I was on a charter boat with a captain and two other Christian leaders. When we arrived at the fishing grounds, another crew member started setting out the lines while we trolled for fish. I asked him to show me what he was doing, and in two minutes he gave me an overview, and I started helping set lines.

As the trip wore on, we missed fish, got tangled lines, and the captain grew frustrated.

The fourth member of our boat, who had been extremely silent, heard the captain complaining about our fishing success. Out of his silence, he said, “In sports, when a team isn’t winning, they usually blame it on the manager. A team is only as good as its leadership.”

I had guessed the captain would be outraged and braced myself to hear some yelling. Instead, he sat down and said, basically, “You are right; I am used to fishing with seasoned guys, and I forgot you are just out here to enjoy the day.”

He turned the boat around and went back to troll through the same area once again. This time he slowly explained to each one of us exactly how the lines should be set. He explained how everything worked and what he was hoping we would do. It took about fifteen minutes to do a job that should have only taken a couple. Amazingly, that time we went through the fish and had our limit by adding nine more in just a few minutes.

In a busy world, I have to remind myself to slow down and explain things clearly to the people I lead. It is too easy for me to assume they know things they don’t. People need explanations and insight to help them achieve all that God wants them to do.

Ministry is about developing other people; that is true whether you are a paid staff member at a Church or a volunteer. God calls us to build one another up. It might slow us down initially, but it will usually make us more effective in the long run.