May 5, 2013

By Phil Maynard

“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first, must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to be served, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  (Matthew 20:26-28)

One of the most common issues I encounter when working with churches (either new church plants or congregations in transformation) is that a very small percentage of people (10-20%) do 80-90% of the work.  This percentage becomes even smaller when we look beyond the walls of the church to serving others.

In the research done through Willow Creek Community Church and reported in Move: What 1,000 Congregations Revealed about Spiritual Growth it is clear that service is a “causequence” of spiritual growth.  It is both the result of people moving toward maturity as disciples and a catalyst for continued growth.  In fact, the Reveal study indicated that among the quarter million church goers surveyed, serving others was more conducive to spiritual growth than even involvement