Have you ever heard a church leader clarify the difference between being a volunteer and being a servant. It is not a subject that came up for me in seminary. I have heard church leaders use the words servants and volunteers as though they are synonymous, but they are not. And the difference between them is the difference between the passionate and the interested.
1. Volunteer is the language of the club
Servant is the language of the church,
Every church has a legitimate club dimension. If someone volunteers to be sure that the doors of the church building are unlocked at a certain time, they are unlikely to do the task with passion. Much of what happens in a church has the same dynamic as any other group who meets regularly. Volunteers take care of many of the necessary, but sometimes mundane, needs of the church. Servants do what they do with passion. Can an usher be a servant? Yes, but it is not likely. In most churches the staff and select few lay people function as servants providing the passion while the rank and file are recruited to do the mundane stuff, which the volunteers do.
2. Volunteers pick and choose where and when they will participate, they are willing.
Servants need to participate, they are compelled.
3. Volunteers operate on some level of compliance.
Servants operates on just one level of commitment
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About Me
- Rich
- I am a slave to no man or institution. I have worked with Frank Tillapaugh for thirty years and most of the ideas are work we would like to share.
The next generation
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Each year I get to spend time with young leaders and the gap is growing between them and my generation, why?
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2 comments:
I've heard this explained through the difference between people who serve and people who are servants. One (servant) is by identity, whereas the other (those who serve) is by choice. When it is by choice, we can choose NOT to do it, but when it is by identity, it is in the fiber of who we are so there is no choice involved.
Didn't Jesus refer to himself as a servant first? It follows that we would be most like a church if we followed his example :)
So, what specifically does make the difference between a servant and a volunteer? Me thinks it is the why one does what he/she would ordinarily not do...and whether it is at "church" or at work, the "why" is what matters, no? I wish you would use the name Christ Jesus more often; morons like myself might get your point faster. :)
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