Summary: Great leaders give ministry AWAY — ministry that OTHER qualified leaders could do. The kingdom needs MORE qualified players, not just you.
Great leaders give ministry AWAY. Great leaders will KEEP certain aspects of the ministry that are important for THEM to do. But they will give away ministry that OTHER qualified leaders could do. Giving away ministry can be tough. There are things I enjoy. I can be reluctant to give away opportunities.
Here is an example. I am rather proficient at teaching large groups of people. I have a Masters Degree in Effective Instruction and have National Board Certification in Teacher Excellence. I have been classically trained, plus I have decades of experience teaching in many contexts. In addition, I really like it.
However, instead of directly teaching a room full of 100 kids, my best and highest use was to teach and train 2-3 other leaders to teach. These leaders had the raw materials, had some experience teaching and even some success at teaching. Truth be told, I was better than they were at teaching. I could prepare faster, deliver with more engagement and make it look easy. It would have been super easy to stay in a direct teaching role and not multiply myself. But the best kingdom value was to have 3-4 people who could teach at a “B+ Level” rather than one person who could teach at an “A+ Level”.
I stopped direct teaching and passed on my gifts, abilities and tricks-of-the-trade to eager and qualified leaders. Now there were 4 of us, not just one. Can I challenge you to give away ministry? Think about it. Pray about it. The kingdom needs MORE qualified players, not just you.