Every person who attends your church needs to know the answer to this question. Church leaders, how are you answering it?

There are two thoughts that lead me to this question. The first comes from Christopher Brook’s blog. He contemplates our freedom of conversion in contrast to the cost associated with that conversion. In some cultures, it has become illegal to convert from one religion to another… and that obviously presents a problem for Christianity. Even in Westernized countries our culture questions the morality of religious conversion. And it led Chris to the question, “Why are conversions down in America?” Why is it hard to have someone new come into the faith and easy for them to walk away?

The second comes from an observation I made in talking to a former student yesterday. We were talking about her choice to change churches. At Romeo she felt as if no one really cared about her… rather focused on what could she do. Or extended guilt because of one thing or another. She’d have a few weeks where she wouldn’t be at church for various reasons. Upon returning she felt like no one really cared about her story, just immediately asked her to serve. Talk about devaluing a persons journey. She doesn’t want to come to a church where her worth is answered in “she fills a slot in ___ ministry.” And I don’t blame her.

This leads me to say this, I think it is every churches responsibility to help their people understand how they matter. 

People are wondering… do I fit in here? Are these my people? Am I one of them? Or am I just another body to fill a slot, fund a ministry, and boost the Sunday morning attendance by one. Here’s what they need to know.

1. Does my service matter?

2. How does my money matter?

3. Do my prayers matter?

4. Does my journey of messiness fit in?

5. Do my vocational talents/interests matter?

6. Do I matter enough to be loved for who I am right now?

7. Am I worth a phone call, email, facebook message, text message?

8. Do you love me for who I am or what I can do for you?

Next, I wonder how many church leaders will read this and think… “How arrogant that a person would want to know how ‘they’ matter to my church? Of course they matter. I just don’t have time to tell people they matter.” My reply to that is pretty simple. People matter. It’s the reason why we do church. People are the reason there is a church. People are the reason we did all this training. People are the reason we have programs to find people to work in. People are the reason we prepare messages. It really is all about the people. And people is made up of very expensive individuals. Each one cost Christ a lot. Each individual is more valuable than your building, budget, or Bible lesson.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

For discussion: How do you express people’s worth where you go to church? 

This was just posted over at Youth Ministry Exchange. Here’s an excerpt:

Here’s a thought that will blow your mind. The God of the Universe chose you to help him build the church in your town. Here’s another thought to give you some perspective. The God of the Universe has an enemy, Satan, whose deepest desire is to distract, discourage, debilitate, and destroy you. It’s as if Satan has a special department in the community you live in just for that. Just like there is a Street Department and Water Department, Satan runs the Ministry Destruction Department in your town and people like you are his number one project.  Read the rest

I am very proud of the “You Matter” series at YMX. There is a reality in “church world” that most people who work a churches are often discouraged. They are paid to encourage and lift up… and yet the church is a tough place to work. We came up with the idea of You Matter to step in and write a series of articles to and for our friends. The result is amazing! I love that peers are encouraging peers. It isn’t about numbers or time in full time ministry, it’s about practically encouraging one another.

Yesterday we kicked off a series of articles at YMX. Let me tell you why I’m excited about this series. It is practical, between the eyes, encouragement to youth workers.

One of the main goals of YMX is to be an encouragement to the Youth Ministry community. So I have been asking our forum moderators and a few other folks to write brief notes of encouragement to the community called “You Matter.”

Why is this so important?
This is purely practical. This is the time of year church staff and volunteers are under a lot of pressure. Tough to isolate the source of that pressure for everyone… but there is pressure. This is the time of year when a lot of ministries hit the long part of their schedules. Endless weeks of planning and executing between now and June are ahead. This is the time of year when many people experience seasonal depression. All that to say, this is the perfect time to encourage the discouraged. 

Here’s an incomplete list of You Matter articles you can expect to see over the next few days. You Matter to God, You Matter to Your Community,  You Matter to Your Spouse, You Matter to Your Students, You Matter to Your Schools, You Matter to your Church, You Matter to Your Spouse, You Matter to Parents.

Yesterday, Patti kicked this in with flare.

You matter.  It’s not what you do, it’s you.  More than you matter to your family, your students, your church, or anyone else, you matter to God.

When the days are hard, it’s tough to remember that before you mattered to anyone else, you mattered to God.  He knew you first.  He sees your whole life from beginning to end, and He always has.  He sees your potential and created you to fulfill it.  He knows what it is to be you, face what you face, feel what you feel, because He put on frail humanity for you.  No, He hasn’t faced your elder board or senior pastor, or a difficult parent, or your unruly students.  But He has faced Pilate, the High Priests, his broken-hearted mother, a skeptical hometown, and mentored a promising but thick-headed group of guys (who incidentally achieved astounding results after He’d gone on). Read the rest