By John Richardson
If your men’s ministry is thriving, men will be eager to serve in the home, church, and community. In order to get to that place, you must find the rhythm of encouragement and appreciation. Without this rhythm, your leaders will go back and forth between trying to convince guys to get involved and figuring out what reward will keep them coming back. In the meantime, the weight of service will be on the leader, robbing the men in your ministry from the full joy of serving Christ.
Think of the rhythm of encouragement and appreciation as the pattern of intrinsic motivation and observable impact. With this model, your leaders are tapping into men’s internal drive and then publicly celebrating their service by recognizing the fruits of their labor. You can come up with several different rhythms to help your men serve effectively.
You might, for example, provide opportunities to invest in the lives of underprivileged children (intrinsic motivation) and then share the effect on those kids’ lives by the men who served (observable impact). Call your men to make a change, not just complete a project. Too often, we ask too little of men in their service. Tapping into their deep potential to help change lives may be the catalyst that motivates them to a generous giving of time, resources, and energy. A project that serves underprivileged children is just one possible way to make a difference. Once the project is finished or after it has been going for a significant time, show appreciation by celebrating the lives that have changed thanks to the men’s service.
Another way to apply this rhythm could be identifying the spiritual gifts and special skills your men possess (intrinsic motivation) and then organize and deploy them in keeping with the identified gifts and skills (observable impact). In this case the intrinsic motivation is uncovering how each man is wired and how he can contribute to your ministry and community. The recognized outcome is making sure men have real opportunities to utilize those skills and gifts. Once this rhythm is identified and launched, men will be serving in areas that give them energy, and the observable impact of their service will connect them with a purpose beyond any single project.
Think about the service your men are involved in or where you want them to be involved. An inner drive to be involved will always outlast any external encouragement. Let that be your starting point. Then celebrate the outcomes, and in so doing, keep the rhythm going.
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