Many sports teams have gotten into trouble for relying too much on one or two star players. When those players got injured, switched teams, or retired, the winning streak abruptly ended. The teams have learned to function without their star. All they know is how to make the star shine, they don’t know any other way to win. Sports history shows that consistent greatness is about teamwork.
Unfortunately, we see the same happening in many churches and ministries. There are many volunteers, but there’s one star, one key-leader without whom nothing happens, who makes all the decisions and everyone knows it. It’s a lone-star ministry, a lone-star church. And when that leader leaves, for whatever reason, the church is in deep, deep trouble.
A couple of years ago, I read a powerful book on discipleship by Mike Breen, called Building a Discipling Culture. Breen states that the smallest unit in the Kingdom is two. He describes Jesus sending out the disciples in two’s, not by themselves.
I’ve been guilty of being too much of a lone-star at times and I’ve seen the devastating effects of a lone-star church up close when I volunteered elsewhere. That’s why what Breen said hit me so hard: we should never do any kind of ministry alone; we should always have at least one partner. A team would be even better. And that goes for each level of ministry, including leading a youth ministry.
Any ministry run by a lone star will sooner or later get into trouble. Without a partner or a team there is no humility, no sharing, no accountability, no healthy criticism, no fresh ideas. A lone-star ministry will ultimately always run itself into the ground, with devastating effects for all included.
I know that many lone-star churches or ministries didn’t want to become one. It just happens. It happens when you have a gifted leader, when there’s too much to do, and too few people willing to do the work. The leader will step up and do it himself or herself and slowly but surely a pattern emerges. It’s just so much easier, because teams are messy and cost time and never seem to do it just quite as well as you. I can understand that because I have been there.
But I also know in the end, it doesn’t work. Because even when your ministry is the best there is because of your hard work and efforts, you will still be alone, stressed out, overworked, and completely lost. And if something would ever happen to you, if you had to quit or leave, your ministry would crumble. Most importantly: God didn’t create man to be alone. Serving by ourselves in youth ministry is not how God has designed it.
How then do you prevent a lone-star ministry?
- Delegate
“Leaders must always be looking to give away their jobs to people who can do it as well or better than they.”
That’s what Mike Breen advices and I agree. You prevent solo run ministries by constantly being on the lookout for people who can do what you do, maybe even better. And then you delegate and transfer responsibility. This is hard sometimes, especially when we put so much of our identity into what we do—or derive so much of our identity from it.
- Create a leadership team
Working with a leadership team is another good way to get a healthy mix in leadership. It needs to be a ‘real’ leadership team though, not just a bunch of people whose only function is to sanction everything that you do. Leadership teams are at times tough and messy and you won’t always get what you want. But they are also inspiring and encouraging and challenging and they’re absolutely worth it!
- Stay accountable
There are circumstances when there’s no leadership team possible, for instance when you can’t find anyone willing to serve or when your church is too small. In that case you need to make sure you stay accountable to someone. Is your senior pastor willing to spend an hour a week talking through your major decisions? Can you find a mentor or coach who will ask you the tough questions?
- Replace Yourself
This one hits closest to home and it’s one of the things I didn’t get right in my first position as youth pastor. You need to do everything you can to replace yourself. Train up leaders, delegate to students, have volunteers take over your tasks whenever they are willing and able.
It sounds contradictory, but if your ministry can run well whenever you’re out of commission, you’ve done it right. As long as we hold on to the belief that we are essential to our ministry’s success, there’s a certain level of pride at work.
Lone-star ministries are not what God has in mind for us and for our churches. Let’s do everything we can to prevent them.