If you notice in Matthew 4, when Jesus returned from the wilderness after being Tempted He began his ministry. 8 verses into Jesus’ ministry he says to Peter and Andrew follow me.
Matthew 28:18-20 – And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
Jesus duplicated Himself within the disciples and then commanded the disciples to go and do the same thing!
The degree to which we effectively duplicate ourselves will greatly determine how confidently we can step away and know that the vision will continue on in our absence!
Can you step away and know that the mission and message and vision are going to go forward even if you aren’t there? If the answer is no, then we may have not effectively duplicated ourselves. And we have probably fallen into the trap of trying to do everything on our own! But that’s not the way God designed it!
It’s when we try to do everything on our own that we get in trouble.
We face the potential of burning out and we also become the lid of our ministry. We can actually become the reason that our ministry doesn’t grow!
We must be willing to duplicate ourselves and share the load and I believe we see a great example of this in Exodus 18.
Exodus 18:17-23 – Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.
Verse 21 – But Select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
(In other words duplicate yourself) Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. In Exodus 18:23 – Jethro told Moses: If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” Is the weight of your group and your responsibility starting to feel like it’s too much for you to carry?
Consider Duplicating yourself!
Find those capable men and women you can pour yourself into…Raise up some coleaders! Duplicate Yourself!
