[Note: you can read a shorter version of this article here]
Long days. Endless complaints. Burnout. That was Moses’ life in the desert.
All day long, day after day, Moses listened to the people and then explained to them the word of God. Moses was a prophet. Everybody wanted to talk to him. It seemed like a good use of his time.
But someone did not agree—Moses’ father-in-law Jethro. “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone” (Exodus 18:17–18). Jethro thought Moses was taking on too much himself. He worried Moses would wear himself and the people out. He was probably also concerned for his daughter-in-law.
What happened next is remarkable. Moses could have said to his father-in-law, “You know, I’m a prophet. I think I know what I’m doing.” But he didn’t. He listened. “So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said” (Ex. 18:24).
What Moses recognized is that wisdom—knowing how to pursue the good in the best way—is not the province of the covenant community alone. It will always be surprising how much people in the world understand about creation, organizations, and even God. God’s common grace is a marvelous gift.
Moses was open to it, and we should be, too.
In this article, I want to highlight seven practices I have learned from a variety of sources. They are distilled in a very helpful way in The Seven Practices of Effective Ministry by Stanley, Joiner, and Riggs, to which I am particularly indebted. It is similar to Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. These practices contain timeless wisdom for running our lives and our organizations well. They are the principles that help us be effective and avoid “wearing ourselves out” while accomplishing little.
Before we get into the principles, allow me to expand on why we should think carefully about what we are doing as churches and ministries. It might seem more holy just to rely on the Holy Spirit in the moment and not plan too much. It might seem that love is more spontaneous and that planning inhibits the free flow of love to those who need it.
This is not completely wrong. Every plan can become a straitjacket and an idol. We can turn our plans into self-reliance and forget God. Scripture constantly warns us: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me . . .” (Jer. 9:23–24). This warning is not because wisdom is bad but because it is good. However, it is not as good as knowing and relying on the Lord, who can do far above all that we ask or imagine.
So, why should we even worry about wisdom or strategy in our organizations? Here are five reasons:
First, we need organizational wisdom because churches get bogged down in what matters least. Stanley et al. describe a situation that is all too familiar: “some ministries seem routine and irrelevant; the teaching feels too academic; calendars are saturated with mediocre programs; staff members pull in opposite directions; volunteers lack motivation; departments viciously compete for resources; and it becomes harder and harder to figure out if we are really being successful” (65). When we talk about organizational wisdom, we’re not fixing what already works well. We’re addressing the frustrations, the distractions from real ministry.
Second, we need organizational wisdom because not everything we do is equally important. The distribution of food to widows was quite important, but the Apostles said: “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables” (Acts 6:2). They didn’t say food distribution was unimportant. They said they had a more important task they could not abandon. So, they delegated it to seven deacons. Continue reading “Seven Practices for Effective Church Ministry (Full Version)”
