14 Delegation, Duplication & Abdication

Now, there's an incredible story in the Old Testament about Moses and his father-in-law, Jethro. I want to read it to you. It's in Exodus 18. It says, "Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people. And they stood around him from morning till evening."

It sometimes feels, as an elder, that we're dealing with people from morning till evening. "And when his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, 'What is this that you're doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?'

And Moses answered him, 'Because the people come to me to seek God's will.'" Sounds very familiar. "Whenever they have a dispute, it's brought to me, and I decide between the parties, and I inform them of God's decrees and laws." And Moses' father-in-law replied, "What you're doing is not good.

You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out." Isn't it interesting, not only will Moses wear himself out, but the people coming to him will wear themselves out as well. "The work is too heavy for you. You cannot handle it alone."

God Designed Leadership to Work as a Team

And I want to say, whoever you are, whatever your gifting is, elder or deacon, whatever the work is, you cannot handle it alone. God has designed us to work as a team. Even the Godhead is a team. The Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—in complete unity.

But each knowing that they fulfill a different function within the Godhead. And that models to us that we need to do things in team. And so it's not good for elders from morning to night, just be dealing with every issue and every person who wants advice, and every dispute and every problem. Jethro's advice was this: teach them the decrees and laws and show them the way to live and the duties that they are to perform. In a New Testament sense, that's the job of the elders. Teaching and preaching and envisioning.

Lead the people. "But select capable men from all the people. Men who fear God, trustworthy men, who hate dishonest gain. And appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens." That sounds so similar to what happens in Acts 6. There's all these people and all these problems.

Let's appoint people to resolve the problems. We appoint deacons. And deacons can be over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. You may be a deacon over five, you may be a deacon over fifty. But your job is to practically facilitate and resolve issues, and lead the people as a support to the elders who are having more of an overseeing role—a more overseeing shepherding role. Then it says, "Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you. The simple cases they can decide. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you."

Now, I'm not saying that there's a degree of difficulty, and deacons can only handle a certain degree of difficulty because you're not as smart or wise or as clever as the elders. But there is a sense that some problems have greater implications for the body.

And we need to be wise as you're dealing with matters, to know what your limitations are, and when it's wise to share it with others. You see that Moses was trying to do everything. It was killing him. So, he had to delegate. And delegation is key.

What Delegation Means

I must confess, I never delegate. I have somebody do that for me. But delegation is key to leadership. Whether you're an elder delegating to deacons or you're a deacon delegating work to others. So what is delegation? Delegation in a sense is handing responsibility over to somebody.

You're saying, "This is a particular part of the field I want you to work." And I'm going to send you off to do that. I'm going to support you in it. I'm going to make sure you're equipped. But I'm going to let you do it.

Delegation is not duplication. One of the most frustrating things I find in my life is... one of the most frustrating things for me was when a leader would delegate to me, and then they'd always be over my shoulder, telling me how it should be done and be too involved, doing it themselves without telling me. And that's duplication. There's no point asking somebody to take responsibility for something and then still doing it. You're just making two people busy. Delegation isn't working in your favor. It isn't lightening your load. It's just doubling the load for multiple people.

Delegation Is Not Duplication or Abdication

So delegation is not duplication. And delegation is not abdication. As elders, we can't simply say, "Oh, you guys deal with the people. We don't want anything to do with them." In Acts 6, when the apostles say, "Our responsibility is prayer and the Word."

I've heard some elders say, "Oh, well, we shouldn't shepherd people, we should just spend all our time praying and reading the Bible." But that's just taking one verse and making it a rule for everything. If we look at the whole New Testament and instructions for elders, we see the elders are to shepherd, they're to oversee, they're to care for.

They're to teach all of these things. So as elders, it's not that we don't want to get involved with the people. It's we don't want to get involved with every little issue and every single problem. Everybody would be exhausted and nobody would be looked after properly.

So the elders want to delegate some of that responsibility. So that the elders can get on with the job of government of the church. Of doctrine, discipline, direction, and yes, overseeing the shepherding of the people. And getting involved in a lot of those things.

But entrusting a lot of the work to deacons and to others. But that doesn't mean we abdicate our responsibility and say, "I don't know and somebody else is dealing with it. I asked a deacon to look after that couple. So I've forgotten about them."

No, it's not duplication, but it's not abdication. It's right delegation. It's saying, "I've handed this area of responsibility over to you. But it's a delegated responsibility, and ultimately, I am responsible." And we need to understand that authority and responsibility are two sides of the same coin.

Authority and Responsibility Go Together

I cannot make you responsible for something over which you've had no authority. I cannot give you authority without holding you responsible. Sometimes guys will walk into the church and they'll want to minister. And they'll want to give their perspective. And they'll want to preach.

And they'll want to prophesy. And we say, wait a minute, you're not responsible for the people in this household. What makes you think you have authority here? And likewise, you sometimes find leaders of the church who want to exert their authority. They want to say, obey me.

They want to throw their weight around. But they won't take responsibility. If you're going to carry authority, make sure you take responsibility. And if you're responsible, make sure you exercise your authority. And so as elders, we do not want to duplicate the work.

Deacons Must Delegate Too

We do not want to abdicate ourselves of our responsibilities for standing before the Lord for how we lead the people. But we do want to delegate. But then it goes further than that, as deacons, you too need to delegate. If I said to a deacon, can you make sure that every visitor is followed up?

And that they're invited for supper. And that they are locked into a community. If I ask you as a deacon to do that, that doesn't mean you have to follow up every single visitor. And you have to invite every single visitor. For myself even, I'm an elder.

I'm responsible for a lot of the teaching. But if I think I have to do all the teaching and go to every congregation and teach every session, first of all, everyone will get bored. And second, I will die of exhaustion. Although I've got an area of responsibility, I understand that the way to be completely responsible and be effective in that responsibility is to pull other people in who I can work with as a team.

It's all about team. Three helpful questions that I've heard Jonathan Stanfield on the Isle of Man recommend. Whenever we're looking around, three questions we can ask is: What needs doing? What can somebody else do? And what must I do myself? And even as deacons, that's a good question to ask.

I'm not saying abdicate. I'm not saying when you see a problem, say, somebody else will get round to it. Say, this is my responsibility, but how can I delegate areas of this responsibility to others? One, so that I don't exhaust myself, but second, so each of those people have an opportunity to serve and rise up.

If we don't let people serve, we are robbing them of their rewards before the Lord of serving in the household of God. And so remember, as deacons, as leaders in the household, remember: not duplication, not abdication, but delegation.