Part of a series inspired by Peter Drucker, an important mentor of mine

When I was first planting a church, I found that I was getting tired and discouraged every two weeks. Some planters have a weekly cycle and some a monthly schedule, but mine seemed to be a lunar cycle. But for whatever reason, I’d start feeling really worn out every two weeks. I prayed the psalms, crying out to God, asking for his help, praying for perspective. I was on the lookout for unconfessed sin. I tried counting my blessings. Nothing. I wasn’t getting anywhere.

Then the thought came, “Why don’t you sit down and draw an org chart of the church?” My first response was one of irritation. “An org chart? Hmm…well, since God isn’t answering my prayers, I might as well do that.”  I wrote my name down at the top, drew the chart, and discovered that I had 27 direct reports. That’s 27 lines going to my name with arrows. I threw my pen down on the paper and thought, “No wonder I’m tired!  I don’t have a spiritual problem here. I have a Moses problem. I’m trying to do too much stuff myself.” (see Exodus 18:13-27)

What did I learn? Spiritual problems need to be addressed with spiritual tools. Management problems need to be addressed with management tools.