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Your Last 5% - “Prioritizing Your Energy in Ministry”

Orginally published on Thursday, May 17, 2007 at 8:29 AM
by Todd Rhoades

Do you ever feel like you're spinning your wheels in ministry? Are you putting in a massive amount of hours, yet seemingly not getting much accomplished? Do you find yourself tired, lacking motivation and energy for the things you feel are important. You can read Wayne’s entire post here They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” (Acts 16:6-10). You’d think that God would just say, “Go for it” …

“Go tell it on the mountains.” Or maybe: “Just do it!” “Start with the “A’s” in the phone book and work your way through!” After all, doesn’t the Great Commission tell us to “GO?”

Seems like a universal call to me. But here we find a seemingly contradictory voice. It’s like a parent telling you to “Make sure you be nice to every adult that you encounter today… but you can slide on our neighbor, Mr. Sackett. He’s weird.”

A bit confusing… don’t you think?

But maybe what God is saying something we often miss. Maybe He’s reminding me that although the Gospel is universal, our time and energy are limited. Maybe He is reiterating that the Good News is eternal, but the couriers of that message are mortals. Even though the Gospel is to all men, we cannot be.

Try and you’ll burn out like a sparkler on the 4th of July… nice for a moment but now useless forever!

Sometimes I find myself doing lots of things, but am I doing the right things? My day is filled with busyness, but am I about “my Father’s business?”

Here’s a sobering and saddening fact: 85% of what you do, anyone can do. I know it may come as a shock, but don’t drop out with depression yet. It gets worse.

You see, as a leader, you can fill your hours by writing letters, answering email, making phone calls, and emceeing meetings. At luncheons, we do such critical things as telling hungry people which table goes first to the buffet. Such power can get addicting, I’m sure.

Here’s the second part: 10% of what you do can be delegated to those with a modicum of expertise. That is leading a meeting, or giving a lecture, a teaching, or giving counsel and advice. Now I realize that some of these you may need to do, but stick with me.

There is 5% of what you do that only YOU can do. These will require your heart, your vision, your personality. Because of the relationship you have with a child, a spouse, a friend in trouble, there are certain things that only you can accomplish.  That will you make the biggest difference, and ultimately in the end, be held accountable for.

The last 5%.

It’s so important that the Lord assigned the Holy Spirit to help us prioritize our energy. He will forbid certain Christian activities that seem religious and important. He will instruct us to delegate, to give away, to build teams. This isn’t so strange. Earlier in Acts 6:4 reminds us that the Holy Spirit did not allow the disciples to jump into the set up crew needing tables served. You must be about devoting yourselves to “prayer and the ministry of the Word.”

That’s the last 5%.

It’s the time I spend visioning others, meeting with key leaders, setting up ministries that no one else can. It’s dreaming into the future, planning how to get there, and mobilizing others in the same direction. It is spending the knee-time to hear the Lord for a current word, a life giving idea, a new sense of His hand at work. It is a word given to a weary servant that had it come from someone else may not have been as impacting. Who are these that need your touch today?

That’s the last 5%.

That’s what makes movements grow forward. But what about the other 95%? Unimportant? Were those tables that needed serving unnecessary? No! It has to be completed, but not necessarily by the apostles themselves.

The Holy Spirit instructed them to delegate and build teams: “Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task” (Acts 6:3).

Now it sure would be simpler to concentrate on the first 85%. That is the easiest and poses the least risk.  It can consume our whole week, leaving us feeling "good" about how hard we’ve worked.

But these two phrases “…having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia…” and going into Bithynia, "the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them” … still haunt me.  He refused to let them deplete theri energies into areas of least benefit even though it seemed "religious." 

The Spirit of God guides us and helps us to prioritize our energies into obedience. He helps us to organize our hours into forevers, our daily activities into eternal treasures.

The Last 5%... this is what I must primarily be about. That’s how I must prioritize my energies and organize my time. Otherwise I will find myself in Bithynia serving tables and wondering why God has been so distant lately.

Sounds like His voice is a hundred miles away ... in Macedonia.


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 TRACKBACKS: (0) There are 10 Comments:

  • Posted by

    Great, thought-provoking piece.  It’s so easy to get caught up in the 85%. This principle is true for everyone, not just church leaders.  If everyone in our churches would stay focused and expend their energies on what they alone are called to do and are good at, the whole church would be energized.  And there would be a lot less griping.

  • Posted by Todd Hinkie

    Great insights, especially as a brand new Administrative Asst begins working for me today!  I’ve recently come to discover that the BEST thing I can do for my church is to think, plan and create.  No one else can do it like I can due to my experience, relationships and very specific skills in music (I am the Worship Pastor or a multi-campus work, 4 sites, 2000 peeps).  Thank you for the reminder!  I would highly recommend the FranklinCovey system for helping you plan your weeks and your days so that each night you can feel good about where your hours went, knowing they went MOSTLY to the 5%!

  • Posted by

    Just wanted to say thanks to Todd Rhoades for having this blog site and to everyone that has contributed their ideas and comments.  Your valued opinions have been very educational and just thank you!

  • Posted by

    What an excellent article that needs to be heard by all the leaders of the church. The fact that 85% of any given pastor’s workload can be done by anyone, yet is being done by the pastor himself, simply because it has always been done this way. This inability to “get out of the box” is caused by several factors, but the two most common reasons are that of being perceived not interested and that of insecurity of your position. Both of these reasons have captured and held in bondage many a godly man who otherwise could have been used of God in greater measure. Once we begin to think outside this box and truly give ourselves to our father’s business it is then that the Holy Spirit can speak to us and lead us into the ability to hear and comprehend the strategy he has for our particular ministry.

    Whenever the enemy keeps us so focused on the daily mundane tasks (that truly need to be done) the enemy has managed to rob you of your potential and your energy. This lack of energy then causes us to falter in our personal study time and our communion with God in prayer. This condition holds true I dare say to the majority of our pastors today.  But thanks be to God that we are finally beginning to recognize our dilemma and are beginning to take bold steps to correct the misuse of our time.

    It is very threatening whenever we decide to change the status quo, but it can be done and the rewards are that you will begin to prioritize according to the will of God, because you now have time to devote yourself to fasting and prayer and the study of God’s Word. It is in this atmosphere that a servant of God is led and empowered by the Holy Spirit to accomplish the will of God.  Whenever we are held captive by the mundane tasks that every church must have done to function, we are unable to see or plan properly for the future. So bound by daily tasks we are unable to break the weekly cycle of events that dictate to us how to spend our time and we fail to give time to those activities that are the true will of God. 

    One must be willing to make a radical change, a paradigm shift to make the changes needed to free you from the daily routine. As a pastor you know the people of your church and know those who can be trusted to complete the daily tasks of running a church. If you have elders and deacons so much the better as you train up these men to help free yourself so that you can spend time with God.  Today’s article really touched me and I hope and pray that this article will open the eyes of those leaders held in bondage to the daily routines of running a church and allow them to see a better way.

  • Posted by

    This is a wonderful piece.

  • Posted by bernie dehler

    The article is a good reminder to be organized, above all else.  It’s easy to be so busy and have no time to plan our day.  Part of organizing is prioritizing; something this article highlights.

    ...Bernie
    http://freegoodnews.blogspot.com

  • Posted by

    Thank you for the wonderful and insightful article on the 5%. I wish that I had known this when I began in ministry. I felt that if things were going to get done I had to do them myself. I have learned since, however, that the 5% is the important part for the pastor. And I remeber all too well the words of the Apostles to “look for seven men full of the Holy Spirit and we will give ourselves to prayer and the Word. I would that all pastors would learn to do this very early in ministry - especially Pastoral Ministry. There would be less burn-out and more souls brought into the Kingdom of God.  Keep up the good work!

  • Posted by

    Just a reminder to all of us.  Don’t ever use this great piece of management technique to avoid serving.  Jesus washed the disciples feet, something that someone else could have and should have done.  It is easy to get the big head in ministry. After all, they couldn’t operate the church without us could they?  Being effective in the 5% is great management, but lousy servanthood.  Try to find others to do the things that fit their gifts, but don’t ever think that those areas of service are beneath you.

  • Posted by

    Your article is good to a certain point but seems to me directed to the multi staff church. A church which runs under 100 rarely has staff to delegate the administration needs. Thus the pastor does this in addition to his study time, visitation, and evangelism.

  • Posted by

    To Randy,
    Just wanted to say that it is really not about staff but about brothers and sisters in Christ. It doesn’t matter how many people are in the church, but how many are mature in Christ and willing to take on responsibility. The problem most of us have is that our members are not very mature in Christ and are so use to the pastor doing everything for them. If you find yourself without people who are mature, then your focus is to develop members into leadership positions. People when asked to help will, but it is your responsibility to ensure that they have the proper training or instructions necessary to do the job without wondering what is expected of them. It is well within your reach to begin a systematic plan to delegate tasks with boundaries. Call on the Lord and pray about the situation then sit down and on paper write down your ideas. Thank time with this process and ask for help from other pastors or elders of the church. Identify those tasks that can be delegated and the people you feel led to ask. Once you have your completed plan written down stick to it. Don’t give up, mistakes may be made that does not mean that the plan won’t work but only that your plan may need to be modified. When you suggested that the article applied to a multi-staff church, you actually expressed an in the box attitude designed to keep you from trying something new. It is always easier to find reasons why something won’t work, but when one takes the attitude how do I make it work, a huge field of opportunity is made available. God Bless you

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