By: Mitch Price
About a year or so ago, Lara and I attended a church conference at which God spoke something very clearly to me. I didn’t have a vision of angels or hear His audible voice call down from the sky, but it was real and powerful, nonetheless. I heard these words for our Church, “Needed & Known, and Discipled & Equipped.” After praying through exactly what that meant, I knew He wanted us to more fully understand who we are here at Life Church and what we’re about. From that encounter came “Life Church – A Family On A Mission”, and the key components from which to walk that out are that we’re “A Place To Be Needed & Known, Discipled & Equipped.” It wasn’t to be a Mission Statement per se, something you strive to achieve, but more of an Identity Statement resting and focusing on who we are at our essence.
We are very blessed as a church to have so many willing participants in the different ministries we offer. Our FAMILY on a MISSION. We’ve often equated it to hosting a potluck and hoping that everyone that comes brings something to share. Many people, however, seem reluctant to step-out too far in their faith and tackle something really big for God and seem content to remain more of a spectator.
Having been involved in ministry in some form or another for almost 20 years now, a couple misconceptions come to mind. The most common generally goes like this, “Ministry is for the Pastors and Church staff; after all, that’s what they get paid to do, right?” The second one goes right along with the first, “I don’t feel equipped or qualified to do ministry.”
I don’t know if this gives my fellow members comfort or cause for concern, but I too wrestle with feelings of not being qualified. I can relate to Moses when he asked God to choose someone else, claiming he wasn’t qualified or influential enough to accomplish what God was calling him to.
My ‘ole buddy David Lively once asked me, regarding becoming the Lead Pastor, “Do you have any idea what you’re getting yourself into?!” I literally chuckled as I thought about it. “Ummm, no David, I don’t. But if I did, I probably wouldn’t sign up for it.” But almost immediately I felt this assurance- if God leads me to it, He’ll see me through it.
We often hear people say, “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” As spiritual as that may sound, it’s totally unbiblical. God, most of the time, gives us more than we can handle . . . on our own, so we’re encouraged to turn to Him to get us through. He loves when we admit our unqualified-ness and call out to Him to make up the lack. That’s what He does!
God didn’t create you “just in case someone else didn’t work out.” You are not a backup, an understudy, or an extra. You are His “Plan A”! God created you with a purpose; a mission. He has a plan for what you have to offer this world. All He desires is for you to show up and say, “God, here I am”. You feeling qualified is irrelevant; If He calls you to it, He’ll see you through it!”
~ Pastor Mitch