The Myth
There’s an unspoken myth in the church. It goes like this… There are really only four ways to serve God: be a preacher, work at the church, be a missionary (slide projector and all), or be Billy Graham. Although we would never admit this myth to be the reality, I’m sure we’ve all seen its effects. How many well-meaning, sincere Christians have you seen go to seminary or Bible college only to end up in a ministry job that is a bad fit? Or they end up quitting the pursuit, feeling like they just weren’t built to serve God?

This is a sad reality. The good news is, however, that you – the small group leader – have the opportunity (if not the obligation) to prove this myth false.

Your Call – Their Call
I’ll admit that I bought into the myth for some time and actually used part of what I’m about to show you to justify my thinking. Praise God that He revealed to me the power of reading in context and showed me a verse that has driven my ministry for the last few years.

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. – Ephesians 4:11-13 (NIV)

This passage beautifully lays out the role of Christian leaders and the body of Christ. Verse 11 may very well be the source of the myth, but verses 12-13 open up a proliferation of service opportunities for the body to fulfill, each as unique as the one carrying it out.

Group Members on Mission
There are a number of great tools out there for helping people figure out how God uniquely designed them from spiritual gifts surveys, to strength analyses, and personality assessments. While these are wonderful things to have access to, they still fail to plug people in or overcome the myth. So, I’d like to offer a simple equation for helping group members tap into God’s mission for their life:

(Gifts + Passions) Engaged for God’s Glory

The assessment tools listed above are great for helping people discover their gifts, but the fact is most people know how God has wired them. Second, most people have something that they’re passionate about. (Note: Some might think that their passions are not the makings of ministry. That’s ok, just naming them will help get the process moving.) Once group members have identified those two pieces, you can help them figure out how to engage that for God’s glory.

At this point, it is important for you to avoid the myth at all costs. It will be easy for someone to say (Playing Guitar + Performing Music) Engaged for God’s Glory, “I should play in the band at church!” While this is the perfect fit for some, it is important to help them think through other options, for instance: teaching free guitar lessons in an after school program.

Everyone has ways that God has gifted him or her. He’s also placed unique passions within each person. And there are few things more exciting to me than helping folks figure out how those can be engaged for God’s glory.

Putting it Into Action
It’s one thing to find a good place to fit, it is entirely another to actually put it into action. This is where the small group leader becomes the cheerleader and challenger, because at the end of the day it is totally up to the group member himself to get “on mission.”

There are several ways, however, that you can encourage group members to action:

•    Let them know that no service is bigger or smaller than another. We’re all part of the same mission of making God known to the world around us.
•    Remind them that no service is more or less holy than another. Some people are made to teach children’s Sunday school. Some are made to administer computer systems.
•    Encourage them with the fact that the only way they’ll ever know if it really is their place of mission is by doing it.

On Mission Examples
Many of us (even if we know better) have the mental image of the missionary with photos from the “mission field” teaching us how to say “hello” in the language of the area they serve in. (“Jambo” is Swahili for “hello.”) So, to help break that mold, here are a couple of examples of folks on mission.

A married couple from my church recently returned home from a year in India. They weren’t trained missionaries and they didn’t go there to start a church. What did they do? They engaged their skills in business and their passion for the people of India for God’s glory by helping a group of women start a business making gift cards and wrapping paper. This couple loved God and poured into these women by taking a risk. Now, these women have a stable source of income.

Or maybe you’ve heard of Gary Haugen, founder of International Justice Mission, who is using his education and law degree coupled with his passion for the oppressed to make a difference worldwide. Gary and his team face down injustice in the darkest corners of the world every day.

The truth is that your group members don’t have to travel around the world or even across the country. But, if they will seek to engage their gifts and passions for God’s glory, there’s no telling where He will take them.

Are you ready to get off the myth and be on mission?

For more information on the mission examples above, visit www.createdinternational.com and www.ijm.org.