half to make Baypointe’s launch better. I will be able to market more fully, make our website better, and a host of other things I can do with half of my salary. (Make no mistake, a church planter’s salary is small, but the sacrifice now will pay off later…I’ll expound on that thought on a later date.) FYI, I am working on Baypointe stuff from 8AM to 1:30 PM, go to my second job from 2:30-7:30 and then go home to spend time with the family.
- I need a release. I love the restaurant business, and working 5 hours a day 3-4 days a week will be a great mental break from the everyday grind.
- This is one of the most important. I want to meet and connect with people. After working just one shift I have learned a lot about the community God has placed me in. I don’t want to just meet them for the purpose of building my launch team, but also to hear their stories. Let me expound…
Pastors and leaders, I want to ask you an important question: Have we become unintentionally disconnected from the “working, family guy?” Do you truly understand what they go through? How many of us (myself included) have even questioned a person’s commitment to Christ due to their lack of “serving.” We schedule “serving” opportunities based solely on when the church is open on Sundays, or once a month events, or some other thing we think is important. Please hear me, these are vital things! But there has to be more.
I met a guy last night that is a full time real estate broker by day, but because of the economy has to wait tables at night. He is married, has three kids, his wife works, and they attend church on Sundays. This guys works roughly 65-70 hours per week to support his family. If we don’t know his story, we would quickly ask “Where are you serving in the church?” Serving? This guy is barely able to keep going. He is fulfilling his GOD ORDAINED calling to take care of his family. He gets up every morning early to pray because he told me it was the only time he has. If we didn’t know his story would we quietly question, “Why isn’t this guy serving in the church?”
I repented last night for my false view of serving. I have seen “serving” all wrong. Hard question: how many of us leaders use the term “serving” really to encompass “things we want to see happen on Sundays so our church functions smoothly,” yep that hurt, and yes I am talking to me. Please don’t get me wrong, these things on Sunday are done by tremendous volunteers who for the most part have an amazing heart for God and His church. What I want to raise our awareness to is that “serving” the church can look different. Maybe we need to create new opportunities for guys like this, he can’t be the only one.
I have no clue how to do it, so I ask: How do we shift the paradigm of serving? Maybe it doesn’t need shifting, but expanding? Serving is vital to the life of a Christ-Follower, so we must find a way to help. Shoot me your thoughts and ideas.
Grace.
Ben
