Power to the People!

Yesterday, I received a very poignant example of what it means to lead. It was long overdue. We, as leaders, so often think we’ve got it all figured out. I just pray that God will often, and consistently, remind me of how utterly helpless I am.

It’s funny, too, that the reminder would come this way, since I had been reading left and right about “how to lead.” Particularly, I was reading up on how to start and lead a small group, as we are quickly adding Home Bible Studies throughout our church. My book smarts were about to “hit the streets,” though, and become usable.

In comes my reality check. While I’m reading over and again how to “empower people for the ministry,” I was quietly wresting that power from one of my most dependable co-laborers. People want to serve; they want to be a part of something bigger. So often, we as leaders try desperately to “do it all,” when our role should always err more towards administering. So many leaders fail to lead because they fail to have followers, and it is very often because they have failed to empower their people for the journey.

We, as ministers of the gospel, are to “equip the saints,” are we not? And, yet, we more often “do it all,” and then wonder why no one is following, no one is helping, and no one (watch this!) is growing. It’s time we take what we’ve read, and apply it to our daily lives. It’s so easy to think you’ve got it all figured out. Really, we’d do our very best when others around us love us enough to tell us where we are screwing up. That’s a whole ‘nother message for the church, but, perhaps another time.

Leaders, check yourselves: are you “doing (all) the work of the ministry,” when you should be “equipping the saints” for it? Are you wresting control from your fully capable laity, perhaps without even noticing? I challenge you today to give them their God-given right to serve (“as the Spirit has given to each one diverse gifts”), and allow them to be invested in the Kingdom. Who knows? You may just find that those former “spectator Christians” are now spectacular!