Putting Yourself Out Of Business

Recently I had to talk to a group a little bit about the issue of ministers' leaving one place of leadership for another & how at times people are rocked by the departure not just from an emotional & relational sense but also in the spiritual sense. There are times when those we have served & led feel as if their spiritual life has taken a massive hit because the pastor they have learned from is leaving, & while there are many factors involved in this, it's important to understand that it's up to us as leaders to walk away knowing that we've done everything we could do in our role to ensure that this doesn't happen to the people we have served.

If someone we've led feels as if we are their connection to God, then we have not done our job. The role of a pastor is to equip & prepare the people of God for the work of ministry. The role of any leader is to empower the people he leads to do more together than any of us could ever do on our own. That's why my personal philosophy of ministry & leadership is that I should do my job so well that I am constantly putting myself out of business in one area or another. Of course there is the need on the part of those that we lead to take personal responsibility  for their own growth, but as the leader, we have to make sure that we are putting measures in place to issue that very challenge in a variety of ways. Otherwise, you will leave one day to take on a new challenge & the work you leave behind may crumble because you built, probably inadvertently, a ministry & organization on what you could do & not on what others were being equipped to do.

This concept holds true in every area of leadership. Whether you're a parent, a business leader, or pastor, do your job as the leader so well that it's putting you out of business.