04.06.05 The 1st Key for Adding Value to Your Church

1. Know What People Value

Knowing what people value contributes to church growth since you minister to them in alignment with their needs and priorities. That way, they feel ‘ministered to’ thence bringing other people to the church.

 In Uganda, the attributes that people value stem from the fact that many African societies are highly communal, a thing which causes one’s participation in social gatherings to carry deep meaning in the hearts of people. That was how we happened to add value to the wedding of one dear brother who was planning to get married. As his wedding date drew closer, there was hardly enough funds for the function. Fortunately, with our cosmetics business booming at the time (which I will elaborate on later), God gave us the privilege of footing a very high percentage of his budget. Decades have come and gone but the brother keeps telling people how he would not have gotten his wedding going, had we not made that contribution, or ‘added value’ to his wedding event.

In the case of Lydia, she also must have had spot-on information about what the people in Philippi esteemed as ‘value’. For instance, writers mention ‘education’ being high on that list, given that one of the best Roman schools of medicine was in Philippi; and had actually been attended by Jesus’ disciple, Luke. The writers also assert that church members were highly educated in science, philosophy and religion.

A value-adding church member identifies what fellow members value, so that she can minister to them along those lines in alignment with God’s Word.

Therefore, make the effort to interact with members to know what they need, so that you are ‘relevant” in your aspirations to add value to their lives.

By the way, some writers assert that women have an instinct to see through people’s eyes and get to the real issues that may be bothering those individuals, especially since the person may not be ready to lay himself or herself bare by disclosing his or her real challenges verbally. So, observe with your eyes. Is he or she happy? Commit time to bond with the person. Be a good listener and observer such that you can diagnose his or her requirements then respond accordingly and appropriately (James 1:19).

The value you add should aim at pleasing God and not just people. If you love Him with all your heart and mind, you will portray that love to the person you target (Mark 12:30-31). It must be intentional; so do not wait for the person to come to you. Rather, seek him or her out as Jesus would, but without breaking boundaries. Are you able to have at least one person who you support financially, outside your relatives?