Your Job is Not to Make Your Volunteers Happy.
Cared for? Yes.
Celebrated? Absolutely.
Heard? 100%.
Equipped and encouraged and loved? Always.
But comfortable? Never.
The gravitational pull of any church will always be towards comfort (apologies to Andy Stanley for hijacking his quote). And the gravitational pull of anyone in a serving capacity is to take the foot off the gas of making others comfortable and instead, making ourselves comfortable.
It happens when we fail to show up…because it’s only one Sunday.
It happens when we stop caring about the things we used to care about.
It happens when we focus on the what and forget about the why.
So once again, let’s honor, bless, thank, equip, encourage, and cheer on our volunteers. Doing so delivers a byproduct of joy. But let’s never pursue the slippery slope of “keeping ’em happy.” Let’s lead our volunteers – and ourselves – to see that joy comes in honoring and serving others first.
