Latest / Pastor John Piper's answers / Learning to Delegate

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Learning to Delegate · Pastor John Piper's answers

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  Speaker 1: Well, I think we all know the feeling of biting
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  Speaker 1: off more than we can chew, committing to too much,
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  Speaker 1: thinking that we could do it all, confident in our
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  Speaker 1: own skills, and then comes time to do the work
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  Speaker 1: and it's too much. We needed help, we didn't get
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  Speaker 1: the help, and so now we're buried. We overwork, and
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  Speaker 1: we burn out. This happens in life, this happens in leadership,
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  Speaker 1: and of course it certainly happens in ministry. As we
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  Speaker 1: see in Exodus eighteen, which we read together next week,
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  Speaker 1: Jethrow warning Moses that effective and productive leadership requires shared responsibilities.
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  Speaker 1: It's not a one man show. All of this is
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  Speaker 1: on the mind of Mark in Chicago, Illinois. Pastor John, Hello,
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  Speaker 1: and thank you for helping me and countless other pastors
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  Speaker 1: to lead better through this podcast. In Exodus eighteen, Verses
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  Speaker 1: seventeen to twenty three, Jethro tells Moses to learn how
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  Speaker 1: to delegate by saying things like what you're doing is
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  Speaker 1: not good. You and the people with you will certainly
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  Speaker 1: wear yourselves out, but the thing is too heavy for you.
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  Speaker 1: You're not able to do it alone. Look for able
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  Speaker 1: men and let them judge the people at all times,
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  Speaker 1: effective ministry requires pastoral wisdom and administrative stewardship, including the
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  Speaker 1: ability to delegate, to equip others, and maintain sustainable structures.
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  Speaker 1: As a pastor, how did you personally approach the administrative
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  Speaker 1: responsibilities of leadership, such as organizing ministry teams, managing church finances,
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  Speaker 1: or overseeing internal communications, all while staying anchored in your
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  Speaker 1: primary calling to shepherd souls? What principle shape the way
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  Speaker 1: you led and delegated within your church.
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  Speaker 2: There were key seasons in the life of our church
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  Speaker 2: in my thirty three year pastor where this passage from
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  Speaker 2: Exodus eighteen was very significant. I think, especially of a
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  Speaker 2: growing season in which we needed to provide pastoral care
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  Speaker 2: for hundreds and then thousands of people, and how to
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  Speaker 2: do it became a major issue. Are we going to
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  Speaker 2: take membership seriously and not only care for members as
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  Speaker 2: pastors in the church, but also are the members going
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  Speaker 2: to be known and accountable so that church discipline becomes
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  Speaker 2: feasible and normal. And it became clear to us that
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  Speaker 2: this was simply not going to happen if all the
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  Speaker 2: church members looked only to the staff pastors for that
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  Speaker 2: kind of care and accountability. If we were going to
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  Speaker 2: provide pastoral care and accountability, it would have to be
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  Speaker 2: through several layers of leadership. Now, not everybody knows this
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  Speaker 2: story from Exodus eighteen, from which we learn so much,
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  Speaker 2: So let me read it for the folks so they
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  Speaker 2: can see what we're talking about.
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  Speaker 1: Here.
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  Speaker 2: Moses was trying to settle all the matters of dispute
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  Speaker 2: in Israel himself. It's impossible, right, And his father in
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  Speaker 2: law comes along and sees how unworkable this is. And
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  Speaker 2: here's what he says in Exodus eighteen seventeen. What you're
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  Speaker 2: doing is not good. You and the people with you
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  Speaker 2: will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too
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  Speaker 2: heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone.
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  Speaker 2: Now obey my voice. I will give you advice, and
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  Speaker 2: God be with you. You shall represent the people before
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  Speaker 2: God and bring their cases to God. And you shall
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  Speaker 2: warn them about the statutes and laws, and make them
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  Speaker 2: know the way in which they must work talk and
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  Speaker 2: what they must do. Moreover, look for able men from
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  Speaker 2: all the men who fear God and are trustworthy and
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  Speaker 2: hate a bribe, and place such men over the people
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  Speaker 2: as chiefs of thousands of hundreds of fifties and of tens.
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  Speaker 2: That's a lot of organization. And let them judge the
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  Speaker 2: people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring
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  Speaker 2: to you, but any small matter they shall decide for themselves.
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  Speaker 2: So it will be easier for you, and they will
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  Speaker 2: bear the burden with you. If you do this, God
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  Speaker 2: will direct you. You will be able to endure, and
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  Speaker 2: all the people also will go to their place in peace.
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  Speaker 2: And we, as a team of pastors and elders, saw
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  Speaker 2: at least four guidelines in this story. One God's appointed
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  Speaker 2: leader should embrace his leadership role but renounce any superman syndrome,
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  Speaker 2: as though he can do this on his own, So yes, leadership,
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  Speaker 2: no to superman. Number two. The leader should put in
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  Speaker 2: place an effective process of finding and equipping qualified partners
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  Speaker 2: in the accomplishment of the task at hand. That's a
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  Speaker 2: huge responsibility that the main leader has right here. The
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  Speaker 2: whole thing can go off the rails if you don't
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  Speaker 2: be careful in finding qualified people. If you put unqualified
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  Speaker 2: people in place who are theologically unsound or personally ill
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  Speaker 2: equipped for the task, the whole thing can go awry.
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  Speaker 2: Even though a beautiful organizational structure can be put in place,
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  Speaker 2: the senior leader needs to take responsibility for teaching about
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  Speaker 2: what kind of people should be in these shared leadership roles.
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  Speaker 2: That's what I found to be my primary responsibility in
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  Speaker 2: the process. Third, this emerging team of leaders should create
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  Speaker 2: structures in which these partners can effectively minister. In Moses' case,
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  Speaker 2: it was thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. It might be different.
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  Speaker 2: I don't think that's a prescription for all the details
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  Speaker 2: of every church, just whatever is helpful. Number four, and
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  Speaker 2: this is often overlooked in this text. In verse twenty, Moses,
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  Speaker 2: the leader continues to speak to all the people concerning
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  Speaker 2: the Word of God and thus provide overarching vision and
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  Speaker 2: inspiration for the people and for his partners in ministry.
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  Speaker 2: That trumpet week in, week out from the pulpit in
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  Speaker 2: the elder meetings, that trumpet from the senior leader was
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  Speaker 2: essential to make the whole thing work. I used to
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  Speaker 2: say that I was simply the spark plug at Bethlehem
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  Speaker 2: that exploded once a week in the pulpit on Sunday.
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  Speaker 2: And my colleagues, especially Tom Steller, in those early days,
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  Speaker 2: built a drive train for the car and all the
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  Speaker 2: other parts that made the vehicle move, and I was
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  Speaker 2: just the pow pow pow in the motor. A similar
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  Speaker 2: principle of administration is found in Acts six, verses three
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  Speaker 2: and four, where some of the widows, remember, were being overlooked,
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  Speaker 2: and the apostles said, brothers, pick out from among you
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  Speaker 2: seven men of good repute, full of the spirit and
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  Speaker 2: of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But
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  Speaker 2: we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry
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  Speaker 2: of the Word. And a similar principle is expressed in
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  Speaker 2: if He's Ins four to twelve, where the pastors are
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  Speaker 2: to equip the saints for the work of the ministry,
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  Speaker 2: for the building up of the Body of Christ. So
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  Speaker 2: in all these texts and others, the principle is that
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  Speaker 2: leadership is crucial, but leadership is not intended to be
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  Speaker 2: a one man show. The leader exists to serve the
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  Speaker 2: health of the Body of Christ and the mission of
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  Speaker 2: the church, and he puts in place whatever administrative structures
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  Speaker 2: and gifted people are needed to get that done. The
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  Speaker 2: Bible speaks in terms of elders and deacons. One of
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  Speaker 2: the things that I have seen the longer I've watched
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  Speaker 2: the processes of personnel and administration and growth. Is that
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  Speaker 2: leadership is just as important as shared leadership. Leadership is
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  Speaker 2: just as important as shared leadership. In other words, I
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  Speaker 2: think some leaders I'm thinking here manly of pastors, use
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  Speaker 2: the principle of shared leadership to abdicate their rule as leader.
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  Speaker 2: Organizations do not function dynamically and effectively and fruitfully where
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  Speaker 2: leaders are passive as they wait for the structures they've
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  Speaker 2: put in place to somehow take initiative. No matter how
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  Speaker 2: many administrative structures are created, there is always a need
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  Speaker 2: for strong initiative taking, creative, inspiring, hardthinking executive leadership. Jethrows thousands, hundreds, fifties,
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  Speaker 2: and tens were essential, but they could not replace Moses.
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  Speaker 2: I think that's true today as well.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, so true. Biblical leadership is essential, but never solitary.
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  Speaker 1: Wise leaders delegate authority to qualified godly partners who share
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  Speaker 1: the leadership load while the main leader continues to provide
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  Speaker 1: spiritual vision and initiative through creativity and in prayer and
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  Speaker 1: in the ministry of the Word. Thank you, Pastor John
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  Speaker 1: for that, and thanks for joining us today. If you
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  Speaker 1: have a leadership question for Pastor John, ask Pastor John
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  Speaker 1: find a link to email us and find our complete
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  Speaker 1: episode archive as well, all at the same place. Askpastor
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  Speaker 1: John dot com, Well, if I see and feel sin
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  Speaker 1: within me, surely God will not lead me or care
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  Speaker 1: for me. Right wrong, dead wrong. And we have proof.
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  Speaker 1: That's next time. I'm Tony Rinki. We'll see on Monday.