Of Serving in Some Ministries
I had a conversation with a friend over the weekend, and we were talking about serving in ushering, or more particularly, leaving ushering as a ministry. On reflection of the conversation, I realised that at least in my own church, we have a tendency to use certain language that betrays how we think of the different ministries. Here's a replicate paraphrase of what roughly transpired during the conversation:
A: I heard that you left ushering
Me: Yeah, there were certain circumstances. I was asked to leave so that I can focus on other ministries.
A: Yeah, me too. I left sometime back. They asked me, "so when am I going to move on" and I think I got the signal...
Then I realised that we inevitably use words and phrases like "move on" and "advance" and "other ministries" to describe our experience on leaving ushering. Other languages which we used to use back in my younger days are "I will start off with ushering and see where God leads me", "Ushering is a good starting point". I begin to wonder if we are seeing service in ministries as ushering as lowly and we subconsciously rank the different ministries.
But make no mistake. I do and still feel that ushering, given its low entry requirement, is an excellent ground for anyone to start serving in church, on top of what they may be doing within their own lifegroup. What I am feeling uncomfortable is that sometimes we may be tempted to ask someone to "move on" from ushering or other ministries so that they can "advance" to other ministries. If we do so, and I admit I used to bear these thoughts, then what is the message that we are sending to our people? Would it not be surprising that people flock to more prominent ministries like life leadership, worship leading, backup singer etc? And again, just to disclaim, I have nothing against these ministries. In fact, it would have been a waste if someone with their respective gifts are not being allowed to be released to serve in where they can edify the body of Christ the most.
We just need to be cautious that we do not subconsciously rank all these ministries. With regard to this, I can only be reminded of the exhortation by Paul:
And that is the reason why I have argued, when I was still leading the ushering ministry, that ushers are important as they are the first level of contact for any visitors to the church. If the ushers are not serving well, visitors' impression of the church might have been formed before they even get to experience the worship session or hear the sermon.
A: I heard that you left ushering
Me: Yeah, there were certain circumstances. I was asked to leave so that I can focus on other ministries.
A: Yeah, me too. I left sometime back. They asked me, "so when am I going to move on" and I think I got the signal...
Then I realised that we inevitably use words and phrases like "move on" and "advance" and "other ministries" to describe our experience on leaving ushering. Other languages which we used to use back in my younger days are "I will start off with ushering and see where God leads me", "Ushering is a good starting point". I begin to wonder if we are seeing service in ministries as ushering as lowly and we subconsciously rank the different ministries.
But make no mistake. I do and still feel that ushering, given its low entry requirement, is an excellent ground for anyone to start serving in church, on top of what they may be doing within their own lifegroup. What I am feeling uncomfortable is that sometimes we may be tempted to ask someone to "move on" from ushering or other ministries so that they can "advance" to other ministries. If we do so, and I admit I used to bear these thoughts, then what is the message that we are sending to our people? Would it not be surprising that people flock to more prominent ministries like life leadership, worship leading, backup singer etc? And again, just to disclaim, I have nothing against these ministries. In fact, it would have been a waste if someone with their respective gifts are not being allowed to be released to serve in where they can edify the body of Christ the most.
We just need to be cautious that we do not subconsciously rank all these ministries. With regard to this, I can only be reminded of the exhortation by Paul:
To a church that is increasingly displaying pride over the manifestation of the more "spiritual gifts", Paul stated that different kinds of gifts and ministries are given by the same God and Holy Spirit and thus are all the same before the eyes of God.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.- 1 Corinthians 12:4-6
And that is the reason why I have argued, when I was still leading the ushering ministry, that ushers are important as they are the first level of contact for any visitors to the church. If the ushers are not serving well, visitors' impression of the church might have been formed before they even get to experience the worship session or hear the sermon.
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