The Holy Cause and Effect of Training Leaders

LifeWay-MinistryGrid_TAG_HI_RES1As Christians, it can often be too easy to grab hold of an idea found in a passage of Scripture and overlook the context around the passage. The more familiar the verse, the easier it can be to lose sight of the context.

Ephesians 4 is a passage most Christians have heard their whole lives:

“And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers…”

Often times, this passage is used to elevate the concept of spiritual gifts. I, personally, have heard this passage taught as a comfort to those who are bestowed with less obvious gifts than the people serving in vocational ministry. “Don’t worry, God has equipped other people to do the big jobs.” While this a foolish, even dangerous interpretation, there is certainly a clear truth in this passage—God has gifted His people for unique roles in ministry. But if you keep reading, a fuller picture emerges:

“…for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.” (Ephesians 4:11-13, HCSB)

Paul makes it clear. God bestows unique gifts on His people to serve a larger, communal purpose—the church. Every member of the church has a role to play, and when people are trained to understand and utilize their gifts, something remarkable happens. The body is built up and the church is unified. Simply put, training leaders leads to healthier churches.

Looking at the state of the church in America, it is obvious that we have a problem developing leaders. While the vast majority of churches would say that training leaders is important, research shows that only 1 in 4 churches actually have a plan to do so. The reality for many churches is that they simply aren’t equipped to train all their people across multiple ministry areas. And even when they have a plan to train, people are busy, and it can prove difficult to get them out to a training event. The need is clear—churches need a better way to train all their leaders.

It is for this holy cause and effect that Ministry Grid was created. Launching on November 12, Ministry Grid is a customizable platform for churches that facilitates a biblical model of training for every leader and ministry area in the church. The video-based platform provides more than 1,500 video training sessions on every ministry topic from the parking lot to the pulpit. Training content is available at any time, in any location, thanks to a flexible web- and mobile-based platform.

Ministry Grid also makes it easy for pastors to assign training, track giftedness, and monitor all their people’s progress at a glance. We believe it is training made simple. Ministry Grid is a powerful tool to help churches uncover the holy cause and effect of training found in Ephesians 4:11–13 and will be available to churches on 11.12.13. To learn more, visit ministrygrid.com.