Transform Your Ministry: Start Playing the Long Game
- Tania Hilton
- Sep 29
- 4 min read
One of the phrases I often use when working with church staff is: “The staff exists to equip volunteers to do ministry.” This simple truth can be surprisingly difficult for many ministry leaders to embrace. After all, most of us entered ministry because we love it. We enjoy teaching, leading worship, preaching, discipling students, counseling, and running ministries. And because we value the work, it’s often easier to just keep doing it ourselves.
But healthy churches and healthy leaders know that the true measure of your ministry is not how much you personally accomplish, but how many others you equip to carry on Christ’s mission into future generations. This is playing the long game. This is about focusing on long-term success rather than seeking immediate results. It involves making small sacrifices today to achieve greater rewards in the future for greater Kingdom impact.
Why We Resist Equipping Others
There are three common obstacles that hold leaders back from developing others.
Ditch #1: We like what we do.
Okay, I don’t fault anyone with this one. I pray you like what you do; otherwise, why do you do it? Ministry is fulfilling. Where the danger lies, though, is that leaders often find their identity in doing ministry rather than in their true identity in Christ, and so they fail to equip others.
If you want multiplication instead of addition, you have to pass the baton. Think about a relay race, if you run fast but never pass the baton, the team never finishes. Paul modeled this beautifully with Timothy, Priscilla, Titus—his spiritual sons and daughters who carried the mission beyond Paul’s own reach.
Ditch #2: Developing people takes time.
Training and mentoring leaders is slow, messy work. You may invest deeply in someone only to watch them leave for another church or another ministry. That can feel discouraging, even wasteful. But the investment is never wasted. Every time you pour into someone, you are building up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11–13). Your impact is not limited to your ministry area or your church’s walls; it’s about the Kingdom impact.
And here’s the bonus: when you disciple and equip someone, you grow too. You learn patience, humility, and dependence on God. You learn to let go of control. You learn what Jesus meant when He said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). You learned many things along the way, and so did your apprentice.
Ditch #3: We don’t think people are ready.
This might be the biggest obstacle of all. We hesitate to call people into ministry because we want to wait until they’re “ready.” But throughout Scripture, God rarely calls people who look ready. He calls the unqualified, the weak, and the unlikely, so that His power is revealed.
God Calls the Unready
Think about the pattern we see in Scripture:
Abraham and Sarah were barren when God promised they would be parents of nations (Genesis 18).
Moses was a stuttering murderer when God called him to lead Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 3–4).
David was a shepherd boy facing giants far beyond his strength (1 Samuel 17).
Esther was a young, powerless girl called to risk her life before a king (Esther 4).
Mary was a teenage virgin when God chose her to bear the Savior (Luke 1).
Peter was an uneducated fisherman, yet Jesus called him the rock on which He would build the Church (Matthew 16:18).
Paul was the Church’s greatest persecutor when Christ called him to be its greatest missionary (Acts 9).
God does not call the equipped; He equips the called. If we wait until people are ready, we’ll wait forever. But when we call people forward in faith, God Himself equips them (and us!) for His work.
Equipping for Kingdom Expansion
As leaders, we are not called to hoard ministry but to multiply it. Ephesians 4:11–12 reminds us: “And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”
This means that the youth pastor isn’t primarily there to run every youth event—their role is to equip leaders who will disciple students. The worship director isn’t there to sing every song—they’re called to raise up worshippers and musicians. The pastor isn’t meant to shoulder every hospital visit or Bible study—they are to equip others for the work of shepherding.
When you release ministry to others, you not only multiply impact, you also build resilience into your church. Leaders come and go. Seasons change. But a culture of equipping ensures that the mission continues.
Practical Encouragement
If you find yourself hesitant to equip others, remember these truths:
Your identity is in Christ, not in your role. You don’t lose value by raising up other leaders. In fact, if you can raise up leaders who can do what you do, you are worth your weight in gold! If you can raise up leaders who do it even better than you do, well, now that is priceless!
Your investment is never wasted. Even if people move on, they carry what you’ve given them into new mission fields, and you carry the experience of mentoring others. We also trust that this is God’s church, not ours. He will bring the right people to you in the right moments.
Your people don’t need to be ready. God delights in calling the unready because it highlights His power.
And don’t forget the simple model Paul gave Timothy: “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). That’s four generations of discipleship in one verse. Paul to Timothy to faithful leaders to those they teach. That’s multiplication.
Leaders, your ministry is not simply what you do. Your ministry is who you equip. Don’t settle for addition when Christ has called you to perform multiplication. Call the unready. Equip the willing. Trust the Spirit.
And remember: It’s about Kingdom expansion, not just your ministry impact. When you play the long game, you’re not just building a ministry, you’re building a legacy that will echo into eternity.