When you evaluate your effectiveness, what measures do you use? Do you use class attendance? How about number of guests? Do you evaluate yourself more on the interaction during your most recent lesson? Or do you look for measures of obedience or life-change in those who attend? All of these measures have value, but I want to suggest an even more important way to measure your effectiveness: how do you mobilize more leaders?
Mobilize More Leaders
What do I mean when I say mobilize? Simply, I mean preparing and sending more leaders into service in your class, church, or community. I encourage you to take an annual count of the teachers, leaders, and workers in all three settings (class, church, and community) that have come out of your class.
Gather a small leadership group to help you count. I encourage you to track the total for all time and for that year. Then compare how that year compared to the previous year.
If the number has increased or decreased, seek to recognize why? It may be you sent a leadership team out the previous year to start another class which led to the need to develop new leaders in your class (you should count both sets). When you have the information and totals, remember to celebrate what God has done through your time together as a class.
How Can I Increase Mobilization?
There are several essential actions you can take during the course of your leadership as teacher. Consider the following:
- pray to the Lord of the harvest to send workers (Matthew 9:38)
- expect the Lord to send workers and leaders (and begin to look for those He has sent)
- help group members understand the natural connection of growing as a disciple and serving
- lead your group to join you in praying for workers, leaders, and serving needs in the class, church, and community
- help group members identify how their SHAPE (spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality, and experiences) prepare them to be used by God in service
- ask group members to join you in carrying out essential tasks of your work as a teacher
- spend time away from class with group members to get to know them, affinities, and how you might disciple and mobilize them effectively.
This measure of your effectiveness is huge. It measures so many great things, including teamwork and growth as disciples. It measures participation and increased caring for others. Mobilization can even measure the effectiveness of your teaching and group member’s application and obedience. In addition, it measures Kingdom mindset.
Look for opportunities to give attention and leadership here. Start where you are. If you mobilized none last year, set a goal. Build from there. Make it a group prayer and goal. Make disciples. Mobilize leaders. Be revolutionary!
Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash
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