• Our hope-filled future is bound up in sharing the story of Jesus, in discipling others, in bringing those disciples together into communities of believers, and in developing and releasing those believers to create other communities... till Jesus the King comes again!

I’m not giving way

Posted on July 6, 2017 by wtdavid

Driving to the World Team Global workplace, I have to cross a bridge that takes one over the Oise River.  It’s quite a lovely view in both directions.  Normally, it takes about three minutes to cross. Tuesday of this week, it took forty nine minutes!  Since we are in the summer months here, towns and ‘state’ governments take the opportunity to do a lot of roadwork.  Such was the case on the bridge this past Tuesday, moving a four lane road down to just two lanes.

What caught my attention wasn’t the roadwork, but the attitude of various drivers. Many had their own ‘method’ for dealing with the traffic tie-up and trying to get one more car ahead, by whatever means. One driver in particular caught my attention.

give wayThis driver was in the passing lane, next to a huge ‘earth mover’ type truck.  The truck was obviously ahead, but neither driver was going to ‘give way’.  With every meter, both drivers tried to ‘assert their authority’.  At one point, I thought the truck was literally going to scrape the side of the smaller car, and take the side view mirror in its path. I kept thinking to myself: “Just give way!  What’s the big deal?  So you’re behind the truck or behind the car, you’re eventually going to get over the bridge either three seconds sooner or later.”

Then it hit me that in my relationships with others at work, at home or in the neighborhood, I can be just the same.  Worse even.  I can be as stubborn as that car driver or truck driver, not wanting to ‘give way’ because my rightness is being challenged.  However, I don’t think it’s just me. In a given situation, all of us are capable of going ‘head to head’ with that ‘earth mover’ truck and pushing to get to the front of the line.

There’s why collaboration (one of the elements of our WT Ministry Framework organisational culture) is so hard.  It means we have to ‘give way’ sometimes.  It means we have to follow the consensus of the larger team at times.  All the while keeping in mind that we are going to get to the same end point.

There’s why delegation is difficult.  It means saying to another: “Go ahead, you work on this. I’ll support you, but you take the lead.”  It’s platforming or pushing another in front of you when we would prefer to be first or up front.

Next time, you are side by side with an ‘earth mover’ truck, merging into one lane, will you ‘give way’ or will you ‘hold your ground’?

Filed under: Collaboration, Delegation, Pride, Teams | 4 Comments »

Having impact

Posted on September 4, 2015 by wtdavid

While in Australia, I heard a speaker share the following thought: “People want to feel like they are contributing to something. It may not change big things, but they are having impact.”impact bis

My first thought was to think of the people that we work with or the active participants of various community of believers with which we are involved. People want to be part of something. They want to feel that their ‘small part’ is somehow contributing to a larger whole that brings ultimate change. Maybe this is why so many seek community in our days? However, as with a previous post, I wonder if we as workers don’t often stifle that involvement or hinder the impact that others long to have by the simple fact of our doing most of the ministry ourselves.

Then my thoughts turned to us as workers and I realized that we, like anyone else, long to have impact in our world. However, maybe we believe that impact will only come as we ‘do’ the bulk of ministry activity? Maybe we struggle to share, delegate or give away ministry to others because it feels like we will lose impact? Maybe we can’t see how our impact might actually be multiplied as we share it with others?

One step in multiplying impact by ‘sharing work’ with others might be by simply listening to the input and counsel of others. In 2 Kings 5, we read about the Syrian commander Naaman who sought healing for his leprosy. It’s a story that many of us know quite well. However, if you take away the involvement or intervention of the young servant girl working for Naaman’s wife and the servants who traveled with Naaman, the story would take a completely different turn. Their words had incredible impact in the life of Naaman. Despite their low status, he chose to listen to them and the outcome is Naaman’s redemption.

“People want to feel like they are contributing to something. It may not change big things, but they are having impact.”

Filed under: Delegation, Influence, Mission | 2 Comments »

Gateway or bottleneck

Posted on May 17, 2013 by wtdavid

I was recently reading through a number of articles that I had placed in a file when I ran across this quote in one of those articles:

“Young leaders want and need a place at the table. I know of one church where the leader (who is himself in his thirties) meets weekly with the church’s key emerging leaders. They read books on church leadership to discuss, they engage in spiritual and theological reflection. But they don’t stop there. He regularly offers them opportunities and assignments to do critical ministry projects and innovations. In some cases these have led to whole new ministry organizations being started, with young leaders at the helm. It happened because his leadership became a gateway and not a bottleneck.”Bottleneck

Several things struck me.  First, this leader had a “developmental mindset”. In other words, when new workers came into his ministry, he viewed them from the perspective of how they could be developed and trained to grow in ministry.  He saw their need for ongoing learning and training from the day they walked in the door (see my post from 13.05.2013).  Next, he gave away or delegated ministry opportunity.  He gave people a chance to test out their gifts and abilities in a context where he could give feedback and counsel.  He did not micromanage what they did.  He followed what they did: praying, giving feedback and cheering them on.  Finally, this leader was a young guy (in his thirties) who was building and releasing a growing number of workers and leaders.

World Team workers have an average of eighteen years of experience in cross cultural ministry.  We have an “experience capital” that is significant.

Imagine what could happen, by God’s grace, if that “experience capital” were used to create “gateways” for younger workers and leaders.

Filed under: Challenge, Delegation, Development | Leave a comment »

The myth of being irreplacable

Posted on January 16, 2013 by wtdavid

mythbusters1

Bob Vajko, in an article in the recent edition of EMQ, writes that one of the first mistakes a church planter can make is “to wrongly develop dependency in the church we are planting.”  Most often, we err by doing so much in the early start up that community members come to believe that we are the only ones capable of doing the ministry.

By this, we create the myth of being irreplaceable.

It is not our intention at the outset to create this myth. God called us to be part of a community of workers that “establish and go” rather than “establish and stay”.  However, as time goes on, our investment in the work increases and it becomes more difficult to move on or to let go of the ministry and give it into others’ hands.

A few ‘myth-busters’ would serve us well at this point:

Others are capable of doing the ministry.  It’s such an obvious fact, but we can tend to measure capability by a standard that even the best disciple of Jesus would struggle with.  Having a developmental mindset or attitude towards others will encourage us to put others more quickly into ministry situations in order to allow them to ‘try out’ the ministry in a context of mentoring and coaching.

We ourselves entered into ministry in the same way.  None of us jumped from Sunday School into full-time church planting like some high school basketball players have done in jumping to the NBA professional league.  We were nurtured, discipled and trained by others and we grew into the ministry. Why should we expect it to be any different for those who become part of the communities of believers we are part of starting?  However, they need opportunities to serve and we need to give those opportunities to them from the very start.

People often do fine without us.  When the church planter is not present, it’s amazing how a community pulls together and does church.  As long as the church planter is present, some will never rise to the occasion.  However, should an opportunity present itself, those disciples who have been trained will assume their places of ministry.

We are as much a part of the community of believers that we are establishing as any other member.  Our role, though, needs to be from the very start one which develops, trains and releases others quickly into ministry and service.

 

Filed under: Church planting, Delegation, Training | Leave a comment »

Why I Could Use An Intern (II)

Posted on July 6, 2012 by wtdavid

One solid reason why I could use an intern is that there is more work than I can accomplish, and delegating tasks can serve as a reminder of my daily need for God.

Another reason would be to ready (read: train) the next generation of workers and leaders.  Hands on experience with real time assessment and feedback are a gift that we can give to many as they journey towards God’s mission for their lives.  Many of us are where we are in ministry because of the opportunity that a mature worker or leader gave to us to try our hands at ministry through a variety of tasks, even those that seemed mundane.

Here again, two obstacles loom in front of us.  First, we simply assume that we do not have the time to give to such an effort.  Basically, it would take us longer to carry our every day work.  Real time assessment assumes time and depth of relationship.  Second, there is often no short term return on the investment made in the life of an intern.  Most interns do not walk in the door able to do all that we need done.  There are some strong gifts that they bring and can put into practice, but they are unfamiliar with how to fully work out these gifts in the contexts where we live and work.

That’s why I need an intern.  Working with an intern reminds me that life and ministry is a journey, and that just as others were patient and willing to work with me, so I must do the same for others.  And as those interns grow and develop, ultimately I will need to give way and allow them to begin to exercise more and more influence, and begin the same process (multiplication) with interns that come their way.

I may have shared this story before, but it is worth repeating.  One of my friends here in France shared about one of the leaders in his church that had a plumbing business.  This plumber was complaining about the fact that there was no one on the horizon to take over his business once he retired.  When asked the reason for this scarcity, the plumber replied that it all stemmed from a decision a number of years ago when he decided not to take on any interns.  “Too much work,” he said, “and everything would have taken much longer to finish.  It was just easier for me to do it myself.”  The obstacles of time and a lack of short term investment had led him to “get his work done,” but now there was no one to continue or further the work.

Let us have a developmental mindset that allows us to work with and hand over ministry to others who will further and multiply (again) the ministry.

Filed under: Delegation, Development, Mentoring | Leave a comment »

Needing Others

Posted on August 17, 2011 by wtdavid

“When God chooses to bring us to Himself (Ephesians 1:4), He brings us into community.  We are not brought into relationship with Him to simply remain alone in our own room to live out our faith by ourselves.    We are called to be part of a community; the people of God who belong to Him.  Our life in Him is understood and lived out in community with others.” This is my free translation of quote from an article by Paul Wells, professor of systematic theology at a seminary in southern France.

A worker needs to constantly have a learning posture.  We never reach the end of what we need to know or learn as it relates to our life and our work.  Over the past month, I found myself submerged by a host of details and activities that I needed to do. A good friend was gracious enough to point out that I was failing to delegate to others work that they could share and accomplish in more fruitful and timely ways.  I was not living out my life in Him in community.

Delegation means we entrust someone else with work that we believe we should do.  Yet delegation is a means to develop others and further the resources available to carry out God’s mission.  Delegation is not ‘just getting stuff off of one’s plate.’  Delegation is an expression of living out one’s life in God in community, and includes several elements:

  • Define the task – Confirm in your own mind that the task is suitable to be delegated.
  • Select the individual or team – What are your reasons for delegating to this person or team? What are they going to get out of it? What are you going to get out of it?
  • Assess ability and training needs – Is the other person or team of people capable of doing the task? Do they understand what needs to be done.
  • State required results – What must be achieved? Clarify understanding by getting feedback from the other person.
  • Support and communicate
  • Feedback on results – It is essential to let the person know how they are doing, and whether they have achieved their
    aims.

“Even as he chose us in him before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.”

(Ephesians 1:4)

Filed under: Community, Delegation | 4 Comments »

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