I was chatting with Jake in the office the other day and as so often happens, a small side conversation makes a significant impact to me. Jake was relaying a conversation he had with someone else. Basically it was about the difference between delegating a task and delegating responsibility. Delegating is something that I know I don't do well because I often fall into the trap of thinking something will not be done correctly if not by me. Of course that makes the assumption that my way is always correct which is about as brasenly arrogant as anything I can think of. It also leads to overload as I find it necessary to manage minutia to a ridiculous extent. Even though I know these things stand in the way of really ministering to people and blocks others from using their God given gifts I still engage in this behavior. I found this idea to be very challenging, that I may have been assigning tasks and not giving leaders the responsibility and freedom to do what they do best. I am on the search for ways to truly empower students and leaders and watchful for the ways I block them from succeeding. I don't have all the answers but it is something I am thinking about a lot. Thanks Jake for the inspiration!
