One of the inadvertent effects of scheduling people for ministry in the church is that it doesn’t often leave time for people to “go” and make disciples (Matt. 28:18-20). We can also schedule so many meetings or programs for people to attend that they have little time for the “go” part of the Great Commission.
Intentionally Leave Room in Your Scheduling for People to “Go” and Fulfill the Great Commission
As leaders this means we must be deliberate in what we schedule and how much we schedule people to serve. We need to be very intentional in how we schedule within the church so people aren’t too busy inside the church to reach out to their family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. When the church calendar is so full and you are putting too many expectations on people to serve within the church or attend programs, people will get to the point where they are less and less fulfilling the Great Commission to “go” and make disciples. They can get so exhausted in their church work that they are too tired for ministry elsewhere.
For some people, we may need to free them up from some of their “in church” responsibilities to be able to “go.”
For others who are not scheduled for much ministry in the church and also aren’t doing much in terms of going and making disciples, perhaps we need to help them learn to be more purposeful and intentional.
We need a missional perspective in scheduling that encourages people, rather than dissuade them from reaching out to the world around them. By that I do not mean the sending of people into the foreign mission field but rather scheduling so as to leave room for them to fulfill the Great Commission right where they are in their everyday living.
In addition to what you read here, the Steering the Church Toward Discipleship Leadership Guide also looks at two evidences that we have this missional perspective and then provides some questions to help assess your scheduling in light of Jesus’ mission.
All Posts about Scheduling:
- Considerate Scheduling
- Purposeful Scheduling
- Scheduling Leave Room for the Great Commission?
- Christ-like Scheduling is Flexible
- Scheduling Woes
- Gospel-Centered Scheduling
- Prayer-Based Scheduling Needed
- Prayer-Based Scheduling Makes a Difference
- Even Scheduling Needs God’s Power
- Spiritual Gifts for Scheduling
- God’s Grace in Scheduling
- Need Help with Scheduling?
- Scheduling in the Name of the Lord?