Photo: Unsplash – Kraken Images

One of the great challenges for church leaders is how to fill the many roles that need to be filled in order for the church to be able to continue to function. (We could have a separate discussion about whether all the roles need to be filled, and how church structures could and should develop, but that’s for another time.) This is linked to the reality that whilst church is first and foremost family, it is also an organisation and indeed a legal charitable entity.

So how do we get the balance between family and organisation? Or, to put it more starkly, how do we balance the tone of grace that is essential to gospel culture, with the need to find people to fill different roles? This is an issue for churches of every size, but perhaps particularly relevant for those churches which are smaller.

Let me start with a few simple principles from Scripture that I hope we can agree on:

Everything is by grace

Everything in the Christian life, from start to finish, is by grace in the power of the Holy Spirit. We see this in Ephesians 2:1-10, where Paul emphasises that we are saved by grace (verses 8-9); we grow by grace (see also the whole of Colossians!); and we are enabled to walk in the good works God has prepared for us by grace (verse 10). What is grace? It’s been defined in lots of different ways, but in my view the most helpful way of thinking about grace is that it is God giving himself to us in Christ by the Spirit. He gives us himself in Christ to bring us to life by the Spirit; he gives us himself in Christ to equip us by the Spirit; and so on.

Service is a blessing – and hard work

In our consumerist culture it’s possible to form a negative view of service. But Scripture presents service as a blessing. For example, Paul famously quotes Jesus as saying “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). Indeed, as I’ve suggested elsewhere, the love life of the 3 persons of the Trinity suggests that true joy and happiness is to be found precisely in serving others. Service is therefore part of God’s grace to us – a means of grace through which he reveals himself and draws us into his joyful and happy life of love.

Of course, it’s also the case that service is hard work, and while God’s grace is working in us and through us, his grace energises us to work hard – and that work feels hard! (Colossians 1:28-29, Philippians 2:12-13.)

God produces the fruit

In the final analysis, it is God who bears the fruit. This is very clear in John 15:1-8, where Jesus’s command to his followers is to remain in him; and his promise is that when they do, they will bear fruit. What is the fruit? A whole variety of things, including obedience, faith, growing character and maturity (both individual and corporate), and growth in size of the vine as new disciples are brought in.

We are all uniquely gifted (and God gives the body what is needed)

The metaphor of the church as a body is used many times in Paul’s letters (eg Ephesians 4:4, 15; Colossians 2:19, 3:15), but it is most fully developed in 1 Corinthians 12.  Paul emphasises (among other things) that each believer is part of the body (verses 12-14); that we all have different gifts (verse 7); that every part / gift is needed and is for the good of the body as a whole (verse 7, 21); and that the less ‘exalted’ gifts should be treated with special care and respect (verse 23).  It’s also worth saying that the New Testament gives other lists of gifts elsewhere, and personally I think we should include ‘natural abilities’ such as administration, service and leadership in our definition of ‘gifts’ (see for example Romans 12:7-8).

I also find it encouraging that all this means that God gives the body exactly what it needs for the work he has for the body to do. If a particular part / gift hasn’t been provided at this point – we need to reassess whether he wants us to be doing that thing.

God wants the body to multiply

One final thing that it’s worth mentioning briefly: One of the key ways in which the body grows is through multiplication, that is, the planting of new churches or worshipping communities. It’s beyond the scope of this article to explore that in detail (and lots of other people are far more qualified than me to write about it), but simply to say that churches must be willing to give up their best people for the starting of new communities of faith beyond the immediate church family. Yes, it’s painful and hard – particularly for a smaller church. But if the above principles are true then we can trust God to provide what we need in the ‘remaining’ local church as well.

‘Filling roles’ in the life of the church

What does all this mean practically for the question of how to fill ‘gaps’ in church life?

  • As far as possible, we should enable people to work according to their gifting and passion. It may be that new ministries come to light, new ways of doing things, even new churches. We should also seek to help people discover and explore what their gifting and passions are.
  • Where there are roles that need to be done for legal or practical purposes (finances, safeguarding etc) – pray that God would reveal the right person; share the need with the church family; think creatively.
  • Make it a priority to thank and encourage God’s people for what they do – take none of it for granted.
  • Ensure that the roles are clearly defined and time-limited. Make it clear that they’re not signing up for life; provide an ‘off ramp.’
  • If there’s really no-one to fill the role (and it’s not essential) – either leave it vacant until someone volunteers, or if necessary and possible find outside help.
  • If you are a pastor – whatever you do, don’t just fill in all the gaps yourself. You are also uniquely gifted – and you also need to work according to the gifting God has given you.

What other things have you found helpful? I’d love to hear them!

Taking it further

I have written about these things more extensively in a book – ‘Equipped’ – which is yet to be published. I’d be happy to forward you a copy if you send me an email – the address is in the sidebar of this blog; or message me on Facebook.