Anyone who has led volunteer teams in a church environment has been there at some point: At a critical moment, one of your volunteers doesn't show up - no phone call, no explanation, not even an apology. You are left scrambling, and either take the person's place yourself, or grab someone else who was supposed to have this week "off" to fill in for them. Quality suffers and everyone is frustrated. Often, the person who failed to keep the commitment is never even confronted.

We can argue that this type of situation happens in all volunteer situations, but within the Church, the standard should be higher. Should we not be able to count on others in the body of Christ? Of course we should.

The problem with holding volunteers accountable is just that: they are volunteers, not paid staff. So, many times leaders feel that they cannot force someone to fulfill a commitment for which they are not being monetarily compensated. Here are a few thoughts:

1. This is fundamentally a spiritual issue. As a team leader, part of your responsibility is to disciple the members of your team - and that includes teaching them the importance of fulfilling commitments. By failing to address a glaring weakness in this area, you are allowing that person to continue to do spiritual damage to him/herself. Confrontation is a necessary part of expressing love.

2. The commitment we have made is ultimately a commitment before and/or to God - not just to our team leader or the other members of our team or the church.

3. We need to understand that by keeping or failing to keep commitments, we are building a reputation. Proverbs 22:1 says, "A good name is more desirable than great riches..." (NIV). This is true also in our relationship with God. How we steward our current opportunities determines our future opportunities (see Matthew 25:14-30).

4. The irresponsible team member needs to fully grasp all the ramifications of their failure to keep a commitment. This communication needs to be done in love, but also needs to be stated clearly. My experience has been that most of the time, the people that have failed to keep their commitments have no idea of the impact that decision has had.

5. If a person fails to keep commitments at church, he will fail to keep them outside of church as well - and this brings the reputation of Christ into question. We cannot afford to let situations that involve chronic irresponsibility go unaddressed.

None of us are perfect in this area - but we can do better, and we must hold each other accountable. It is of critical importance to the health and reputation of the body of Christ.