I have found that most people like to accumulate tools. Men tend to like tools that are found at the Sporting Goods store or the Hardware store, while women like tools that are found at the Kitchen Gadget store or home parties held by Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, Stampin' Up, etc.
Some have extravagant organizational systems like thousand dollar Snap-On rolling toolchests or hardwood custom cabinetry with marble counter-tops, while others use an empty 5-gallon bucket or plastic bins to move their tools from job to job.
Have you considered your ministry toolbox? I was adding tools to my ministry toolbox by attending a training workshop last Saturday and in a sidebar conversation somebody said "Just because you are a hammer doesn't mean everybody is a nail."
In my past years I have driven a nail with a hammer, the handle of a screwdriver, and the side of a wrench. but I have never set a screw with a wrench or turned a nut with a hammer. I have heard that women can use a kitchen knife to do just about any task (but they may ruin the screwhead so that it will never come out and may ruin the edge on the knife so that it won't even cut soft butter).
When teaching and leading others, it helps to have a variety of tools. Telling, questioning, assigning tasks, silence, doing activities, artistic representations (pictures, skits & videos), discussion in triads then reporting to the rest of the group, study guides, PowerPoint, Flip-charts are just a few tools that you can use.
Just as buying an expensive stand-mixer won't make a person a good cook, or having a quality table saw in the garage won't make you a good carpenter, collecting books or learning communication skills won't instantly guarantee that people are learning.
Each of these tool must be used at the right time, in the right way to increase the probability of a desired outcome.
What ministry tool do you need to add to your toolbox? Which of the tools that you already have do you need to learn to use more skillfully?
If there is anything God has been speaking to my heart as of late it is this: as a small group leader my primary role is to empower those in our group.
ReplyDeleteHow? By increasing their biblical knowledge, helping them to identify their gifts and find how God would have them use them, helping them to realize the importance of walking by faith as well as walking righteously, helping them to seek God, learn to discern His voice and follow Him in all they do.....oh and there's more! Then encouraging them to do all of that for another believer or for another group of believers themselves. To multiply themselves.
I am always looking for more tools, in fact I am quite convinced there are probably many out there I don't know about that would help me be far more effective.
I am looking to the Connect 3 meetings we have every other month to do just that - to train and equip us and provide MANY more tools and the knowledge of how, and when, to use them.
I've learned that as a leader I need to be quiet sometimes. When I stop delivering information to my group they begin to share what's on their mind and heart and ask great questions. At first silence seems awkward, but actually it never lasts long. So, the newest tool I put in my tool box is silence.
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