One of the most challenging things I have learned in church planting has been providing clarity clearly and accurately. In the beginning, there was a long season where I was doing a lot of the work from preaching, leading a missional community, and building the website. As time went on, the Lord was gracious and faithful to bring people into the fold where eventually I had a small staff team and was able to delegate a lot of responsibility thus freeing myself to focus on leadership development, church planting, and preaching and teaching.

In this short post, I wish to share how clarity has been a challenge for me and why I believe it’s a great skill for every leader to develop, especially when working with a staff team or volunteers.

OVERWHELMED

There are moments in ministry where emotional stress and operational oversight can be overwhelming because it’s falling on one person or a small group of leaders. I think it’s important to take a step back and evaluate what is going, identify a disconnect, and then respond appropriately. Sadly, I see many leaders approach these disconnects poorly.

In other words, they will evaluate, identify, and then that’s it. In my case, that’s exactly what I have done and assumed that other leaders would pick up the breadcrumbs that I’ve left behind to understand how to best care for a situation. All that does is create distortion in communication and frustrates individuals in their roles and functions.

So, if you find yourself overwhelmed in ministry, here’s what I would suggest:

1. Evaluate
When you are experiencing stress and tension within your ability or teams, there is a great chance that they are experiencing it too. In evaluating, you’re taking a step back to figure out what is going on by asking yourself questions like “what is overwhelming me?” or “what am I frustrated with?” Questions similar to these will help you process everything from your emotions to your structure.

2. Identify
Identifying a disconnect in your team or among other leaders can be difficult because, in this area, we are inviting others to speak into what they see. And sometimes, it’s a word of encouragement to you while other times it’s a word of loving rebuke. In identifying a disconnect, you may be taking responsibility for something you’re not doing, should be doing, or simply learning what is keeping you from addressing certain situations.

3. Respond
Responding appropriately is a great step and work in your personal sanctification because if there are frustrations and disconnects in your teams, then how you respond and begin creating a solution is incredibly important. When you respond appropriately, you begin by pursuing humility and within that humility, sometimes you need to apologize for not taking action or humility may require to listen more than you speak. Either way, responding appropriately is a work of sanctification and the pursuit of humility for the purpose of communicating clarity accurately.

WHY ARE YOU OVERWHELMED?

As I conclude this post, I would love to offer a question for you to chew on: why are you overwhelmed? I would encourage you to think through this well and give yourself some time to evaluate and identify what is going on. Are you overwhelmed because of fear? Or control?

Is your value and worth found in your work rather than the One who is faithful and at work within you? Whether it’s inviting a friend to speak into you or receiving a rebuke, this is a question I would spend a good amount of time thinking through.

In the end, developing clarity is crucial for the health of any team, church, or organization for the purpose of health and stability. When we neglect to develop or communicate clarity, for whatever reason, we exercise a pride that hinders growth and prevents health from forming.

What have you experienced in the area of clarity as a leader? Would love to hear your thoughts.

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