Why Pastors Feel Short-Handed (And How Jesus Fixed It)
Oct 05, 2026
The Lie I Kept Telling Myself
I used to tell myself a lie: I just need more help. I said it in my head on long weeks, and if I'm honest, I said it out loud to the people closest to me more than once.
Over the years God has confronted me with what was really going on. I had all the helpers I needed. They just weren't developed yet.
I think that's where a lot of pastors live. The more we grow, the more we succeed, the more God uses our ministries, the more under-resourced we feel. We know Jesus told us to pray for more laborers, so we pray. But He doesn't usually send them in a package with their sleeves rolled up, fully trained for the exact task in front of us. He sends the raw material.
That's why the church is, at its core, a leadership development factory. It's a disciple-making factory. It's what we do.
What If You Ran a Pie Shop?
Let's reframe it. Imagine you started a little pie shop because you love making pies and you wanted the world to taste them. You bake, you fill the case, and people come in the front door and buy them. Business is good.
Eventually you need some help, so you hire someone to run the front counter. Demand grows, so you bring on someone to organize the shop and handle a little admin. Then someone for marketing. You get a delivery system in place, and it's starting to feel like a real operation.
But every time demand goes up, you're the one setting the alarm earlier. You're the one making the pies, because you're the only one who knows the recipe.
That's the problem. There's more work because there's more blessing, and we want to be thankful for that. But somewhere along the way we forgot to train some bakers.
That's why so many of us feel overwhelmed.
How Jesus Built His Team
Mark 3 gives us the pattern: "Afterward Jesus went up on a mountain and called out the ones he wanted to go with him. And they came to him. Then he appointed twelve of them and called them his apostles. They were to accompany him, and he would send them out to preach, giving them authority to cast out demons" (Mark 3:13-15, NLT).
Notice what Jesus did. He didn't post a sign-up sheet and hope the right people showed up. He followed four simple steps.
He called them. Jesus looked for people who were available, faithful, teachable, and hungry to carry the good news forward. Then He personally invited them.
He let them be with Him. This is the step we skip most often. In the pie shop it sounds like, "Watch what I do. Take some notes. Ask questions, and we'll talk about it afterward." Being close is how people pick up the recipe.
He sent them out. At some point the training has to turn into real assignments. That can be hard. Sometimes sending someone out means you won't have the same closeness you used to.
He gave them authority. This one is so key. A lot of times we hand people a list of tasks and call it delegation. We give them responsibility, but not authority. Authority says, "I trust you. You've been with me. You've watched how this works. You've got your own sense of what God wants you to do. Go make some decisions." It's trusting that the same Holy Spirit who leads you is leading them too.
Where Are You Stuck?
Zoom out for a second. If you followed Jesus' pattern, which step would you need the most help with right now?
- Calling people. Do you need the boldness to simply say, "Hey, come help me"?
- Letting them be with you. Are you willing to bring people close, show them how things are done, and hand them some playbooks?
- Sending them out. Is it hard for you to release people, even when it means you won't see them every day?
- Giving them authority. Are you holding on to decisions because real trust feels risky?
Pick one. Not all four. Just the one that would move you forward the most this week, and decide what you're going to do about it.
More Than More Help
Here's what I'm learning. The goal isn't just to get more help. It's to become more helpful by developing the help God has already put around you.
When you train bakers, you're not just protecting your own time. You're helping people find their place in God's kingdom and take part in bringing His kingdom here on earth, just like He asked us to.
So look around this week. The help you've been praying for might already be standing in your shop. They just need someone to teach them the recipe.
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