Why You Must Share The Burden With Lay People
by Pastor Dag Heward-MIlls
And the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall BEAR THE BURDEN of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.
Numbers 11:16, 17
One of the most difficult tasks in life is to “lead” people. Moses delivered the Israelites from bondage but struggled to lead them to the Promised Land. They were too difficult for him to handle. Moses’ job of leading difficult people is the job that all pastors have to do.
God graciously gave Moses spectacular and sensational miracles. These signs and wonders helped to establish his authority over God’s flock. In spite of this, the burden of leading the people was more than he could carry. The Bible calls it a burden – and that is what it is! Moses eventually succumbed to the pressures of leading difficult people and lost his chance to enter the Promised Land.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall BEAR THE BURDEN of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.
Numbers 11:16, 17
One of the most difficult tasks in life is to “lead” people. Moses delivered the Israelites from bondage but struggled to lead them to the Promised Land. They were too difficult for him to handle. Moses’ job of leading difficult people is the job that all pastors have to do.
God graciously gave Moses spectacular and sensational miracles. These signs and wonders helped to establish his authority over God’s flock. In spite of this, the burden of leading the people was more than he could carry. The Bible calls it a burden – and that is what it is! Moses eventually succumbed to the pressures of leading difficult people and lost his chance to enter the Promised Land.
“There Is a Real Burden
If you have a pastor’s heart and love people, you cannot disassociate yourself from their problems. Their problems will become your problems and their burdens will affect you!
When God uses you to minister to a large number of people, he expects you to share the burden. Failure to share this burden simply means that you may collapse or come to a standstill in ministry. There are many standstill churches around. They grow to a point but can grow no further. The reason is that they fail to share the burden of ministry.
A balanced church is one that has people of all sorts within it; young, the old, educated and uneducated, rich and poor, and male and female. All these people must be drafted in to the share the burden.
Don’t Exclude Anyone
I notice that most churches exclude the educated and the rich from ministry. Usually, the rich are expected to contribute money whilst the educated enhance the image of the church. However, I have found that both the rich and the educated can be spiritually useful.
There are many medical doctors, carpenters, plumbers, specialists, lecturers, architects, and engineers, who serve as lay pastors. These lay pastors share the burden of ministry.
The burden of the ministry cannot be borne by one person. It is simply impossible.
Share the Burden and Have a Larger Church
If you want to have a greater ministry than what you currently have, you must share the burden.
Sometimes people do not share the burden because they want to take all of the glory for themselves. They want people to feel that they are the only ones with a supernatural gift. They want people to show appreciation to them alone.
Others are afraid of rebellion in the camp. How common is the story of associate pastors rebelling. Many senior pastors fear their assistants will outshine them one day. Fear not, only believe! You cannot expand without trusting people. The work is so great that you will never ever be able to do it all alone.
