In youth ministry (or most any ministry for that matter), getting the right volunteers is key. In a low-funded, big-vision ministry world, getting the best volunteers to join you on your quest is absolutely non-negotiable.
In a very real sense, Jesus had to recruit volunteers to join Him on His mission to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). To recruit the best ministry volunteers, Jesus did three simple things—and so can we!
1. Start with prayer.
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also designated apostles. Luke 6:12-13
Before anything else, Jesus prayed. He prayed for wisdom. He prayed for favor. He prayed that God would show Him the characteristics He would need in His volunteers. And then He prayed for divine insight to see those characteristics clearly in those He was considering. I’m sure Jesus even prayed that God would prepare the hearts of those He would ask.
The result was the choosing of the twelve disciples. And only one was a “bad” choice, humanly speaking. Divinely speaking, that bad choice was part of God’s plan to accelerate Jesus toward the cross, the resurrection, and the salvation of humanity.
In the same way, our volunteer-recruitment process must be drenched in prayer from top to bottom. If Jesus took a prayer retreat before the recruitment process, then maybe we should too.
2. Make a profile!
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them He said: ‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying: This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish. Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.’ Luke 14:25-33
The ministry profile of what it would take to enter into a disciple/rabbi relationship with Jesus was the result of relentless prayer. To get on Team Jesus was free (as Jesus makes clear over and over again in verses like John 3:16). But to be a starter on Team Jesus would cost you everything. I’m sure many in the crowd turned back after hearing the list that Jesus had given them of what it would take to be on His starting team.
Have you written a ministry profile of what you’re looking for in your volunteers? Are the expectations clear? I encourage you to write a straightforward job description with character expectations and ministry expectations that everyone can understand and, with help of the Holy Spirit, achieve. Make the expectations clear and the mission compelling. Give the volunteers a chance to “count the cost” before they say yes.
3. Persuade them to say yes!
‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ At once they left their nets and followed Him. Matthew 4:19-20
Jesus “persuaded” Peter and Andrew to say yes by giving them a vision, not to fish for fish but to fish for people. He gave them an eternal motivation that far surpassed fish and chips. He gave them a vision to reach the world with the message of hope!
It surprises a lot of people that this calling of Peter and his brother Andrew was not the first time they had encountered Jesus. By this time, they had been with and around Jesus for about 12 to 18 months. The chronology of Jesus’s ministry is often new to people, but suffice it to say that Jesus didn’t just walk up to Peter and Andrew out of the blue and say, “Come follow me!”
No, He had gotten to know them, and they had gotten to know Him. They had seen several miracles and heard many teachings by the time He asked them to follow Him. In a very real sense, this was a persuasion process. After months of being around Jesus, they knew He was the real deal, and He knew they were sincere and serious—serious enough to make great disciples and eventual world-changers.
In the same way, as we begin to pray for wisdom and build a ministry profile as to what the best volunteers look like in our particular ministry context, we can identify and get to know those we’re praying about recruiting. And they can get to know us. At the right time, we can have a conversation and gently persuade them to say yes to joining the volunteer team.
It’s so important to get this right. Doing the youth ministry volunteer “altar call” on Sunday morning can get you all the wrong kind of volunteers. Instead, pray for God’s wisdom, and write a ministry profile of the characteristics of the ideal candidates (which should include a combination of spiritual hunger, true humility, and a heart for teenagers and THE Cause of Christ). Then set out to gently persuade these candidates to say yes to being a volunteer in your youth ministry.
Nobody in history did a better job at recruiting the best volunteers than Jesus. Let’s learn from Him!
