How Mature Do You Have to Be to Participate in the Church?

How should we navigate the question about who can do ministry and who can participate in serving? What kind of qualities and characteristics do people need to have in order to "do the stuff"?

Many churches in my tradition have long held to the catchy slogan that “everyone gets to play” and there are hundreds of people who attend the church I serve who love and live this value out. It’s a really big deal for us. We believe that all followers of Jesus, those who belong to Christ, have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:1-17). There is a rich biblical theology behind this value that’s rooted in the Old Testament’s promise that one day God’s presence would transition from being with the people of God to being in the people of God.¹

But from time to time, people ask a different question: Should everyone actually play? In other words, what about people who are still struggling or who haven’t yet surrendered certain areas of their lives? What about those who still smoke cigarettes or drink beer or cuss a little (or maybe a lot)? Should they be allowed to “do the stuff” and pray for people to be healed and share what they believe God’s put on their heart? I’m using those examples because I’ve found those are the sins that seem to irk churchy people the most (while ignoring many other issues or sins).

I’m gonna try and share some thoughts on that question in a moment but first I do want to clarify an important tension that exists in my own local church… not everyone who “does ministry” is in a leadership role. I don’t think there’s the same level of expectations or accountability for someone who serves as a pastor and someone who is, for example, volunteering on the coffee team or playing a musical instrument. Pastors are called to be “above reproach” (1 Tim. 3:2) and there are numerous passages that lay out characteristics, qualities, and expectations for them. But I’m talking more about the people who attend the church and who are in the process of discipleship to some degree and who may even be brand new to the Christian faith. What about them?

David Pytches, in Come Holy Spirit, wrestled with the question of “who should minister” when he asked the question as follows:

“If this ministry is potentially for all, how mature, whole and holy does a person need to be before he/she can be trusted with it?”

How mature does one have to be to pray for someone? Who holy does one have to be in order for God to answer that prayer? I’ve had numerous people ask me point blank about how we can allow people to participate in praying for people when they are still struggling with certain habits. By what measurements should we determine when or if people can “do the stuff” of Jesus’ kingdom?

Again, I think Pytches’ work is helpful because his answer is profound. He answered this question by writing:

“As mature, whole and holy as the disciples were when Jesus trusted them with such ministry.”

Now for some, this answer probably leads them to conclude that people shouldn’t pray for others or join the music team or serve on a team until they are mature and disciplined leaders who have overcome all of their struggles. And there are plenty of churches that function this way. After all, the Apostles were mighty men (and women, shout out to Junia of Rom. 16:7) of God. They were steeped in the theology of the Kingdom and had come to a level of holiness that we can only hope to achieve.

Wait… not so fast.

The Disciples Were Messy.

David Pytches notes fifteen ways in which the Disciples were deficient in their spirituality. They were ambitious (Mark 9:34), argumentative (Mark 9:33), cowardly (Matt. 26:70-74), critical (Matt. 26:8), deceived (Matt. 17:16), deserters (Mark 14:50), doubtful (Mark 8:4), dull minded (Matt. 15:16), faithless (Matt. 17:20), greedy (John 12:6; Matt. 26:14-15), misunderstood Jesus’ mission (Matt. 16:22), prayerless (Mark 9:28-29), revengeful (Luke 9:54), unforgiving (Matt. 18:21), and unloving (Mark 10:13). Pytches writes,

“These were the people Jesus appointed to minister in his name (Luke 9:1-6 and 10:1-12). Clearly these men were not yet mature, whole or holy, yet Jesus chose to commission them to preach and heal, etc.”

Now thoughtful people will note that the majority of these examples are prior to Jesus’ resurrection and one could point out that after Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit to baptize and indwell those Disciples, things changed because the Disciples become the Apostles and they exponentially matured.

That’s a fair point.

But we have to consider the examples we find in the New Testament that establish that the church has always been a community of messy discipleship. After all, the church in Corinth was a train wreck (1 Cor. 10:21; 11:17-18; 11:21-27) and Paul noted that he was still maturing as he pursued the high calling of Jesus (Phil. 3:14). Not to mention that the mighty Peter had to be corrected for significant theological error by Paul (Gal. 2:11-14).

So the New Testament indicates that perfection isn’t the quality that should be required for people to participate in the work of ministry. So what type of qualifications should be used to evaluate who gets to “do the stuff”?

Oriented Toward Jesus.

For me, the key question is about orientation. For those of us in the Vineyard, this is an outworking of our “center-set” approach to discipleship (see Alexander Venter’s Doing Church for more on being “center-set”). Venter fleshes out how this applies to doing ministry when he writes:

“Assessment and integration take place on the basis of people’s direction, i.e. are they journeying toward the values that the group is committed to? This makes for an inclusive and integrating approach. It frees people to integrate toward the centre at their own pace of commitment and growth…”

If people are moving toward the values of Jesus and his kingdom, they should be encouraged to participate! In fact, maturity actually develops in the midst of serving and doing ministry according to the Apostle Paul (Eph. 4:11-16).

So if people are making any headway toward Jesus, I say we encourage them to pray for people. If people are taking steps toward the Kingdom, I say we encourage them to serve. But this should be done in the context of a discipling community where we are all regularly being encouraged to surrender more and more of our lives to Jesus who is Lord of all. And following Jesus is primarily about giving him all. This doesn’t happen overnight… but it is the goal.

“What About Leaders?”

The main challenge, or maybe a better word would be “tension,” is related to distinguishing between leaders and people participating. How local churches distinguish this may vary, but the tension exists nonetheless. In our own local church, we realized this when we found that while we in leadership may distinguish between someone being a leader and someone simply participating, those distinctions don’t necessarily exist as clearly for everyone else who attends on a Sunday.

For example, if someone is on the stage doing something, what’s the difference between a leader sharing and someone else just participating? The differences can seem arbitrary to the uninformed. Local churches need to determine how to best approach this issue because it’s very possible that it can be confusing to people.

In our church, we’ve really bought into the importance of “clarity is kindness” as a value. It seems prudent to think through the implications of encouraging “everyone gets to play” alongside our awareness that people don’t need to be perfect before being able to participate while also acknowledging that leadership matters and is about being “above reproach” and setting an example to imitate in the same way that Paul instructed Christians to imitate him and he imitated Christ (1 Cor. 11:1).

Again, Pytches is helpful when he notes that leaders are:

• Subject to faith.

• Subject to prayer.

• Subject to anointing.

• Subject to authority.

• Subject to being taught.

• Subject to being healed.

This means that as we mature, we are given more opportunities to not only serve, but to lead. But maturity develops as we serve and participate and, it would seem, the New Testament pattern is that as we serve and grow and mature, we are given more responsibility according to our gifting and calling.

So who can “do the stuff”? I think we can mostly say that “everyone gets to play” when it comes to praying for people, serving, stacking chairs, playing a musical instrument, brewing coffee for the hospitality team, etc. And we should encourage people to participate in the things of the kingdom while also encouraging people to become more and more like Jesus.

What do you think?

About the Author

Luke Geraty is a pastor-theologian in northern California. With a few theology degrees and nearly twenty-eight years of church leadership experience, Luke loves the Bible, theology, fly fishing, coffee, and books. All opinions are his own and not the views of any other organizations he’s affiliated with. You can follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe to his YouTube.

1. Cf. James M. Hamilton’s God’s Indwelling Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testaments.