What Stops You From Handing Off Ministry?
By Larry Shallenberger

Developing the leaders around you is an art, but it’s also a spiritual discipline that re-heals your character. As you strive to give away ministry you often discover a personal dark side that gets in the way of handing off leadership. Don’t let the following personal goblins keep you from giving away ministry:

-Insecurity: David prospered while under Saul on Israel’s organizational flow-chart, and it drove Saul to throw spears. However when David enjoyed the throne, he had no problem celebrating the victories of his “mighty men”; their exploits are catalogued throughout Kings and Chronicles. How was David able to avoid duplicating Saul’s insecurity? Through identity David was confident in his relational connection with God and in his divine anointing as ruler. Insecurity is bred off the lie that there’s only so much of God’s love and favor to go around. However, establishing your identity in God creates “abundance mentality.” God’s generosity will rub off in your desire to make those around you shine.

-Perfectionism: perfectionism stems from one of two roots. The first is the false belief that no one can do the job as well as you. The second root is the distorted notion that God is a white-gloved inspector on a faultfinding mission. Perfectionists can’t give away ministry. Volunteers can’t be trusted to achieve the standards of the prideful leader or his unreasonable God.
How can you uproot perfectionism? Apply grace. Grace will remind you that you can’t earn God’s approval; your leadership is only an expression of spiritual gratitude. You’ll also discover that God is “for you.” Grace won’t make you a sloppy leader. Perfectionism will give way to excellence, another worshipful expression of gratitude.

-Metaphor Malpractice: Unbiblical imagery can undermine your capacity to hand off leadership. Many ministers view themselves as the `work horse” and pride themselves in their stamina and ability to carry the load alone. Now stamina is a necessary ingredient for leadership, but God doesn’t view you as a beast of burden. Instead God views you as an “equipper.” Our word “equip” comes from an ancient description of mending fish nets. That metaphor casts you as the person charged with the task of making sure your volunteers have functional tools to succeed in ministry. So take a moment and examine the word pictures that you use to view your role as a leader.

-A Lack Of Relational Depth: Deep, authentic friendships are incubators for leader ship. Jesus handed off his ministry to a core team with whom he chose to be authentic. If you don’t have anyone to hand off ministry to, perhaps you have an emotional need to keep everyone at arm’s length. Commit your self to the spiritual discipline of community.

So how do you grow in your effectiveness to position your leaders for maximum effectiveness? You’ll have to grow in managerial skills: learn to delegate, inspect, and provide feedback. But leadership technique will never outpace your spiritual health.

You’ll need your high competency and your high spiritual character moving in unison if you want to excel at giving away ministry.

Article “What Stops You From Handing Off Ministry?” written by Larry Shallenberger is taken from an Unknown Source.

This article may not be written by an Apostolic author, but it contains many excellent principles and concepts that can be adapted to most churches. As the old saying goes, “Eat the meat. Throw away the bones.”