You may be ignoring your need for outside help, or overlooking a resource person right under your pulpit. An excerpt from THE AMAZING POTENTIAL OF ONE SURRENDERED CHURCH (p.46).
There seem to be two extremes among leaders today. One is to overlook potential resource people within the church, looking too quickly for outsiders to help. The other extreme is to ignore excellent resources outside the local church. In some cases the leaders want to seek outside help but the congregation members see this as weak leadership. In other cases, members of the congregation sense the need for outside help but the leaders feel they can and should find their own solutions and resources from within.
Barnabas’ example merits some of our reflection. “And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul†(Acts 11:25).
Barnabas concluded that the church would benefit from the resources of someone who wasn’t currently attending. In this case, the perceived need was for teaching, so the new disciples and the church as a whole could receive the deeper theological foundation they needed, especially as a Gentile church that needed to discover how known truth (with its Jewish emphasis) could reconcile with their Gentile background and culture.
Saul would have been known by Barnabas as one uniquely qualified to join him in instructing the church. But it must have required humility for Barnabas to go for help. If he had been more prideful, Barnabas might have insisted on being the only recognized teacher in the church. But he overcame any such pride and sought what was best for the church even if it meant diminishing his own role.
FOR DISCUSSION
If you take an honest look at your church, prayerfully asking God to show you what He desires to accomplish, what resources would advance the ministry and why?
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