"Those who desire a fixed amount to do and a fixed salary, and who wish to prove an exact fit without the trouble of adaptation or training, are not the ones whom God calls to work in His cause." ~Character Construction, p. 44
We don't want to scare anyone away from this high calling. We need workers more than ever! And in today's economic environment, there are more unemployed members than we've seen in decades. Literature evangelism provides an opportunity for you to earn while you witness.
Yet, we don't want to deceive anyone about the realities of literature evangelism. It is not an ordinary job. It is a call to missionary service. The next few posts will bring out some essential qualities from the book Character Construction to help evaluate who should or should not engage in this field of labor. This is primarily a self-test, between you and God.
Literature Evangelists are independent contractors who assist the church in evangelism and are compensated through commissions they retain from the sales of Christian literature. Those who engage in this work must be as punctual as if they were clocking in and out of an hourly wage job. They must be disciplined enough to put in a full day of work as if they had a supervisor hovering over them. However, this is not enough.
Hourly wage earners have the privilege of going home after their shift is over, being free from concern over whether the company has made a profit or not. The daily accountability that comes from a supervisor periodically inspecting your work helps keep you at a high level of performance. When you go to work, you know how much you'll get paid per hour and you have guidelines for what must be accomplished during your shift.
In literature evangelism, you are the worker and the boss. You must be the model employee that does your work as if your supervisor is looking over your shoulder, because He really is. You must also be the shrewd, yet conscientious CEO who gets the most out of employees so that people want to do business with the company. You line up the work that you are responsible for performing AND you are the one responsible for the profitability of your enterprise. This sometimes requires long days and demands continual study for you to learn the best way of reaching hearts with your message.
How you've done things in the past will not ensure success today. Insisting on working 8 hour shifts with evenings, weekends, and holidays off will probably not be compatible with the desire to engage in full-time ministry as a literature evangelist. You may do it well on a part-time basis to supplement your income from another source or as seasonal work to do fundraising for your Christian school, community service project, etc., but for this to be your livelihood you can't be watching the clock to see how close it is to quitting time.
We don't want to scare anyone away from this high calling. We need workers more than ever! And in today's economic environment, there are more unemployed members than we've seen in decades. Literature evangelism provides an opportunity for you to earn while you witness.
Yet, we don't want to deceive anyone about the realities of literature evangelism. It is not an ordinary job. It is a call to missionary service. The next few posts will bring out some essential qualities from the book Character Construction to help evaluate who should or should not engage in this field of labor. This is primarily a self-test, between you and God.
Literature Evangelists are independent contractors who assist the church in evangelism and are compensated through commissions they retain from the sales of Christian literature. Those who engage in this work must be as punctual as if they were clocking in and out of an hourly wage job. They must be disciplined enough to put in a full day of work as if they had a supervisor hovering over them. However, this is not enough.
Hourly wage earners have the privilege of going home after their shift is over, being free from concern over whether the company has made a profit or not. The daily accountability that comes from a supervisor periodically inspecting your work helps keep you at a high level of performance. When you go to work, you know how much you'll get paid per hour and you have guidelines for what must be accomplished during your shift. In literature evangelism, you are the worker and the boss. You must be the model employee that does your work as if your supervisor is looking over your shoulder, because He really is. You must also be the shrewd, yet conscientious CEO who gets the most out of employees so that people want to do business with the company. You line up the work that you are responsible for performing AND you are the one responsible for the profitability of your enterprise. This sometimes requires long days and demands continual study for you to learn the best way of reaching hearts with your message.
How you've done things in the past will not ensure success today. Insisting on working 8 hour shifts with evenings, weekends, and holidays off will probably not be compatible with the desire to engage in full-time ministry as a literature evangelist. You may do it well on a part-time basis to supplement your income from another source or as seasonal work to do fundraising for your Christian school, community service project, etc., but for this to be your livelihood you can't be watching the clock to see how close it is to quitting time.
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