Many of us have read Ephesians 4:12-16 and if you haven’t, stop and go read it. Here’s the thing, if you are a leader in the church, your job is to equip the people for good works.
Too many of us do the work of the ministry instead of equipping people for the work of the ministry. We succumb to the expectations of the congregation to be the pastor because “that’s what we pay you for”. Listen, that’s not your job. Your job is to equip and empower those same people to do the work that God has called them to.
Here are a few ideas on how to do that:
Stop Doing Things Others Can Do.
News flash. You don’t have to pray at every church thing you go to. Get others to pray. You don’t have to lead the devotional at every team meeting, get someone else to do it. You don’t have to host every event or service. You don’t have to give the announcements. You don’t have to read the scripture. You don’t have to lead the small group. You don’t have to visit everyone in the hospital. You don’t have to set up the chairs or order the pizza or pick the next bible study or input your powerpoint into the computer. Equip and empower someone else to do it. Start today!
Everybody Needs a Buddy.
Begin to implement the buddy system in your church. Every person who is doing something in your church needs to have someone else to do it with. Your buddy does 50% of your job. If you’re a worship leader, your buddy leads 50% of the songs. If you visit someone, your buddy comes with you and does the prayer and visitation while you park the car. If you lead a bible study, your buddy leads every other week. If you are the board chair, your buddy co-chairs and leads every other meeting. Once your buddy can do 50% of your job, each of you, go get a new buddy and start over again because …. Everybody needs a buddy. I wrote more about it HERE.
Think of Ministry as a Team Sport.
I see many pastors who think of ministry as a solo sport like golf. They are the ones that do everything and it rises or falls on them. I would encourage you to think about ministry as a team sport and remember the team wins or loses together. Now, you may be the coach of this team, but it’s still a team. Your job is to recruit players, develop players, put them in the right positions, coach them to play even better than they’re playing and, celebrate them when they win. You don’t build a team by announcing you need team members from the platform in a monotone voice. You tap people on the shoulder, you see the potential in everyone and you commit to adding value to them so that their time on your team makes them better for the next team they might play on.
Bottom line is, unless you see this as a deep conviction, you will spend most of your time doing the work of the ministry instead of developing people to do the work of the ministry. It needs to start with you taking your job description to heart.
Jeremiah works as an Effectiveness Coach with the ABNWT District of the PAOC. He is a passionate and creative leader who believes that the church is the hope of the world. He uses collaboration, innovation, and inspiration to challenge churches and their leadership to engage in the only mission Jesus ever sent his church on: making disciples.