Urban Idealist

How to Kill a Movement Part 3: Refuse to provide administrative help and let it suffocate under it’s own weight

Of all the things on the list, I think this one may be the most ‘unMovement’ feeling for most. Here is the reality: There is a big difference between starting a movement and sustaining a movement. Administration is not sexy, does not inspire most people, does not get the earthly praise and is sometimes low on the gift list of leaders who are out beginning the movements.

Let me say from experience…administration is very important to long-term movement sustainability. If a leader is thinking long-term, then administration has to be included in that strategy. Here’s how I see it:

Movements are like fast moving boats in stormy water. Most types of people that get on these boats are the people who are bent towards looking out past the bow. They ask questions like: Where are we going? What do we have to navigate? What is the best way to get where we want to go? Their eyes and hearts are bent towards what is to come. And that’s a good thing.

The truth is that while going through this storm, people fall off the boat. People get left behind. Some people are even trying to get on, while others are just barely hanging on. I see administrative roles looking out for this stuff and looking out for solutions to the problems caused by the nature of the storm…not to mention looking at the map to make sure we are going in the right direction…and checking the engine to make sure it’s not going to explode! Admin gifted people can help answer (and ask) questions like: Is this the best way to get where we want to go? How can we get through the storm better? Who has fallen off and how can we throw them a life-preserver? Who is trying to get on this boat?

If a movement is truly healthy it will grow. And the more people that get on the boat, the harder it is to maneuver, operate, repair, and keep people from falling off. Admin people have the giftedness to help a movement expand their boat.

The people and the way that they think can (and should) become the backbone of a movement. They keep it standing up tall, not lying limp on the ground. So if you are wanting to begin, have started, or are in the thick of a movement, remember that there is a reason that God gave us all different gifts and that each one has value. See the strategy behind having a healthy admin structure because if you don’t prepare for it now, it could kill you in the future! Also, admin people can also be visionary and gifted not only in tasks and processes…listen to and look for them.

A good example of this is found in Acts…the disciples appointed some other people to take on the ‘admin process’ of distributing bread among the widows. One of those men was James. Who in a chapter later gives one of the most hard hitting talks recorded in the book of Acts…and ends up being killed for it. But his original task? Bread distributor. We never know how God may have or will gift those in our movements.

Administrate…do it. Find people to do…or we run the risk of killing our movements under their own momentum. 

Dave is a great friend of Jen and I’s and was my admin back in the day…truly an amazing person that I had the privilege of serving with. He was a great admin, but an even greater friend. I would work with him again in a heartbeat…and he made some dang good coffee!