Dear Minister, never build your ministry on an individual or on the gift of an individual as the case may be. Whereas you will have gifted, talented, resourceful and anointed associates in your ministry, it is however often counterproductive to isolate one person’s area of strength and build the entire ministry structure on it.
There will always be people around you who possess special gifts, have specific expertise and possess admirable experiences along certain areas of ministry, you must however not fall into the temptation of building ministry on an individual.
In actual fact, what you should build by the help of the Holy Spirit are Systems and Structures that will guarantee all-inclusiveness for everyone who belongs to that ministry.
Put differently, Systems and Structures should be greater than individuals such that no matter how resourceful an individual is, the system is designed in such a way that it can reproduce other people with similar qualities even on a higher level. If you’re a founder or setman of a ministry, this is a Godly counsel for you. Building your ministry on one individual or on the gift or expertise of one single individual will cause you to bite your finger in the long run.
When a gifted or resourceful individual refuses to come to grips with the ministry’s ethos and codes of conduct, then you will be dissipating a lot of your time and energy to placate an unrepentant rebel who has decided to rock the boat of the ministry.
The wisdom in this piece is that as a ministry leader, you may not always guarantee that people can’t “change” along the line — people do “change” whether positively or negatively, therefore you should be strategic enough to build systems and structures that are constant, individual variables notwithstanding.
If today, an associate Pastor or a steward or a leader exits your ministry especially for the wrong reasons, and the whole ministry becomes stuck, stalled and grounded, then know for sure that you have been building that ministry on an individual or on the gift of an individual.
And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.2 Timothy 2:2
Have you seen that? He didn’t say he should commit those teachings to gifted men or able men first; he said it’s faithful men first, who shall then be able to teach others. Very strong!
For instance, no matter how gifted or anointed an individual is, if such a person does not gladly receive your corrections without reacting, then putting such a person in leadership will constitute a big problem for you. Ironically, we play politics with this principle, yet we all know deep within ourselves that the same principle holds sway in every sphere of life especially for those who are employers of labour at any level.
What I don’t really understand is why we believe the same principle is applicable to different fields of life while we should allow lawlessness and impunity in the work of the ministry.
Within a local church setting for instance, the same principle also holds sway, and the right approach is to build systems and structures that outlast individuals.
I have seen Pastors tell me that some people within their congregation were threatening to leave just because the Pastor did not dance to their tunes. What effrontery!!! The reason for such impunity and rude behaviour is that most times, people always feel that there’s no one like them; no one else is gifted like them and that they’re not replaceable hence they can misbehave any day, any time. And then you see some Pastors fidgeting over such. No, that’s witchcraft and it manifests in manipulation, intimidation and control.
It’s important for you as a Pastor or minister in general to come out of the grip of witchcraft and insist on the pattern that God has given you in line with the unadulterated Word of God while of course you remain open to Spirit-inspired counsels and suggestions. But this mustn’t be done to give an impression that you’ll become hopelessly helpless if anyone exits the system.
One single day, lots of Jesus’ followers left Him, and rather than sliding into depression, He turned to the twelve apostles and asked if they too wanted to leave, and then Peter affirmed an unflinching commitment on behalf of the remaining apostles.
JOHN 6:66-69 66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
What a display of strength in leadership!!! Please understand me. In some instances the leader will have to talk to people in question especially if it’s a case of misunderstanding — probably some leaders or folks are misunderstanding what the ministry stands for — the minister can employ diplomacy and intelligent engagement here to douse the tension.
Today, we have seen associate Pastors threaten the setman that they would leave and such affront doesn’t start today — history is awash with a preponderance of such occurrences.
Some years ago, three associate Pastors ganged up against their setman and they threatened to leave. The man of God prayed about it and God told him, “Let them go. Where a leaf falls off, a new branch will grow.” Today, the ministry has exploded in international dimensions, dominating the media space powerfully and having branches all over.
We need to be sober and humble in ministry. Dr. Emiko Amotsuka once told me, “It is God that raises men.” None of us is indispensable in the sight of God, including myself. That’s why we all must be humble and should count it a great honour and privilege to serve in His vineyard.
Dear minister, build systems and structures that outlast individuals. Imagine when Judas Iscariot betrayed the Master, there was no one to replace him.
But no, there were other disciples who had been following Jesus right from the time of His baptism at River Jordan, so there was no vacuum. The apostles rather presented two people (who had been integrated into the SYSTEM and STRUCTURE) in the persons of Barsaba and Matthias and eventually, Matthias stepped in – Acts 1:21-26. Heaven did not fall and the Church did not crash. That’s what I call THE POWER OF SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES.
Imagine also during the Council Meeting at Jerusalem, it was Peter alone that made meaningful contributions and others were just redundant. But no, that Council Meeting had in attendance church leaders who had gone through the PROCESS and who had been integrated into THE APOSTOLIC SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES and there was such rich and robust contributions simply because the Church was not built on an individual.
We had great men like Peter, James, John, Paul, Barnabas, Judas, Silas, etc. (Read Acts Chapter 15), and the subject of discussion (Circumcision) was thoroughly and objectively debated with Spirit-inspired resolutions. That’s THE POWER OF SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES. Our Lord Jesus already had a grand plan before His death and eventual resurrection not to build the Church on Peter (an individual) but on HIS OWN REVELATION (an eternal framework) and that’s why till date, the Church universal is still thriving and exploding on all fronts.
He only installed Peter as the apostolic leader but the Church isn’t built on Peter; the Church is built on THE REVELATION OF CHRIST.
MATTHEW 16:13-19 13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, AND UPON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. note 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
That’s the power of systems and structures. Therefore whatever aspect of ministry work under the commission that the Lord has graciously committed into your hands, ensure that FORMIDABLE SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES are built.
Let it not be that in your local church for instance, it’s only one person that can sing; it’s only one person that can handle the media; it’s only one person that can coordinate; it’s only one person that can handle finances; it’s only one person that can attend to first timers; it’s only one person that can protocol; it’s only one person that can do things that require specific graces and sometimes technical skills and what have you.
No! No!! No!!! The ministry cannot grow optimally like that. The system will always feel the shock when an individual exits, and because some people’s minds may not be renewed, they can later on constitute a big headache for you.
For this reason and for other salient reasons, focus on BUILDING SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES that will not only raise giants but that will also outlast individuals.
May the Lord give us understanding!
Amen!!