This post is a continuation of the thoughts in the last post. Read it first.

There are two powers that need to be at your disposal the longer you pastor a church or church district. The Narcissists among us will never really tap either of these powers, even though they may make a great show of it. And the rest of us who have some Narcissistic tendencies(I think most leaders do) will have some things to overcome and work through in order to fully experience both these powers.

The two powers are the power of prayer and the power of people. It's been said and written a million times that the power of a church is only experienced when it is a praying church. The church will only learn that as the pastor learns/exemplifies it. While we seem to know this, is it really our most valued belief? Make sure it is. There is no higher power for your ministry than talking with God everyday and frequently. Your ministry really is His ministry. He really is the head of the body he has entrusted to you to care for. Learn to depend more and more on Him in your conversations and the power will be there.

The other power is the power of the people. The natural thing to do is to role up our sleeves, get in there and finish the work. I jokingly say sometimes that I'm not on the committee to finish the work, I'm on the one to get it started. Until we learn to build people as the instruments of God's plan, then we really have not even begun our work. The Apostles could not survive much longer as church leaders if they did not build their team. Their team consisted of Greeks of course, not their first natural choice. but they chose men and women of Spirit you can say. They chose men and women who were connected or growing in that connection.  If they had not chosen this group of deacons in the book of Acts, I'm convinced there would be no book of Acts to read. But they chose. This choice must be made by us as well. Our tendency is to get in there, show what we can do, make a difference and do a good job. Not bad sentiments but they couldn't be more wrong and damaging than if the devil himself suggested them.

Our job is not to do the work, but to share and empower the work. This one idea is the most ignored and the reason why so many burnout. Even pastors who build people and build great teams burn out, so I don't want to be too harsh, but my point still remains.  If you refuse to get this point, you will continue a successive pattern of short term ministries always with an eye to getting on to the next district, or office job, or something else. Often that something else is completely out of the ministry.

The true narcissist will not even read something like this, it will go against every fiber of his powerful drive and intellect to hear it or accept it. But for the rest of us, we desperately need to learn again/anew how Jesus took His disciples and built them so they could be great servants. Jesus was not a flash in the pan, He was in this for eternity. He was here to stay. Staying power comes from prayer power and people power. Build your team from the moment you set eyes on your new church, start with God at the head of your team, and then branch out. Pray with your leaders, help them to love to pray. Then take them everywhere you can. Don't minister alone if you can help it. Take them visiting and take them to the hospital and let them see the highs and lows of ministry. They will make better decisions, and they will be informed and engaged.

A powerful ministry can be yours. Remember where the power comes from and make it so.