Jesus Delegated As A Leader

 

Jesus Delegated Well

St. Luke 10:1-3 "After these things the LORD appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.

Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves."

No leader can do it all by himself. Leaders will have to delegate to others who will do what the can do to achieve success. The leader is limited by time and space. He can only be in one place at the same time. In the physical body, a leader cannot dematerialize and materialize and at the same time attend functions and make things happen all by himself in every place. Even while being in one place, there can be many things to be done. The leader needs to delegate. Who does he delegate to and how is it done? These are questions we will answer by learning from Jesus.

What is delegation? This is simply giving others the opportunity and privilege to do ('for you' and or 'with you') what you would have done by yourself if you would have had all the time and opportunity. The limitation of being in one place at the same time is one of the reasons to delegate. Even if a man can be in many places at the same time, he can not be in all places at the same time. Delegation is necessary for many reasons. Shared responsibilities can help a lot. Doing it all alone can be counter productive. History have recorded men who broke down all because they wanted to do it all by themselves. They did not learn how that they can be more successful by delegation. The leader gives more hands for the job by delegating. More job can be done by inviting others who are trained to do the job.

"After these things the LORD appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come..."

It will interest you to know that Jesus delegated the job at one time to seventy people. One reason he delegated to seventy and not three or one is that there was much to be done. He started with a smaller number and grew to seventy. The usual pattern with Jesus was sending two by two. To delegate to seventy means that they will have to go to thirty five places at the same time. This was what Jesus could not have done in his physical body. Physically, he was limited by time and space. No man can be in thirty five places at the same time. Delegation is the key to making it possible. Jesus appointed the seventy to do it. 

Take note that Jesus did not accidentally delegated. It was a deliberate effort to help solve the problems of men. It was not activity for the sake of it. He was not doing it to just keep men busy and to have it on record that he did something. It was to make it easy to reach men who need to be restored back to God in a loving relationship.

"After these things the LORD appointed..."

They were not appointed carelessly. They were appointed "After these things...". After what things were they appointed? They had been with Jesus for a period of time and learned. They saw what he said and did. They saw how he did what he did. They learned how to do it the right way. He taught them. Though they had much more to learn, the little they knew was relevant for the work. He could see that there was a change in their lives and sufficient ground to send them out. It was a time for them to see what potentials they had by doing the job. After learning then practice. He sent them to places he planned to go.

"...every city and place, whither he himself would come..."

They softened the ground for him to do the work much easier. The places they went were places he had the intention of going. That means that after they went and came back, he went with them to the same places. At least thirty five places were visited by Jesus after wards. It made the work much easier for him. They went and preached, they healed the people and prayed for them. They learned from Jesus how to do it and they put it to practice. It was a success.

"...two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come..."

Two by two were sent indicating that two are better than one and by learning this way, it will bring success. The ground was softened for planting and harvest.

"Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest."

It appears like Jesus was saying in essence that with the seventy, there is need for more labourers.

"...The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few.."

Great harvest but few labourers. There is no need to wait for thousands to be labourers. Starting with the seventy is a good idea. Time waits for no man. The available hands needs to be engaged. Jesus was a productive leader. Delegation had proven to be a great way to be productive. The reason why some leaders fear to delegate could be fear of many things like how to pay the 'seventy' and lack of sufficient knowledge by the labourers. Making use of the available hands according to the available resources is far better than waiting for what one is not sure of. Whether the labourers are few or the resources is not available is not enough reason not to delegate. The journey must start somewhere. In fact, the'seventy' were not the first to be sent. Jesus started with twelve and graduated to seventy.

St. Luke 9:1-2 "Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.

And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.'

The lessons learned with the twelve graduated to the seventy. Delegation helped Jesus to achieve success. If a leader must succeed, delegation is one key aspect of leadership he must not over look. Those to be delegated must have learned a lot of principles that is necessary for the success of the job at hand. Because it can be daunting, God must be in it from the beginning to the end. Prayer helped to make great decisions and achieve success. Prayer preceded delegation.

"...pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest."

By prayer, errors of delegation is avoided. By prayer, God who knows all things is invited into the picture and He will help to reduce the gap in knowledge that a man might have along the way. Going about it by prayer is the starting point of success.

"...Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves."

'Wolves' are obstacles to the job. Jesus is here saying that he was sending them among wolves. Why? The labourers were to the reduce wolves ravaging the lives of the people. They can reduce the wolves because they had learned how to do so. They had learned to pray and they saw how Jesus did it. There is no fear of wolves. He would not have said go if not because he had made provision to handle the wolves. Therefore go just as you were sent. Delegate those who understand this.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for the understanding that I can not do it alone. I need Your help and the help of others around me. Help me to see those who can be delegated. Help me to train them for the job. As we do the work together with You as the leader of the team, give us success in Jesus name. Amen!