If you’re a Church leader, you may find it difficult to motivate your small group to get involved in local mission projects. Yet these projects are great opportunities to make Jesus known in your neighborhood. But every time, you’re disappointed that very few people get involved and you feel like you’re forcing things. How can you inspire people to participate without making them feel guilty?
We asked Jacob Matthieu, Church planter of Ecclesia in Saint-Jerome. Here is his answer.
In my opinion, there are two ways to make sure you inspire people without making them feel guilty.
1.
Always rejoice daily in the Good News of God’s grace. Jesus’s mission to us must be our primary motive for directing our lives to the mission. God gave his life for us; what a joy to be able to respond in giving our life for our neighbor.
“Jesus’s mission to us must be our primary motive”
2.
Does the leader function, in his own spiritual life, through obedience and worship or through guilt? Personally, when I center my thoughts on a quest for success or on my performance, I put pressure on others. When I am in admiration for Jesus’s work, it frees me from the burden of performing, and I can leave all the room for God’s direction in my life. It can also be helpful in coaching leaders to manage their lives and responsibilities.
“Personally, when I center my thoughts on a quest for success or on my performance, I put pressure on others. When I am in admiration for Jesus’s work, it frees me from the burden of performing”
Serving God is what contributes to our joy, but it is also a big challenge! When someone abandons his task, it is frustrating, but one must be gracious and remember that He is the one who acts.