THE CHURCH IS NOT A VOLUNTEER ORGANISATION
Tayo Onaleye
Rom 1:5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
Christianity is a call to obedience, not to volunteering.
The church is not a volunteer organization. It is a community of people obeying a heavenly call.
We have been called to salvation.
You become a Christian by obeying the call to salvation.
We have been called to service.
You serve in the kingdom by obeying a command to serve. The call to serve in the kingdom is a COMMAND. It’s not a negotiable or debatable issue. It is not an opinion. It is a command.
“Go into all the world” is a very clear and direct command. It is a not a matter of personal preference or opinion.
Volunteering carries the image of something OPTIONAL……you can do it if you like or want to and if you don’t want or like to you can choose not to serve.
Volunteering also means that you can walk away when you get annoyed or dissatisfied. When you volunteer to serve in the Red Cross, for example, you are doing the Red cross a favour and you can withdraw your service at will.
Not so in God’s kingdom. Serving in the kingdom is not a favour to God or the brethren, it is obedience to a command to serve. It is a duty. It is an obligation.
We are not volunteer children of God. We are obedient children joyfully serving our Father. We are soldiers obediently carrying out the orders of Christ our grand commander.
Imagine running a business with volunteer staff. There would be no commitment and dedication. Such volunteer staff show up if and when they like and they disappear if and when they like. No commitment. No accountability. Nothing at stake.
If no serious business entity would rely on volunteer staff for the execution of its core mandate, how come people think the kingdom OF THE ALMIGHTY GOD should be run on volunteering?
And it shows in the operations: when the going gets tough the volunteer walks away.....very easily.....because there is nothing at stake.
Joh 10:12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
Joh 10:13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
Apostle Paul didn’t volunteer to serve God. He obeyed the call of God upon his life. “Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision” Acts 26.19
The disciples of Jesus were not volunteers. They were servants of the Master who obeyed His call.
"Necessity is laid upon me….woe unto me if I preach not the gospel." 1Cor 9.16
It is very dangerous and damaging if ministers develop a "volunteer mentality."
It is a "no commitment, nothing-at-stake, anything goes" mentality.
No, the church is not a community of volunteers but of called out ones who are lovingly and joyfully obeying the call of the Master to serve.
We are a community of MINISTERS obeying and serving our Father joyfully from the heart.
We are not volunteers. We are ministers.
Don't raise volunteers. Groom MINISTERS.
Tayo Onaleye
Rom 1:5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
Christianity is a call to obedience, not to volunteering.
The church is not a volunteer organization. It is a community of people obeying a heavenly call.
We have been called to salvation.
You become a Christian by obeying the call to salvation.
We have been called to service.
You serve in the kingdom by obeying a command to serve. The call to serve in the kingdom is a COMMAND. It’s not a negotiable or debatable issue. It is not an opinion. It is a command.
“Go into all the world” is a very clear and direct command. It is a not a matter of personal preference or opinion.
Volunteering carries the image of something OPTIONAL……you can do it if you like or want to and if you don’t want or like to you can choose not to serve.
Volunteering also means that you can walk away when you get annoyed or dissatisfied. When you volunteer to serve in the Red Cross, for example, you are doing the Red cross a favour and you can withdraw your service at will.
Not so in God’s kingdom. Serving in the kingdom is not a favour to God or the brethren, it is obedience to a command to serve. It is a duty. It is an obligation.
We are not volunteer children of God. We are obedient children joyfully serving our Father. We are soldiers obediently carrying out the orders of Christ our grand commander.
Imagine running a business with volunteer staff. There would be no commitment and dedication. Such volunteer staff show up if and when they like and they disappear if and when they like. No commitment. No accountability. Nothing at stake.
If no serious business entity would rely on volunteer staff for the execution of its core mandate, how come people think the kingdom OF THE ALMIGHTY GOD should be run on volunteering?
And it shows in the operations: when the going gets tough the volunteer walks away.....very easily.....because there is nothing at stake.
Joh 10:12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
Joh 10:13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
Apostle Paul didn’t volunteer to serve God. He obeyed the call of God upon his life. “Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision” Acts 26.19
The disciples of Jesus were not volunteers. They were servants of the Master who obeyed His call.
"Necessity is laid upon me….woe unto me if I preach not the gospel." 1Cor 9.16
It is very dangerous and damaging if ministers develop a "volunteer mentality."
It is a "no commitment, nothing-at-stake, anything goes" mentality.
No, the church is not a community of volunteers but of called out ones who are lovingly and joyfully obeying the call of the Master to serve.
We are a community of MINISTERS obeying and serving our Father joyfully from the heart.
We are not volunteers. We are ministers.
Don't raise volunteers. Groom MINISTERS.
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