A year and a half ago, my church developed a small group ministry. Since I had led small groups in my campus ministry for years, I volunteered to lead one of the new church groups. A number of singles and families were assigned to my group, and we were off.
Though we had a pretty easy start, my wife and I quickly realized that we still had to recruit folks to the group. We had to recruit new people who began attending church after the small group’s launch. We had to recruit old people who weren’t convinced of the small group’s value. We had to recruit new leaders who could take over if we grew to the point of spinning off another group. And we had to recruit our own group members to return week after week.
Let me clarify that when I use the word “recruit,” I don’t mean any of the following tactics:
- begging
- tricking
- manipulating
- coercing
- motivating through guilt
- promoting an artificial or purely outward commitment to the group (attending meetings without really participating)
USMC Recruiting Booklet (1940)
No, by “recruit” I mean leading with vision. Winning people’s hearts for the sake of Christ’s mission. Building relationships and deepening godly friendships. Such recruiting is an essential part of starting a Bible study (or keeping one going).
Recruiting is hard work
I’d rather build something and wait for people to come. It’s easier to advertise than to get to know people. It’s cheaper to blanket the air waves than to connect with individuals.
Time spent recruiting takes away from time I could have spent accomplishing other tasks. It attacks my idol of productivity.
Effective recruiting requires listening to people and understanding them. It means I have to pay attention and figure out what motivates different people so I can connect the truth to their lives. Normally, I prefer for people to listen to me and understand me. I want them to do what motivates me.
Active recruiting is not contrary to God’s providence
Sometimes I justify my failure to recruit people by resting in God’s providence. “If God wanted to people to come to my Bible study, he would have brought them.”
Now I don’t mean to imply that our efforts can generate foolproof results. God’s providence should comfort us when things don’t go as we expect. But consider how the Apostle Paul responded to the providence of God in his ministry:
- The Spirit of Jesus did not allow him to enter Bithynia. But instead of giving up, he pursued a different direction (Acts 16:7-8) until the Lord made his way clear.
- The sovereign Lord will bring all people before his judgment seat. This fact put the fear of God in Paul; not fear of his own standing, but fear lest others might be judged (2 Cor 5:10-11, 2 Tim 4:1-2). Does such fear inspire you?
Recruiting is not necessarily worldly
Though we can recruit in a godless, manipulative way, we don’t have to. Though the world models deceptive and aggressive sales techniques, the antidote to such things is not to avoid recruiting but to do it in a Christlike way. The one who existed in the very nature of God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped (Phil 2:5-8). He left the comfort of heaven to be with us and recruit us to himself (Matt 1:22-23). He personally recruited his first disciples through clear vision and relational interaction (Mark 1:16-20, John 1:35-51).
Recruiting is a fruit of faith and love
Recruiting people to Christ (or to your Bible study as a means of introducing them to Christ) is not an act of faithlessness. It demonstrates true faith in the God who uses us to meet the needs of others (James 2:14-16).
Recruiting people to Christ (or to your Bible study as a means of introducing them to Christ) doesn’t have to be pushy or unloving. It can demonstrate our selfless love for others and points to Christ’s selfless love for us. The one who loves will offer living bread to his hungry brother (1 John 3:16-17).
Recruiting doesn’t end after the first meeting
Jesus never stopped recruiting his disciples to himself, though his recruiting techniques often didn’t look like ours (John 6:66-71, 21:15-19). We haven’t succeeded if we recruit people only to a single meeting. We must continue winning, persuading, challenging, and instructing. We share what God has done, and what he can do further. We build deeper relationships until we, with Paul, can say, “For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord” (1 Thess 3:8, ESV).
Without effective recruiting, our Bible studies are more likely to fizzle. Our relationships will grow cold. Our energy and life seeps out.
God wants to use you and me to show the world his initiating, pursuing, persuasive love. What a privilege.
