Years ago my wife and I took a vacation to a bed and breakfast on the Guadalupe River in the Texas Hill Country – a perfect fishing hole on private property miles away from the hustle and bustle of city life. The Haven River Inn is the perfect culmination of all that the Texas Hill Country has to offer! That vacation came right on the heels of a week of neighborhood outreach our church does for kids called Summer Life. It was the first time we had switched up our summer outreach and tried something new. When you try something new in church ministry, it can be both exciting and stressful! For me, the stress was weighing heavily on my shoulders and I was looking forward to a few days off! I love waking up early to fish a lonely river and my wife likes sleeping in. At the Bed and Breakfast, I’d usually fish early in the morning and come back in before breakfast was over and take some pastries and coffee up to our room.
Even though I was able to do all the things I wanted to at the Haven River Inn, let the record show that I was an irritable roommate for at least the first 36 hours…and we were only there 2 and a half days! The stress of ministry followed me…resided in me, and even though it was good to take time off, it was clear that I wasn’t “working” right. I vividly remember sighing and feeling frustration in every conversation for that first day or two. The problem wasn’t the amount of church ministry, it was me. I had not delegated and was leading with too much on my own plate.
In Acts 6:1-7 a conflict arises in the church requiring a new layer of leadership when the Greek widows are left out of the daily distribution of food in the Jerusalem church. There is either a language barrier or cultural barrier, who knows? The Hebrew widows are getting food and the Greek widows aren’t. So the elders task the church to choose deacons – with the qualification that they be men full of the Spirit and wisdom. Instead of taking on the task themselves, the church leaders realized that doing the work themselves would have compromised their dedication to the ministry of prayer and the Word.
This passage demonstrates two responsibilities that leaders have to hold: Rule #1) Leaders must take responsibility when issues significant issues arise. For me, this week at church, our well water pump shut off. Does our building need water? Absolutely. So I jumped on the task, called the pump service company and told the church staff that we would have limited water for a bit while we took care of the situation. As a leader, I can’t just ignore a significant emergency issue. But…do I have to do everything myself? Rule #2) Leaders must protect their critical roles and functions from getting crowded out by urgent matters, and this is done by equipping and delegating roles to others.
Once I got the roadmap figured out for our well pump replacement, I started delegating through emails and texts. There are some tree limbs that need trimming so the crane truck can get access to the roof. The pump house roof shingles need removal and replacing. I’m happy to step up and deal with an initial emergency, but then work on delegating to our property ministry leader and other volunteers with specific know-how. It turns out, I’ve never scraped off shingles or re-roofed, but I have a guy in the church who has, and so I’m going to lean on him to utilize his skill-set and talent stack. The job will get done faster and better, and I can protect my critical role of being prepared for a Wednesday night class and Sunday preaching.
Check out how consistently top level leaders recognize this same concept:
Eli Broad: “The inability to delegate is one of the biggest problems I see with managers at all levels.”
Jessica Jackley: “As all entrepreneurs know, you live and die by your ability to prioritize. You must focus on the most important, mission-critical tasks each day and night, and then share, delegate, delay, or skip the rest.”
Andrew Carnegie: “No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit.”
Donald Rumsfeld: “Don’t be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for the President or you, delegate it. Force responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it.”
Why does the heart of a leader matter in equipping others?
There are two issues here in the heart of a leader. The first one is trust – do you trust that God will work through other people if you delegate to them? Do you desire and have a vision for a fully team-led and equipped ministry? In Numbers 11:24-29 Moses calls all the elders of the nation to a meeting. For some reason, a few guys can’t make it. But at the same moment that the Lord’s presence comes down in a cloud and rests on the elders causing them to prophecy…the two guys who didn’t make the meeting begin to prophesy also! A boy notices and runs to tell Moses, as if something is wrong! But Moses replies, “I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” Moses is totally thrilled with an equipped, Spirit-led team of leaders.
The second issue is pride. We can hoard power and decision-making, even for the noble reason of not wanting others to fail. But…everyone learns through trial and error. Most Sundays I leave our worship gathering thankful for God’s provision and presence, and with a little side thought about how I could improve on some of the things I did, said, and prepared, because there’s always room for improvement. People learn through opportunities, and as leaders, we need to put aside pride and perfection and give people important roles.
What characteristics make the most difference in leadership development?
Enthusiasm and energy! If you are delegating out of stress and hurriedness, it’s not going to be received by others as a meaningful opportunity. When delegating, think about each person available and what their gifts and talents are. I know at Community we have some awesome servants who love doing behind the scenes work, we have great teachers who excel and leading groups, and so forth. Think about your critical roles and responsibilites that need protecting. Think about the tyranny of the urgent that comes up and crowds out your critical roles. And think about who you energize and equip to take on some of your less-critical tasks.
What hidden obstacles keep the equipping and delegating from happening?
While delegating ministry to leadership layers is consistent in the Bible from Moses to Jesus to the early church, it sometimes escapes the ministry mindset of young church leaders. Our excitement to ‘do’ the ministry that we get paid for can become a hidden obstacle from leading teams and equipping leadership layers.
At the same time, a congregation can develop the attitude that we pay professionals to lead, so let’s let them lead! In Ephesians 4:11-13 Paul gives us this vision for leadership layers and equipping: “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
Leadership Pathway #4 – Leaders and churches function at a happier and healthier level when they are delegating ministry among layers of leadership. There are too many examples of equipping, delegating, and sharing ministry in the Bible for church leaders to ignore.
What kind of roommate are you? When we aren’t equipping and delegating meaningful roles to others, we crowd out our crucial roles, we become overloaded and exhausted, and we empower disengaged discipleship. Chart a course for equipping your church members for meaningful ministry engagement!