³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. (Matthew 9:37 CSB)

If you are unfamiliar with the 80/20 rule, it is essentially this; 80% of the work gets done by 20% of the workers.

I have had the good fortune to worked for some very good companies where this was not the case. But I too have experienced this at other companies and even, or maybe more so, in my ministry life.

I think churches often display this rule. Not in their core workers, no they are all typically pretty busy. But churches, out of necessity, operate heavily through volunteerism of the congregation. However, many (most?) churches are filled with sit and soakers. Those who only wish to take in the teaching, music and preaching and never give of their time, talents or treasure.

These are the same people who will get disillusioned quickly when something changes in their church routine and will speak most strongly against it. They want no actual involvement, but they want to have a very loud say.

That is why Christ said so long ago that the harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. If you are part of the church, part of the Body of Christ, you are a worker, not management.

So today you should ask yourself, on which side of the equation do you fall? If you are part of the 20, maybe it is time to move forward to the 80.