Give Your Ministry Away

In many churches, pastors get burned out by doing too much, while their church Members sit idly in the pews as consumers. Almost all of the work of ministry is left to the relatively few “professionals” on staff.

It’s like the cruise ship vs. battleship metaphor. Some churches are like cruise ships. The church staff are in charge of making the passengers comfortable, keeping them fed and entertained. It might sound pleasant, but the problem is that cruise ships don’t accomplish anything. The church model should be that of a battleship instead. There are no passengers on a battleship; only people in active service. Everyone is on mission together.

Our actual biblical calling as pastors and teachers is “to equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Ephesians 4:11-12). To do ministry through people, not to people. That is your job. That is what you should be doing. You should be shepherding them so that they can live out their own faith as a kingdom of priests (Revelation 1:6).

Whenever a ministry opportunity comes up, my first thought is always, who else can I ask to do this? To be clear, I’m not trying to avoid work; in fact, sometimes it would be faster and easier to just do it myself. But instead, I try to empower Members to do ministry because, as a pastor, that is my job.

Changing your church culture—going from a cruise ship to a battleship—is not easy, but it is worth it, for several reasons:

Giving Ministry Away Serves Those Who Get to Serve

When I ask a Member to lead a ministry effort—no matter how big or small—I’m not asking them for a favor. In fact, I’m doing them a favor.

People want to lead. They want to make a positive difference through serving. And when given the right opportunity—one that matches their gifts, in an area of ministry that they care about—it is not a burden to them; it is a blessing. God has created and prepared them to do good works (Ephesians 2:10), and I am cheating them if I try to instead do those works myself. I want them to experience seeing God work through them to meet needs and advance His kingdom.

Giving Ministry Away Helps You Make Disciples

Church leaders are called to “to equip the saints for the work of ministry,” but all believers are commissioned to be and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). Part of making disciples is putting them into action. You reach them, you teach them, you train them, and then you work alongside them as kingdom co-laborers. It fulfills both your job description and the Great Commission.

Besides, adults tend to learn things on a need-to-know basis. They are much more likely to pay attention to and remember what you are teaching them if they have to then apply it themselves or teach it to others. It is a far more effective way to disciple people than just having them passively sit through a Bible study.

Giving Ministry Away Keeps You From Burning Out

Because of my approach to delegating and giving ministry away, some friends have (jokingly) accused me of being lazy. Obviously, you don’t want to truly be lazy in a Proverbs 24:30-34 or Ecclesiastes 10:18 way. But, on the flip side of that, being burned out or overwhelmed is not the solution either—and it is just as unwise and unbiblical.

In Exodus 18, one man (Moses) was trying to be in charge of everything. Not only was it wearing him out, but it was also wearing out the people who had to wait in line for his attention (Exodus 18:13-18). The solution was to “look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe” (Exodus 18:21) and delegate specific leadership responsibilities to them. A somewhat similar situation in the early Church led to the selection of the first deacons (Acts 6:1-6).

Great leaders give ministry away, by definition; if you are worn out and have no margin, there is no way you can a great leader.

Giving Ministry Away Helps Everyone

In both Exodus 18 and Acts 6, the problem was not just that the leaders were too busy; it’s that the people under their leadership also suffered from the lack of attention and care.

When you entrust ministry needs to able, trustworthy Members of the flock, everyone benefits. The church is healthier because there is an abundance of leaders, and because they have a healthy pastor who has the margin to do shepherd them well.

Why Church Leaders Don’t Do This

With all of these benefits, why are there so many church leaders who don’t do this, and instead still try to do everything themselves?

One reason is that those of us who are paid staff often don’t understand our job description. We think we’re getting paid by the people to do work on their behalf, instead of the Ephesians 4:12 model of equipping the people for acts of service.

Secondly, we can sometimes be insecure. We may want to be “the guy,” the one person who makes everything happen. We want to look good so that people are impressed and the church keeps paying us. Whether it is because of too much pride or too little trust, that’s an issue you need to work through.

Finally, for some of us, we may simply find ourselves in churches where the existing model is that the staff do all the work, and the Members are passive passengers. If that’s your situation, you’ll have to work to change the “cruise ship” mentality and create a culture of leadership in your church.

Changing direction does take work. It’s definitely not the “lazy” way out, especially at first. But it is well worth it in the long run, including the ultimate “long run” of eternity.

Holding on to ministry is a burden; giving it away is a blessing. Do your job by helping other people do your job, and everyone in the church will benefit.