https://youtu.be/BYpzVW3HETI
(Pastors coming before the Lord in prayer and praise for 30 minutes every day before lectures begin)
About forty pastors from the Ivory Coast and Chad gathered to discuss the leadership challenges currently facing pastoral ministry in Africa. Through these discussions, they identified 19 major issues in African pastoral leadership. Among them, the issue that received the most agreement was this: pastors are working extremely hard yet seeing little fruit, and their messages lack depth.
This is not a problem unique to African pastors. It is also the struggle of pastors in the United States and the reality of pastors in Korea. Of course, we must first define what it actually means to “work hard.” If we fail to define it clearly, most people will mistake frantic busyness and exhaustion for diligence.
When priorities and strategy are unclear, people naturally focus not on what is most important, but on what feels most urgent. Yet urgent tasks, no matter how hard we work at them, do not lead to growth in competence. At best, we have only put out the fire at our feet.
What is the Pareto Principle? Wikipedia defines it as “the phenomenon in which 80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes.” Let us apply this to ministry.
Eighty percent of church work is accomplished by 20% of the members’ dedication.
Eighty percent of a church’s budget comes from the offerings of 20% of the members.
This principle applies everywhere—government, corporations, churches, families, and individuals. Twenty percent of everything I do produces 80% of the results. If this is true, an effective leader does not simply work hard and stay busy; they distribute mental and physical energy according to priorities and work strategically.
Rather than trying to do everything well, leaders must focus on the most important 20% of tasks to produce 80% of the fruit. The remaining 80% of tasks, no matter how diligently we pursue them, will only yield 20% of the results. These tasks may keep leaders busy, but in terms of effectiveness, they are “low-nutrient” work. A wise and effective leader must be able to delegate these tasks to others.
The African pastors repeatedly said, “There is no one to whom we can delegate.” This is an honest confession. Having no trustworthy leaders to whom one can entrust responsibility is a common reality.
From a leadership perspective, there are two reasons why there may be no leaders around us.
First, it may be because I myself am not a leader. John Maxwell calls this the Law of the Magnet. Leaders attract other leaders, just like magnets. The stronger my leadership capacity, the more leaders I will attract.
In 1 Chronicles 27:1–34, we see a list of David’s officials. Reading this passage reveals how many outstanding leaders surrounded David. Why did David have such leaders under him? Because David himself was an exceptional leader.
If my leadership level is a “3,” the leadership capacity of those who work with me will be “2” or below. In other words, they are not people to whom I can confidently entrust responsibility. What is the greatest contribution a leader can make to an organization? To continually grow into an excellent leader oneself.
The second reason leaders may be absent is that I have not trained and developed them. Many leaders who work to the point of exhaustion have been too busy extinguishing urgent fires to invest time and energy into the most important 20% of tasks—raising leaders.
Leadership development is critically important, but neglecting it does not cause immediate problems in the church. As a result, it is always pushed aside by urgent demands such as sermon preparation and visitation. African pastors also pointed out another reason leaders are often not developed: fear that developing leaders might eventually lead to losing one’s own leadership position.
This issue is not limited to Africa. To delegate effectively, leaders must train others, appoint them, and give them both authority and position. But if one fears the leadership transition that may follow, one will never commit to developing leaders. Over time, the church structure becomes one in which the pastor must do everything. In such a system, pastors run themselves into exhaustion—working furiously, yet producing little fruit.
The lack of depth in preaching comes from running endlessly without rest. The depth of a message is directly proportional to a pastor’s life of sustained study. How can someone who is constantly running find time to sit quietly and engage in deep study?
The more pastors study—not merely for sermon preparation, but for their own growth—the more their competence increases. When sufficient depth has accumulated, sermon preparation may become less burdensome because Scripture has already been studied over a long period.
Study and sermon preparation must be among the most important priorities in a preacher’s weekly schedule. They are not urgent tasks that require frantic last-minute effort. But when sermon preparation begins on Saturday morning, it suddenly becomes urgent rather than important. Urgent tasks, no matter how many times they are repeated, do not produce skill growth.
If a preacher has preached for many years yet has not grown in insight or interpretive ability, it is worth examining whether sermons have always been prepared under urgency. Champions are not made in the ring on the day of the match. They are developed through consistent training. On match day, champions merely prove who they already are.
After completing our Africa schedule, I listened to the pastors’ feedback. One comment in particular has stayed with me:
“Pastor, thank you for teaching us about priorities. I worked myself to death, yet bore no fruit. I thought I needed to work even harder, but my body and mind were already exhausted, so I couldn’t put it into practice.”
A pastor who is exhausted in both body and soul can never revive a church or its ministry.