346. Purpose of Team Ministry
It is good to see our team ministry growing. But I’m not sure if everyone is aware of the purpose of team ministry. Team ministry’s ultimate purpose is to assist House Church ministry. It is because house church is the main body of evangelism and mission in our church. Most teams provide opportunities to serve in Sunday operation, which ensures Sunday service happens smoothly, where each house church’s VIPs make their first visit. When we fail to make the connection between team ministry and house church ministry, team ministry can easily become a playground, not a helpful assistant.
When any organization grows, it doesn’t become simpler, but more complex. It is because, when the resource were very limited, it was forced to limit all its resources to the most important mission. But as it grows, resources get diverted as more internal needs are raised. (Money is not the only resource, time is also a valuable resource.)
When we are swayed by seemingly urgent and important “needs”, like a baby that cries constantly just to get attention, we drift from the mission and lose energy for what is most important. Because mission-critical activities are often important but seemingly “non-urgent” activities that don’t have clear deadlines. These types of activities are like babies that don’t cry, that without continual monitoring, they are easily forgotten and neglected.
The simple way to summarize the optimal relationship between team ministry and house church ministry is this: Team ministry is where you “draw” energy, and house church ministry is where you “spend” energy. For example, cleaning the house is far easier and satisfying than parenting. Because cleaning is a one-time event that has a clear end-date, whereas parenting is an ongoing responsibility that has no near end-date. Doing something that has a clear deadline while using our gift or passion can be satisfying and fulfilling. But dealing with relationships and pouring love for VIPs in house church without a clear end-date can be draining. That’s why we encourage everyone to have one role in team ministry (energy income) and one role in house church (energy expense).
A healthy scenario would be team ministry providing energy for house church ministry. But when team ministry takes away the energy for house church ministry, that could be the sign that we are drifting away from the mission. So, we must monitor continually whether our energy is directed to the right ministry.
