by This week Gravity Leadership co-founders Ben Hardman, Matt Tebbe, and Ben Sternke check-in on what’s going on their local church ministries, and end up discussing a common tension in ministry: continuing to invest in a culture of development while feeling the demands of a growing church.
We talk about the the typical solutions most of us come up with when feeling this tension, and the need to intentionally cultivate a culture of development, instead of “excellence.”
Links and resources:
- An Introduction to the Enneagram | Atlanta, Aug 17-18
- Prayer School with Brian Zahnd | New York City, Sept 14-15
- Gravity Leadership Academy | cohorts are always starting – this is where we train in the practical, on-the-ground skills needed to navigate tensions like the one we discussed today.
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Eric says
August 1, 2018 at 10:16 AMHey guys…
so what I heard you say on this episode was that as I attempt to lead a group of people, what I really need to do is develop some clones of myself. I like what I hear about creating space to allow people to try and fail, about reducing the power gap (not growing it), and about not trying to do it all myself. But I also heard about ability gaps, competency in doing ministry, and balancing risk of allowing another person into my ministry roles while I try to develop them to take some burden off of me.
I’m pretty sure my community doesn’t need any clones of me. I have too many issues for that, and it seems contradictory to the metaphor of working as the Body of Christ. I want to empower people to work out and develop their giftings for the edification of the body. And I want to lead everyone into that, not just people that might fit in roles similar to mine. Are ability gaps really that (deficiencies to be fixed), or are they simply a diversity of gifts? This is not to say that there is not room for improvement everywhere, but I want to recognize that my role isn’t necessarily the most important role, the one that needs to be fostered and duplicated the most. Maybe I’m not the one guy that those 150 people need. Maybe this “less able” person over here is a way better fit to some of them.
I trust that what I heard was not your intent, and I understand that this was 30 minutes out of years worth of discussions. But does any of this resonate with you? Can we talk about development in terms of leading people into THEIR roles instead of into MY role?
Ben Sternke says
August 1, 2018 at 12:02 PMAll of that resonates a LOT, Eric! We’re definitely not suggesting that “cloning” yourself is a good idea 😉 The nuance is that there is BOTH a diversity of gifts AND “ability gaps” – so discernment is always required. Am I really trying to help this person develop into the calling God has for THEM? Or am I just trying to create a second version of myself? The former is “development,” the latter isn’t, in our book. Thanks for opening up the question for clarification! I actually wrote up something like this awhile back on my blog: https://bensternke.com/replicate-yourself/