Problem Solving

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters. As a church planter you know that there are many challenges, difficulties, and trials that face your churches.  If you have been working to plant a church for more than 10 days, I am sure you have already confronted a challenge that you were not expecting!  

A famous German military strategist, Helmuth von Moltke said, "No battle plan survives contact with the enemy."  What did he mean? He was famous for helping military officers make plans and then put them into action. Why did he say, "No battle plan survives contact with the enemy?"  

Simply put, we cannot know everything.  We do not know exactly what will happen in the future.  We can plan, but circumstances change. And that’s a problem.  

The first church in Jerusalem had a good plan for taking care of widows.  But soon after they started this compassionate ministry, a problem came up. “In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.” The Apostles had a big problem on their hands. So they had to adjust their plan.  

You, like the first apostles, are in a spiritual battle and your plans are not perfect.  You too will have to make adjustments.  So let’s look at the example of the first apostles to learn how to solve problems in the church.  Acts 6:2-4 says:

“So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

The Bible does not tell us every detail of the apostle’s problem solving method, but we do notice that the apostles recognized and admitted that there was a problem. When they announced a solution, the Twelve did so together.  So it is very likely that they had worked together to come up with a solution. Based on their prior experience, it is also very likely that they prayed and had dialog together as they chose a solution.  What did they decide?

They asked the church to name a team of wise, Spirit-filled workers to address the problem.  Instead of using all of their time and energy to make the Greeks and the Hebrew church members happy, they asked the church to mobilized worker to address the problem head-on. They turned the responsibility over to the seven deacons along with the authority they needed to make fair decisions about the distribution of food.

When you face a problem you didn’t expect, recognize the problem and describe it well.  Practice group coaching to identify what is happening and to discover a good solution.  Don’t try to solve every problem yourself. Empower others to act. Delegate responsibility and authority to godly men and women.  And keep your eye on the goal just as the Apostle did. Don’t neglect the ministry God has given you just because a problem comes up.  God will bless you with sound solutions and empowered church members.

This has been “Multiply.” And I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this encouraging word with today?