We’ve previously noted that delegation shows love for God by valuing what He views important. He values relationships, community, doing life together. He designed the Church to function that way — Body Life. Hence, we have a theological basis for delegating which leads to practical outcomes.
Theological Basis for Delegating
When we give others opportunity to participate by delegating, we promote the following aspects of God’s design for the Church:
1) interdependence among the Body
2) value of members of the Body
3) working for the greater good
In addition to what you read here, the Steering the Church Toward Body Life Leadership Guide also includes some brief thoughts about each of the three points.
For Resources on Body Life, Go to: Body Life Resources
All Posts about Delegation:
- What Does Delegation Have to do with Love?
- Delegation Done Purposefully
- Basis for Delegating
- Lessons about Delegation from Jesus
- Christ-like Goal in Delegating
- What If Jesus Hadn’t Delegated?
- Only God Truly Empowers
- Delegation Influenced by the Gospel
- Delegation Influenced by Grace
- Leaders’ Spiritual Gifting May Affect Delegating
- Who to Delegate to Based on Spiritual Gifts
- Avoiding Pitfalls of Delegation
- Delegation Enveloped in Prayer
- Delegation Because of the Resurrected Jesus
- Realistically View Delegation
- Delegation Protected in the Name of the Lord
- Delegation Learned Through the Word
- Leaders Who are Good Stewards Tend to Delegate More
- Delegation Propelled by the Holy Spirit
How do we help individuals when their lives feel to busy? They are hesitant to commit. If I’m running a program and there is nobody committing to be there weekly because of their family challenges. Accepting their help when they come seems to be the only option.
Yes, Swan, busyness if a very real issue in getting people involved. When I think of delegating, I think of you as a leader finding someone to relieve you of specific tasks so as to free you up for higher priority responsibilities. What you are writing about sounds like initial recruiting problems. To start, let me suggest that you read this article: Why Can’t the Church Recruit Volunteers?
Some of it is about building a certain kind of culture within your church wherein people see the value of ministry and are serving for the right reasons. Re-orienting people does take time but it is important to work toward the long-range, big picture, while seeking to meet current recruitment needs. These articles might help:
Recruiting in Line with How God Accomplished His Work
Promoting the Value of the Task as well as the Person
Encouraging People to Serve for the Right Reason