For a Definition of "Commitment" Look Under "Volunteers"

For a Definition of “Commitment”

Look Under “Volunteers” 

by Rev. Jack Hulsey

It is not often that I have the opportunity to acknowledge the work of Woodlake Baptist Church’s volunteers. Commitment within a church body is of critical importance and it occurred to me that within Woodlake Baptist there are many examples of Christian’s committed to the work and without them this church would not be the church that it is today.

Our organizational chart has 150 plus names on it, folks serving in every position from the Benevolence Committee to Chairman of the Stewardship Committee.  Some of these individuals are serving in two, three or four different positions. In Baptist life, our committees tend to be the brunt of far too many stale jokes and cheap shots (a group of people who can't decide how to do what one person can't do on his own, etc.), but here's a fact we all have to learn to deal with: this system of church government permits you, the member, more say and more influence than Democratic governments do.  The government of the typical Baptist Church could easily be a model for secular government to imitate. We can thank our committee members – volunteers all – for this.

If they were not fully committed to carrying out the work we profess to believe the Lord has given us to do, it would show up in virtually everything that happens in this church body.  As it is we have numerous key functions being carried out by volunteers that most larger churches hire people to take care of. We can't do without Sunday school. We can't do without a church treasurer to manage the business end of things.  We can't do without a group to formulate our annual budget or schedule our mission trips or prepare the hundreds and hundreds of meals we have for special occasions. We certainly can't do without people to take care of the maintenance and upkeep of this physical facility. We can't do without Vacation Bible School. And with all the advances in computer technology that keep coming along – and the reliance we place on that technology for record keeping and financial accounting – we are increasingly dependent upon someone to offer constant technical expertise.

Those are all fields for which the mega-churches hire experts and pay them big money. But at Woodlake Baptist Church, everything described above is handled by volunteers – volunteers so dedicated, so committed to his or her mission that we can call upon them 24/7 and they'll be right on the case, no questions asked. 

There are lower-profile committee positions too, positions that don't have the glamour and glitz of some of the others. Each and every one of them, however, contribute something very necessary. The Bible says to let our commitment to the work reflect our commitment to the Lord. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” (Colossians 3:23).  That is what I see mirrored in our volunteers. They are pulling this church’s oars, and I hope we appreciate them for all they are worth.