The deepest session of the retreat touched on the concept of volunteerism and discipleship. We were asked this thought-provoking question : Are you a Volunteer or a Disciple?
We were asked to split into five groups. All of us had to brainstorm in our groups the concept of a volunteer, disciple and the difference between these two.
After we were done, we had to move around and see what the other groups came up with. From what I could see, all the groups had similar concepts on what constituted a volunteer and a disciple.
To summarize, a volunteer is someone who picks and chooses what he wants to do because of his interest. A good example is my involvement in the upcoming Youth Olympics. I volunteered for the media role because of interest. However I did not volunteer for any other roles simply because I am not interested in doing those.
A volunteer is also someone who does things at his own time. The commitment level is not high because he deems that there is no loss even if he drops it along the way.
Some volunteers do things for the sake of bring recognised. For instance, if he likes to be in a leadership role and wants all the glory of recognition and achievement, he will want to do it for the sake of being "recognised". Or rather, he expects to be rewarded for what he did. This then creates a grey area whether one volunteers for self recognition or for more selfless reasons.
So then, what is a disciple? A disciple, on the other hand, is someone who does what he is called to do. Even if it is fruitless, even if there is no recognition, he still does it simply because he obeys his "master". The commitment level is much higher, often lifelong. It may not be something he expected or wanted, but he still goes ahead to do what is needed.
After that session, I really reflected. I guess there is always a thin line between a volunteer and a disciple. Why are some people more inclined towards certain aspects? Is it because they really like or they are called? Somewhere along the way, the distinction between a volunteer and a disciple had become blurred.
So do we want to be volunteers or disciples? This is still a tough question to answer.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
We were asked to split into five groups. All of us had to brainstorm in our groups the concept of a volunteer, disciple and the difference between these two.
After we were done, we had to move around and see what the other groups came up with. From what I could see, all the groups had similar concepts on what constituted a volunteer and a disciple.
To summarize, a volunteer is someone who picks and chooses what he wants to do because of his interest. A good example is my involvement in the upcoming Youth Olympics. I volunteered for the media role because of interest. However I did not volunteer for any other roles simply because I am not interested in doing those.
A volunteer is also someone who does things at his own time. The commitment level is not high because he deems that there is no loss even if he drops it along the way.
Some volunteers do things for the sake of bring recognised. For instance, if he likes to be in a leadership role and wants all the glory of recognition and achievement, he will want to do it for the sake of being "recognised". Or rather, he expects to be rewarded for what he did. This then creates a grey area whether one volunteers for self recognition or for more selfless reasons.
So then, what is a disciple? A disciple, on the other hand, is someone who does what he is called to do. Even if it is fruitless, even if there is no recognition, he still does it simply because he obeys his "master". The commitment level is much higher, often lifelong. It may not be something he expected or wanted, but he still goes ahead to do what is needed.
After that session, I really reflected. I guess there is always a thin line between a volunteer and a disciple. Why are some people more inclined towards certain aspects? Is it because they really like or they are called? Somewhere along the way, the distinction between a volunteer and a disciple had become blurred.
So do we want to be volunteers or disciples? This is still a tough question to answer.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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