As I live my life, I realize that is all about connections and relationships with people. When we isolate or elevate ourselves above others, we are not grounded and down to earth anymore and we forget that we are human just like everyone else in this world. We all bleed red blood. We all have hearts, organs, and flesh just like everyone else. As human beings, we have more in common than not in common. We can recognize this when we realize how human we really are.
I was a minister for the teen ministry at my church. I asked if I could be a minister for the teen ministry and I was invited in. There was even a service to welcome all teen ministers in. It was great. I shared my testimony of how God’s Grace radically changed my life and how it could radically change their lives as well. Everything was great, except that I just could not connect with the leader of the teen ministry because he was inaccessible. Because he was inaccessible, I could not get in touch with him to communicate with him which led to miscommunications and misunderstandings.
Communication is key in the ministry. We communicate with Jesus. That is my main line of communication in life that keeps me sane, healthy, and functioning. When I communicate with Jesus on a regular basis by keeping him first and releasing my heart to him daily and listening to him speak to my heart daily, my communication with people is healthy as well. I have great relationships, as long as my communication with Jesus is great. I believe church leaders should make it their business to regularly communicate with members and candidates for ministry positions and form connections and relationship with them. When church leaders form a relationship with members or candidates of ministry position it shows them that they are important to them and worthwhile to them. When you do not make time for people that communicates the opposite of that. We all get busy, but we make time for what is important to us. Jesus connected with the average person. He did not elevate himself at all to where he did not connect with people. Jesus was humble. Jesus had relationship with his disciples, tax collectors, harlots, and so many other people in the bible and churches. Church leaders should imitate that. I Corinthians 11:1 NKJV states, “imitate me, just as I imitate Christ”.
Churches and church leaders should connect with candidates of ministry positions and form relationships with them and not just have them fill a position in business. The connection they have with them will indicate whether they are a good fit for their ministry or not. The jobs in which I connect with the employer are the jobs that I always get. When I connect with the employer, I know I have the job. The same goes for churches. When church leaders are able to connect to the candidate of ministry position, that will let them know whether they are a good fit for the position or not. Many times, it is about if your spirit connects or if you have a kindred spirit with them, which is a determining factor on whether you get the job or not. It is all about connections in life. I work in sales at my job. Every time I connect with the customer, I usually always get the sale. If you are not able to connect in one area may be there is a connection in a different area. If you cannot find a connection somehow, it may be that the relationship is not meant to be. However, Jesus can be the connecting factor of any relationship. When all parties are focusing on Jesus, he will be the center piece of the conversation, the connecting factor.
When we connect with people, we are communicating to them that they are important to us. Jesus wants an intimate and personal relationship with us, which communicates to us that we are extremely important to him. We take the time to be interested in them as a person and not just for the business of things. When leaders connect with candidates for ministry positions, they are also communicating that you are important as a person and there is more to them than just being a minister in a position. Taking the time to form some type of connection or relationship amongst churches and ministry candidates is the key. When we do our research about a company we are interviewing for, we are connecting with the company and therefore are more likely to get the job, as opposed to knowing nothing about the company. When we do our research about a ministry we are also connecting and finding ways that we can connect to the ministry as well. There are many ways that churches can connect to candidate for ministry positions and vise versa.
