Why Church Members Stay Uninvolved—and How to Change It
By Ed Stetzer
Virtually every church faces the issue of members who are perpetually uninvolved. They are the spectators in the congregation. Many are faithful enough attendees but never move beyond that to be actively involved in the ministry of the church and mission of God. They go for the show, but not to serve. Church member involvement is not on their radar.
Why is that? The immediate assumption by many pastors and leaders is that all of the uninvolved attendees are simply lazy. They know they should serve, but they just don’t see the need or have the desire. This can be a dangerous attitude to have. Not everyone is inactive for the same reasons.
I believe there are three basic reasons people stay comfortably seated in their pews instead of serving. Once we know why, then we can go about helping them to move into service.
Reason #1: They Feel Useless.
These individuals feel as if they do not have anything significant to offer in ministry. They may believe that they personally are not qualified to serve in a ministry capacity or they might think that only special “clergy” can truly be involved in God’s work. What really needs to be corrected here is ignorance.
Those who feel useless simply may not know that they have been called and gifted by God for ministry. They need to learn what Peter wrote in his first epistle: “Based on the gift they received, everyone should use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God” (4:10 HCSB).
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Those commonly referred to as “clergy” and “laity” are both called to ministry—the only question is the kind of ministry they do. My fear is that we have created a class system in the body of Christ comprised of the “called” and the “not so much called.” Nothing could be further from the truth. All are called to the ministry—pastors have a different role, but it’s a common call.
People are called to ministry at conversion, not at some subsequent event. It is the ordinary who are called to ministry, not the extraordinary. Those who feel useless have to be patiently taught that God has gifted them for service within the body. Once they grasp this as fact, they can become some of the best ministers in the congregation.
