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From Doing to Equipping
I spent twenty years learning my family business as I moved through the ranks from worker to manager to leader, from my first job earning $750 a month in the shop to my position as EVP running our largest division. What I learned was how to DO business. As a senior executive, I was chief problem solver, chief negotiator and decider-in-chief. While I had many people working for me and with me on the executive team, my primary focus was doing, not equipping others to lead.
As I work with churches around the country, I find many pastors struggling with the same challenge. They have been trained to do ministry, and often get great satisfaction from that calling. However, the focus on doing ministry often impedes equipping others to become the priesthood of all believers. As parents, we quickly learn that we can wash the dishes or cook the food much faster than we can teach our kids to do these chores. Many in the workplace also find they have no time to delegate and empower others because they are busy doing the work. The problem with this thinking is that it fails to recognize that once we help people through the learning curve, we can let go of that particular task, and free up time for other important work.
Clericalism and Anti-Clericalism
In some ways, this traditional view of the pastor’s role reinforces a chaplaincy model of doer rather than equipper. What results is a drift towards clericalism. Here are excerpts from an ELCA Vocation and Education website entry on Clericalism.
One of the more vexing aspects of the church's contemporary life is the festering and twinned evils of clericalism and anti-clericalism. Simply defined, "clericalism" is a kind of elitist classism in which the church equals its clergy, and "anti-clericalism" is any reaction to that wrong-headed assumption. These observations may be helpful in understanding these two phenomena:
As individualized behavior, clericalism may be more correctly understood as a psychological state devoid of scriptural foundation but claiming it nonetheless.
Only with great hermeneutical stress can the case be made for a scriptural foundation for clericalism.
Moving to Equipping
In the mid-1990’s, we brought Charlotte Roberts in to lead a Leadership and Personal Mastery course for our senior team. She coached me to act on a long-held vision to pursue a second career to follow a growing call from God on my life. (By the way, Charlotte will be at January’s Creative Ministry Gathering sharing her work on visioning and leadership.)
As I began to clarify my vision, I began to reflect on my role as a leader preparing over a five-year period to leave the business. What I realized was that the strengths and abilities I had developed over two decades in getting to the top of our organization would not be the same skills I would need to prepare the rest of the team to lead the company in my absence. It dawned on me that I had to shift from doer to equipper, from executive to teacher/coach. I had to learn a whole new skill set to be effective in my new role. I had to move out of my comfort zone as a manager to grow as a leader. (See the article Management and Leadership)
As a result, I began to see myself more as coach than executive. I began intentionally bringing my leadership team more deeply into the decision making process. I spent more time helping them understand our mission and vision, and the values I used to guide my decisions. Then, rather than answering a question, making a decision or solving a problem, I began to rely on the team.
Empowering Others
At the same time, I began to expand the authority of those at all levels of the organization to make decisions and solve problems. I realized that by the time problems reached my desk, they had festered for some time, and inevitably cost more to solve given the bad feelings. Over time this strategy began to work, but it was quite strange to experience, as one who was used to being at the center of all the action. I greatly increased the time I invested in coaching others to assure the success of this move to empowerment. Time I used to spend making the decisions and solving the problems, I now invested in equipping many others to do this work. Ultimately, I freed myself of many routine tasks, and was able to focus myself more strategically on the mission and vision.
I remember the first time I was away for several days and called the office. “Anybody need me?” I asked. “No,” was the answer. It really felt weird. Before, people would line up to talk to me when I called in or returned from being away. I had to remind myself that not being needed was indeed the goal, even though it felt quite strange.
Neediness breeds Codependency
Many church members are “needy.” And, many pastors need to be needed. A codependency grows, and it is not healthy. In that environment, members are disappointed if they get a lay visitor while sick at home or in the hospital. “It’s just not the same as a pastor visiting.” It takes determined work to change that culture into one where people are valued for using their gifts in ministry, and the pastor becomes the chief equipper, as opposed to the chief doer. For an example, see Lou Forney’s Gift Oriented Ministry.
Micromanagement=Lack of Trust
The challenge to truly empowering others and delegating ministry to laity is one of trust. People will find their own pathway to getting the job done, and it is often not the way you or I might do it. When we delegate not only the task, but also define each step of the journey, we don’t allow for others to use their gifts and creativity. Trust is so important to this equation that we recently published a five-part series on Building Trust in the Body of Christ.
A recent survey found that people on average feel that only 6% of their gifts are being utilized in their church. The inability of many churches and their leaders to engage and empower others for ministry is a key driver of this feeling by the laity. We wonder why we can’t get more of our people involved beyond worship. I think it is our very way of leading that discourages others from stepping up. So, pastors, the next time you’re wondering why there aren’t more active lay leaders in your church, why not ask yourself, “What am I doing to contribute to this situation?” Pray that God might shed light on how your style might be discouraging others from living a belief in the Priesthood of All Believers.
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