I asked whether our goal is to turn every person into a leader. We went back to Scripture and stressed that our goal is not to train youth for leadership, but to lead them to maturity - not a maturity that only involves character but active ministry as well. Some may speak of Christlikeness being the goal of ministry among youth, and that is correct, although what many people may think this refers to character only. Christlikeness involves being like Christ in attitude, word and actions, as well as in character.
As the model stands at present, it seems that our goal is to produce youth leaders. This is incorrect. Actually the goal should be to present every person complete in Christ. The guiding passage that refers to the goal of ministry in the church is Ephesians 4: 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. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:11-16).
Christ has given gifted people to the body, to prepare people for works of service, so that together they can reach unity and maturity. The emphasis is on the body (vs 15,16) functioning together as each person does their work - ie. operates in the area of their spiritual gifts (compare 1 Corinthians 12).
The ultimate goal of ministry is not to make leaders but to turn every member into a minister. When we use the word minister we unfortunately think of a full-time pastor or worker. In fact, the New Testament understanding of a minister is one who serves in the body.
We should consider revising the sixth commitment level from Leader to Minister, with the stress on the fact that we are referring to every-member ministry, and not “the ministry” as the domain of a select few within the body. A number of contemporary writings on church ministry support this understanding:
* Willow Creek’s student ministry refer to believers becoming active participants in the church and discovering their spiritual gifts (Student Ministry for the 21st Century, Bo Boshers, Page 101).
* Saddleback’s strategy involves turning attenders into members and then turning members into ministers (The Purpose Driven Church, chapters 17-19). Rick Warren refers to Ephesians 2:10 and Ephesians 4:12 in support of his vision for every-member ministry. He has a ministry mission statement that is based on Romans 12:1-8: (1) every believer is a minister; (2) every ministry is important; (3) we are dependant on each other; and (4) ministry is the expression of our SHAPE: (a) spiritual gifts; (b) heart; (c) abilities; (d) personality; (e) experiences. He also says: “At Saddleback we teach that every Christian is created for ministry (see Eph, 2:10), saved for ministry (see 2 Tim. 1:9), called into ministry (see 1 Peter 2:9-10; gifted for ministry (see 1 Peter 4:10), authorised for ministry (see Matt. 28:18-20), commanded to minister (see Matt. 20:26-28), to be prepared for ministry (see Eph. 4:11-12), needed for ministry (see 1 Cor. 12:27), accountable for ministry, and will be rewarded according to his or her ministry (see Col. 3:23-24). (The Purpose Driven Church, Page 368).
We do not need an extra level after Minister for Leader because the commitment levels deal with the stages that every believer should progress through, and we do not expect every member to become a leader. However we do expect every member to become a minister. Some ministers may be leaders but most won’t be. Leading is simply one area of ministry. Within a youth group there are different gifts that operate - about 27 can be identified in the New Testament, including Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12; and Ephesians 4 - and one of these is leadership. Nowhere are we encouraged to desire the gift of leading the youth group, as if this is the goal of ministry. Each Christian reaching maturity should be expected to discover and operate with the gifts that they have been given.
If we go back to the original model as developed by Duffy Robbins, in Youth Ministry That Works, we note that he called the sixth level, Multiply.
His understanding of this level is that multipliers would go back into the pool of humanity and pull people through the funnel. This is probably beyond the capability of the average believer, but changing the understanding of this level to Minister stresses that all are involved in the fulfilling of the Great Commission as they identify and use their spiritual gift within the local church.
The revised commitment levels are as follows:
Return to Model of Youth Ministry