Empowerment

A fourth must for all leaders comes in the area of empowering others. We must provide opportunities for people to use the gifts the Lord has given them. For me, one of the most frustrating periods of minsitry came very early, when I was still a youth pastor. A few miles away from the church was a large, multi-housing complex. On a monthly basis, someone would bring up the need for the church to have a strong presence within the complex. In fact, for probably 6 months straight, we talked about the needs and the number of people that could be impacted for the Kingdom of God if we would begin some ministries to meet the needs of those living there. Finally, we even put together a ministry team to "look into the exact needs" that were at the apartment complex. Another six months later, at yet another business meeting, someone asked again if we had ever made any ministry plans. The chairmain of the ministry committee was out that night, so we decided to "check with them and get a report the next month". The next month, the ministry team that had been put together seven months earlier reported that, "we have not come to any definite decisions yet". To my knowledge, that was the last time anyone mentioned ministry at the apartment complex just two miles away from the church. Now, how does this story relate to leadership? Very simply, no one, not even the pastor, would take the initiative to begin the new ministry. Oh, we saw the need, talked about the need, and even did the good ole Baptist thing of creating a committee to see to the needs, yet no one ever stood up and simply said, "let's do it".
Leader, let me ask you a question. How many great ministry ideas have fallen by the wayside, simply because no one took the initiative to get the ball rolling. We must be about empowering others, and I've learned, empowerment does not come in talk, it comes in action. The only thing worse for a church leader who never sees the need is one who sees the need yet never does anything to see that the need is met. You ever heard the phrase, "talk is cheap"? I do believe that talk is important, but if we do not empower our people to action, then that's all it is, TALK! So take the next step, and put action behind great ideas. Empower your people to not only see the vision, but to also jump in and see the vision through. Leaders, that's your responsibility! Let's EMPOWER those around us to action.