The Followers vs Leaders Problem | Allen & Stacy Jo

Faith-driven leadership requires more than good intentions; it demands a clear, biblical framework for your daily decisions. Learn how to bridge the gap between your spiritual values and the high-pressure demands of your career.

Allen and Stacy Jo Thorne introduce the Faithfully Invested podcast, a space designed for professionals who refuse to compartmentalize their beliefs. Whether you are leading a team, navigating complex workplace dynamics, or striving to keep your marriage prioritized alongside your mission, this show provides the necessary perspective. We focus on integrating faith-driven leadership into the rhythms of your work week, ensuring your professional output reflects your core convictions.

Our discussions move past abstract theory to tackle the practical application of scripture in modern business environments. By examining real-life scenarios, we help you maintain your integrity without sacrificing your professional ambitions. Expect honest conversations about the tension between pursuing goals and honoring your commitment to a higher purpose, giving you actionable steps to apply immediately.

Subscribe for weekly faith-driven leadership breakdowns, and let us know in the comments what specific professional challenges you want us to address next.

Unlock the secrets of authentic leadership! In this episode, we explore how to transition from merely gathering followers to multiplying leaders who can carry your vision forward.

Key takeaways:

* Understand the difference between building a following and raising up leaders.
* Ask yourself: If you stepped away, would your team thrive?
* Learn the importance of delegation and developing others.
* Discover how to identify and invest in potential leaders.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
02:25 The difference between followers and leaders
03:54 Key questions for leaders
05:08 The challenge of developing others
10:25 The importance of delegation
15:34 Moses and Jethro's leadership lesson
19:09 Overcoming fears in leadership
22:27 The importance of allowing mistakes
32:25 Shifting from doing to developing
39:12 Call to action: Identify someone to invest in

What's your biggest challenge with developing leaders? Drop it in the comments!

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Come check out the Association of Christian Business Women!  We'd love for you to join this growing community of Kingdom-minded women.  Visit our website at www.acbw.org

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Holy Spirit-led recovery for lasting freedom, healing, and biblical transformation through Christ.

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Transcript

Allen 0:49

Are you ready to build a life, business, and legacy that truly lasts? Welcome to Faithfully Invested with Alan and Stacey Joe Thorn, where faith meets real talk, biblical wisdom meets everyday life, and leadership meets laughter.

Stacy Jo 1:03

Together we will uncover God's blueprint for leadership, marriage, and mission, helping faith-driven leaders invest in what matters most.

Allen 1:11

Each episode we explore biblical wisdom, have real conversations, and of course, have some fun along the way. Because let's be real, walking in faith is an adventure.

Stacy Jo 1:22

It sure is to pull up a seat, grab your coffee or your sweet tea, and join us as we steward our callings with intention. Because when we invest in his kingdom, he brings the increase. I thought you were mini pearl. I was looking for the hat and the tag.

Allen 1:52

I'm getting a new tag on the hat.

Stacy Jo 1:56

And I'm Stacey Joe, and today we just aged ourselves. But seriously, today we are talking about something that separates good leaders from authentic kingdom leaders. Y'all know that there's a difference between just gathering people around you and raising up leaders who can do it themselves, right? One produces a following, the other multiplies. Yeah. And multiplication is from where his kingdom rises.

Allen 2:25

So for anyone who's leading a team, running a business, or has any kind of influence over people, listen up and pay attention. Because this one's for you. You gotta sit up straight. Just pay attention because we're talking to you. Uh we got to ask some honest questions. And are we gonna are we gonna build people up or are we just gonna build our own thing? Are you ready? Because here we go.

Stacy Jo 2:54

All right, I'm ready. We'd like to begin with a question that we think every leader should consider. So here it goes. If tomorrow you stepped away from your business team or ministry, what would happen? Would it keep going? Would the people that you've been leading be able to carry it forward? Or would it slow down significantly because so much of it depends on your presence? I guess that's actually four questions.

Allen 3:20

Well, you know, good questions. That's an honest diagnostic. You know, we uh these are things we have to take into consideration because a lot of leaders have built something that works, but it has it's been built in a way that it it's completely reliant upon them. You know, every essential component, every major decision, every every key relationship and critical function runs through them. And and that feels, in the moment, that feels like good leadership, but it's limiting the ceiling for an organization uh and the involved team in that organization.

Stacy Jo 3:56

Right. And we're talking about multiplication, and that's not just doing the work, but developing a team around us who can do the work when we get called elsewhere.

SPEAKER_03 4:07

Right.

Stacy Jo 4:07

And if we're building Kingdom Legacy, we must produce other leaders who lead just as well as we do. And this requires a fundamental shift in how we think about our role, as odd as it may feel you know, we've got to stop being the person who does the most important things and start being the person who develops other people to do the important stuff. And that is hard. It is definitely challenging, and I've seen it in my own business as I'm you know, trying to raise up other leaders to be able to take my place and do what I do so that I can step more into ministry.

SPEAKER_03 4:51

Yeah.

Stacy Jo 4:52

Um, and eventually step out of the business altogether and have people who can continue to run it. But it's difficult.

Allen 5:00

Right. Right. Yeah, I've seen it done really well uh at the company I work with. Uh we have an amazing uh branch director and and years ago, I think it's been six or seven years, we brought in this this new guy who is a leader in the company where he came from, uh and and brought a lot of good stuff with him. Well, he's been uh he's been trained uh and and come alongside our branch director, and and now it's time for um the company to move north and and as and uh it's been great leadership multiplication here because the the guy that came in a couple of years or six or seven years ago, he's he's taking the calls, he's answering the questions. Uh and as in the the branch director and the senior branch director, his responsibility hasn't diminished, but he's able to go north.

SPEAKER_03 6:05

Right.

Allen 6:06

Uh and at times with his his um the branch director, uh the the guy directly underneath him. And uh but he's able to go and know that the the branch will be fine there uh under his under his leadership. So it's been really good multiplication uh from one to another. And it comes back to one of our operating principles is hiring people for the right reasons. That's good too. Absolutely. So we we understand that you all hear us, but uh we we just encourage you as leaders just listen a little closer because we're really talking to you. Because this this is an important there are all all the all the aspects of each episode are important, but this one really uh this one really hits home. Um because you know as well as we do that the this is an it's an essential shift that's that's more challenging than it sounds, right you just said it's it's a tough one uh to to release the reins and just do the and do the training. We got to develop our people. Developing people takes longer than doing it ourselves. And developing people requires patience. It requires it requires grace, it requires trust and a willingness to let people make mistakes under your watch. How is it that that you learn best? You all know that we we learn our greatest lessons from making our greatest mistakes. That's true. Are you leader enough to coach them through the mistakes and and let them see the fruit on the other side of their teachable moment? Because it's it's not the that there will be mistakes and there will be challenges. Are you willing to let them fall, help them back up, and and and share the fruit that they gain uh through the teachable moment on the other side? What have they learned? What have we learned together through the the mentor, mentee relationship? When you see someone that you've mentored step up and lead in a way that that you know uh came from something that God put into you and you were able to share with them, that's a good day.

SPEAKER_03 8:22

Yeah. It is a good day.

Allen 8:24

Yeah. So but the road along the way is not it's it's challenging. Every every bit of it is challenging. There's good days, there's tough days, but nothing that's ever worth building ever came easy. So we gotta we gotta be somewhat selective in in whom we decide we're gonna mentor, um, which reminds me, and I'm gonna remind you of what Paul wrote in in uh in 2 Timothy uh chapter 2, verse 2, when he wrote, uh, what you have heard from me, entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others also. We mentioned this back in episode one of this season, but here we want to go a little bit deeper on it uh because notice what Paul says to entrust. He's not just talking about information and skills, but he says, entrust what you heard from me. And that means not just the theology, he's sharing his experience. And from experience comes character and the convictions and a way of living. Uh that's what we're passing on. We're passing on the character that we've gained along the way, we're care uh and the convictions and and the way of living. We're not just sharing knowledge with people, we're sharing a lifestyle that we've picked up along the way through the mistakes, through the valleys.

SPEAKER_03 9:54

Yeah.

Allen 9:54

You know, and um and through the several thousands, if you will, teachable moments along the way. Right. That's what it's about. And that's what we're called as leaders, that's what we're called to share with others.

Stacy Jo 10:06

Yeah, and that is a completely different assignment than just training someone for a job function.

SPEAKER_03 10:12

Yeah.

Stacy Jo 10:12

You can train someone for a role on a weekend, but transferring consistent best practices takes years as well as relational proximity. And if you go back to Jesus, you know, teaching the disciples so that they could go out, right? You know, it was proximity. He was with them. And we talked about that last week.

Allen 10:34

Last episode, yeah, yeah.

Stacy Jo 10:36

Of course, we gotta let people see what we know, but we also need them to see who we are, how we make decisions and how we operate through inevitable challenges, because there's always going to be challenges. And how do we respond? This is one too. How do we respond to the failures? How do we respond when they fall, when they make a mistake? How do we respond to that? Because I know personally, I have not always done very well when the mistakes have been made. Right. And I wasn't teaching my team anything by how I reacted instead of responded to that. But what Paul was passing to Timothy wasn't just a dot job description, but it was a way of being.

Allen 12:07

The kingdom leadership role model is it's don't just do everything. We gotta decide who we're gonna mentor, and uh, and we want to build them up and shape their capacity. Uh we want to shape the capacity of other people so we're not carrying the whole weight. Because if you're a shepherd and a teacher, you you you you got a different role than the apostle and the prophet, and vice versa. But we're all called to equip. And in a five-fold ministry, I'm a teacher.

Stacy Jo 12:42

You are.

Allen 12:42

I'm I'm a teacher, but just uh, and I have a different role than than a prophet. That doesn't mean I don't experience I don't hear from the Lord and get a word for someone else, but uh we operate differently, but we all operate together to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. Does that make sense? I hope that makes sense.

Stacy Jo 14:22

Makes total sense.

Allen 14:23

Um so uh do you see do you see how this applies directly to how you lead your team? Because we need a team, and we can we can lead a team, but great leaders begot great other great leaders. We we build it, we need a team of leaders around us. Uh so and and that Paul's word to the Ephesians was uh a great word. That's that's how we lead our teams, that's how we lead our families, that's how we lead our organizations.

Stacy Jo 14:58

Yeah. And this isn't just New Testament, as you might say, yummy deliciousness.

Allen 15:04

It is yummy delicious, it is yummy deliciousness, but it's all throughout the word.

Stacy Jo 15:09

Right. But let's dig into a throwback all the way back to Exodus with Moses and Jethro, because Exodus 18 depicts Moses running himself ragged. He was trying to get everything, trying to judge every case, he was handling every problem, he was trying to make every decision for the entire nation of Israel.

Allen 15:30

While dealing with the most stubborn and obstinate people of all time.

Stacy Jo 15:34

Right. And then his father-in-law, Jethro, he steps up and he basically says, Hey Mo, you know, what are you doing? Because this isn't sustainable. And you're gonna wear yourself out and you're gonna wear out the people with you. So I'm worn out just looking at you, stop it. Right. And so he encouraged him to to actually develop leaders and distribute and delegate responsibility. Right. And lo and behold, Moses listened and the whole nation functioned better because of it.

SPEAKER_03 16:06

Right.

Stacy Jo 16:07

And so if we take that to now, if we take that model and put it into our business, into our home, into our community, whatever it is, and delegate. And I just said this to someone the other day, I forget who it was now. I know you were in the car when I said it. I'm like, you have got to delegate. You can't do all of this yourself, but sometimes I need to take my own advice. Yes.

Allen 16:34

Me too.

Stacy Jo 16:35

But we can't do it all ourselves, and it's not good stewardship. You know, we talk a lot about stewardship on this podcast, and it's not good stewardship to do it all of ours all of ourselves. It's not all ourselves.

Allen 16:50

So I I wonder once once the advice that Jethro gave Moses, once it took hold, do you think do you think Jethro gave Moses a blamo? I like to think that he might have.

Stacy Jo 17:04

Well, you know, if that word was around, then he might have. I'm not sure if it was. I think it's an Alanism.

Allen 17:13

I I think it's a uh whoever wrote the first Batman.

Stacy Jo 17:17

Oh, okay. Okay.

Allen 17:20

Uh but uh what we're talking about, what you were talking about and in Exodus, it's a it's a word uh that's to delegate. Delegate to leadership. Get some of that off your plate. Yeah. You know, build your leaders up. That that's a good word for for every leader out there who's worn out, who's stretched thin. Uh team, we got to have a sustainable organization, ministry, family. We gotta develop people around us to carry the responsibilities with us. Jethro's advice wasn't just a management strategy, it's a multiplication strategy. And and and I would I would ask you, isn't it time? Isn't it time to stop being the only leader and start building up credible leadership all around you?

SPEAKER_03 18:12

Right.

Allen 18:12

It it is time. I'm not now I'm gonna tell you it's time that you build up credible leadership all around you. This is God's model. Uh so give it a go, man. Give it a shot and watch what he does with the capacity that delegation frees up in you.

Stacy Jo 18:34

So so what keeps leaders from multiplying other leaders? Well, you know, most people I know in leadership want to develop their people, but the reality often looks different. So let's talk about what gets in the way.

Allen 18:49

Yeah.

Stacy Jo 18:50

What gets in the way of that?

Allen 18:51

This is um this is gonna step on a few toes, as our good pastor would say. Uh, this one might sting a little. He also uses that one. Um, the first thing is uh it's faster to do it myself. It's a trap.

Stacy Jo 19:09

That is a trap.

Allen 19:10

I'm all too familiar with that one. Uh I am all too familiar with that one. How how about you, babe? Do you often fall uh fall into the it's faster to do it myself trap?

Stacy Jo 19:25

Yeah, I definitely do. And I just fell into that the other day last week as uh I was wanting to show somebody how to do something, but I just needed to get it done, so I just went in and did it myself. Yeah, rather than teaching them how to do it, which now the next time I'm going to have to do it too, or I'm going to have to teach them how to do it.

Allen 19:48

At some point, we got to teach someone how to do something. Yeah. Right. Yeah.

Stacy Jo 19:53

So I'm very familiar with that one.

Allen 19:55

Yeah, I'm glad I'm not the only one here. This is relative to most of us. So you have a you have a task that needs done. Uh you could just do it yourself. But or you could spend time coaching someone. Uh but that's going to take time. You could do it yourself in half the time. And then in in the moment, doing yourself feels like the most efficient choice. Right in right then and there. But but over time, that pattern creates a team full of people who aren't growing with you.

Stacy Jo 20:31

Right.

Allen 20:31

We must take the time to develop other leaders. And you can't keep taking reps from them. We need to present this responsibility to them, allow them room to fail safely, and help them get back up again and and show them what how to do it. It it takes repetition. We didn't get here overnight, and and I'll tell you what, I'm still learning, and I know you are too. And so and it was time after time, and uh there've been several phase plans. And we gotta allow, as leaders, as we train others uh to come up with us, we have to be willing to allow them to fail and allow them to learn just the same as we did.

Stacy Jo 21:17

Yeah, uh you know, kingdom math on doing it yourself doesn't work. Yeah, you save time today, but you multiply your own future limitations. Right instead of multiplying leaders.

Allen 21:34

Yeah, I'm not trying to multiply limitations. Right. I got plenty of those.

Stacy Jo 21:37

So, you know, when you hit capacity, everything stalls, but if you invest the time now to develop that person, you're multiplying your capacity because you're creating one more who can carry what you had to carry yourself. And that's not a loss of control, it's kingdom multiplication happening in real time. But I want to go back to something that you said too, and that was um you know, uh failing successfully or allowing not failing safely. But don't be the leader who they're afraid to fail because of what the backlash that they're going to feel.

Allen 22:18

Right.

Stacy Jo 22:20

Be the leader who allows them to fail safely.

Allen 22:23

And that's that comes in time.

Stacy Jo 22:26

It does.

Allen 22:27

In time and in experience and and in maturity of of of leadership.

SPEAKER_03 22:32

Yeah.

Allen 22:33

As uh 'cause they're gonna fail. Yeah how how will and and how we respond, they see that the most. Right. Will we will we condemn them?

SPEAKER_03 22:46

Mm-hmm.

Allen 22:47

That's not gonna prove well for for any anyone. Not for you as the leader, not for them as the um the mentee. Uh uh, but it's it's a team thing. Yeah. So yeah, we have to uh it's all and and preaching to myself here. Same uh we have to allow we have to uh respond rather than react.

SPEAKER_03 23:11

Yeah.

Allen 23:12

Uh when when they do fail. And and we last episode we talked about expectations. If we uh and as we're training people up, uh in in whatever we're training them in, our expectations is that they will fall. They will fail. Because, you know, I remember me coming up uh over I mean, I've been I've been with structural for twenty five years now. And you know, I would have fired me several times, but uh but it was there were several mentors and uh and in recovery there were several mentors who watched me just plant and and now I'm a I'm a leader in both aspects and and as I've taken this mentorship under advisement, I'm able to go m that much further.

SPEAKER_03 24:06

Right.

Allen 24:07

And and And uh helps to look back and see uh how other people, how our mentors handled us and and be those people.

Stacy Jo 24:18

Or don't be or not. Depending on what kind of mentor they were.

Allen 24:24

I had to dodge a couple of hard hats, but uh but uh anyway.

Stacy Jo 24:28

But give us number two. Like what's what's the second one?

Allen 24:31

Struggle number two is the fear of being replaced or outgrown. Even uh best leaders, they might not admit that it's real, but it's real. Uh a corporate America is totally cutthroat. That's no secret.

SPEAKER_03 24:46

Right.

Allen 24:47

Uh so maybe there's a quiet insecurity that says if if I develop this person too much, they might not need me anymore. Or or they might surpass me. You know, friends, if if that fear is allowed to drive your decisions, then it creates serious team limitations because it produces leaders that keep people just capable enough. And I've I've seen teams like this. They keep people, they don't train them, they train them to a rate where they're just helpful enough, but they're not capable enough to be used uh and uh fully developed into who they who they're supposed to become, who God created them to be. Um and as a kingdom leader, why would we allow fear to drive anything? We have to ask ourselves if we're finding ourselves in that mindset, who's in control anywhere?

Stacy Jo 25:41

That's right. I mean, what you speak of here is the opposite of a kingdom leadership posture. Remember, Jesus poured everything into his disciples, and then he told them, You will do greater things than these. You know, if someone surpasses you in leadership, it is a credit to your mentorship. It is a credit to your you as a discipler. So we should never be afraid of that. But Jesus wasn't threatened by their potential, he was the source of it. So a kingdom leader's security doesn't come from being the most essential person in the room. It comes from knowing who we are in Christ. Who are you in Christ?

Allen 26:27

That's right.

Stacy Jo 26:28

And from that place, someone else's growth is not a threat. Their growth is the whole point.

Allen 26:35

Right. Uh and this brings us to struggle number three, which is knowing who to invest in.

Stacy Jo 26:44

Yeah.

Allen 26:44

Who are we because we gotta we gotta pay can't invest in everyone. Of of course, you can't. You can't train up everyone. Uh you don't have the time or the capacity, but we have to train someone. We can either train shallowly, uh surface level training for a lot, or we can invest deeply in the few. And as we invest in a lot, that would feel inclusive and fair, right? But not how Jesus did it.

SPEAKER_03 27:21

No.

Allen 27:21

Uh he had crowds that he spoke to. Uh he had 70 or 72, depending on what version uh of the word you're you're reading. He had the 70 or or 72 that he sent out. Uh, he had the 12 that he did life with. And then there was three. Peter, James, and John. These three got the deepest access. Uh, there was intentional investment on different levels, and that was the model.

Stacy Jo 27:52

Yeah, and the question is not who deserves your investment. The question is who is God asking you to be intentional about right now?

Allen 28:00

Yeah. Are you asking that question?

Stacy Jo 28:02

Right. You know, who are the faithful people as Paul notes in Second Timothy? Who have the capacity and character to take on what you pass to them and multiply it further?

SPEAKER_03 28:17

Yeah.

Stacy Jo 28:18

Because those are the people to go deep with. And sometimes God makes that very clear, but we have to be paying attention to that.

Allen 28:25

Yeah. And uh and I'm I'm really living this one out, this point out in real time. Because there is there is a uh I got I gotta train someone up in a safety role.

SPEAKER_03 28:38

Right.

Allen 28:38

Because I we're I mean, we're going to Atlanta, uh I'm spread over all all of Florida. And I thought I I thought I had one. Well, he went to another branch, and then I thought maybe, maybe this guy, and then nah. Uh and then the Lord, I'm telling you, the Lord really spotlighted this one one guy. Yeah. And uh and I'm pretty convicted by this this kid. He's young, he's bilingual, he's he's got the capacity, and he's got the drive. And uh yeah, I'm pretty excited about that one. I'm gonna really I'm gonna get him an interview.

Stacy Jo 29:17

And he's coachable.

Allen 29:19

And he's highly coachable, man. He's smart, he's computer savvy, he's got what we're looking for, and he's trainable.

SPEAKER_03 29:27

That's good.

Allen 29:28

He asks all the right questions.

SPEAKER_03 29:30

Yeah.

Allen 29:30

So but the point was who's the Lord spotlighting?

SPEAKER_03 29:34

Yeah.

Allen 29:34

You know? Uh these the other two were were uh kind of my choices, but then uh kind of shin a light on this fella. So I'm gonna uh start working on that. So reeling it back in here, uh as always, we got we got three practical ways to uh for you to to start multiplying leaders today.

Stacy Jo 30:02

Right.

Allen 30:03

So what's the first one there?

Stacy Jo 30:04

Well, we have to shift our mindset from doing to developing. I'll say from doing to developing before you take on one more task this week. Ask yourself, self, is there someone I should be bringing into this instead of doing it alone? I'm not saying do that with every task, but the ones that could be a growth opportunity for someone on your team. Start letting people carry things with you rather than behind you and give them real responsibility and let them make real decisions. You know, stay close enough to coach them through it without taking it back if it gets messy.

Allen 30:46

When it gets messy.

Stacy Jo 30:48

Right, because yes, because it's gonna get messy.

Allen 30:51

Yeah.

Stacy Jo 30:51

But I have started to do this somewhat in you know, freedom of support solutions as well. Like I don't get on every staff meeting. I allow Jocelyn to run the staff meeting.

SPEAKER_03 31:05

Right.

Stacy Jo 31:05

And I show up, you know, a couple times a month, three times a month maybe, but they never know when I'm gonna show up. I just pop in. So, you know, it's uh it's an opportunity for her to take the bull by the horns, if you will, and make some decisions and take some real responsibility.

Allen 31:25

Yeah, and that's what we're talking about here. And um our second uh point this evening, or action item as it would be, uh, is identify your Timothies and go deep. Who's your Timothy? Pick two or three people uh that you're gonna be intentional with.

unknown 31:43

Yeah.

Allen 31:44

Uh we need people who are faithful. Uh we need people who are hungry and and have something in them that needs to be called up and developed. Uh we got to find them. Uh and we gotta invest real time with them, not just work time, but life time. Uh let them see how you think, let them see how you pray, let them see how you handle the tough stuff. You know, it it's it's easy to lead when the sun's shining on your hind end. But uh, but how let them see how you're leading when when the crap's at in the fan.

SPEAKER_03 32:26

Yeah.

Allen 32:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:27

Yeah.

Allen 32:28

When uh yeah, when it's all coming at you or something's coming undone. Uh let them see how you handle that. And be sure you're ready for that.

Stacy Jo 32:38

Yeah. Yeah. Be ready.

Allen 32:40

Be ready.

Stacy Jo 32:41

And then third, you know, give room people to lead and resist the urge to take it back when it gets messy, like we just kind of talked about. You know, this is where a lot of leaders struggle most. You delegate something and then the person does it differently than you would have. So we gotta deal with the temptation to step back in and correct it or quietly redo it our way. But unless it's an integrity issue, just let it be. You know, let them own it, let them learn from it. Because the goal is not that everything gets done your way. The goal is that they grow into leaders who do things based on Jesus' model.

SPEAKER_03 33:21

Yeah.

Stacy Jo 33:22

Isn't that what you're trying to convey to them? Remember, he is the way, and his way is his ways are always higher than and greater than our ways. So is your trainee aligned with his way, even if it's not yours entirely? If so, just let him go. Let him do the actual leading and not just executing your vision under your supervision.

Allen 33:47

That's good, man. I mean, he must have been doing something right, you know, because we're still talking about his leadership. Right. You know, and and what I and and why why are we talking about his leadership? Why are we talking about uh his character? Uh, because when when we decide to follow him, our abilities change as well. And I I speak from experience there not to perfection, but to uh our character, my my character has changed, uh transformed, if you will, uh through the years that that I've been walking with Christ. Um and when we decide for him, we will become like him.

Stacy Jo 34:37

Yeah.

Allen 34:37

So that's uh it's important. The bottom line is that you are not the finish line of discipleship.

SPEAKER_02 34:46

Right.

Allen 34:47

You're a link in the chain. Remember, it was from Paul to Timothy. And even before that, it was Jesus to Paul, Jesus to Saul, Saul to Paul, Paul to Timothy, Timothy to faithful people, faithful people to others. And your your job is to receive what God put in you, allow him, allow the Holy Spirit to develop it fully, and then pass it on to people who would take it further than you could ever do alone. And that is the whole design. When you decide to operate in that way, when you do it like that, you're investing in multiplication, you're multiplying your leaders, not just adding one here and there. We're not talking about addition, we're talking about multiplying. When we lead like that, when we train like that, when we multiply, uh we we get freed up. Our accomplishments stop being limited to what you can do personally, and uh it starts uh multiplying through everyone that you've mentored, and that that's kingdom leadership.

SPEAKER_03 35:59

Yeah.

Allen 36:00

That's what that's what we're talking about here. That's what that's what Jesus modeled. So go do that.

Stacy Jo 36:06

Right. So this week, look at your team, your family, your community, and identify one person who's ready for more responsibility than you have been giving them. And then have a conversation with them. Tell them what you see in them, give them responsibility to carry and commit to staying close enough to develop them through it. Team multiplication begins with this one move. So go make it this week.

Allen 36:35

Absolutely. Go do that. Remember, leaders who multiply leaders change the world in a way that leaders who just do the work never can. You're not just building something, you're building someone.

SPEAKER_03 36:52

Yes.

Allen 36:52

You're building someone's future, you're advancing their family. And that someone will go on to do it for someone else. When we're doing it right, when we're doing it his way, uh, kingdom keeps advancing. And that's what we're talking about. Kingdom leadership. We want the kingdom to advance long after we're gone, because it's not about us.

Stacy Jo 37:15

That's right.

Allen 37:16

Would you pray us out, lady?

Stacy Jo 37:18

I can do that. I'd be honored too. Oh, so Father, forgive us for the times that we have held on to things that we should have handed off. Forgive us for the times that we've been more concerned with getting it done than with developing the people you placed around us. Thank you for the eyes to see who you are asking us to invest in deeply. Thank you for the patience to develop them well, even when it is slow. Thank you for the security in your way to celebrate when they surpass us because that means multiplication is working. And let everything you have put in us go into the next generation of leaders you are raising up. We thank you, Lord, for doing what only you can do. And we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Allen 38:15

Absolutely. In Jesus' name. We thank you. Friends, you just experienced episode four, episode five is coming right behind us. That's right. Uh, and we're going somewhere unexpected. We're talking about discipling through adversity. Uh, because some of the most powerful discipleship moments don't happen in a Bible study. Probably very few happen in the context of a Bible study, but they happen. Where they happen is right in the middle of the challenging struggles. Don't miss it.

Stacy Jo 38:49

Until then, stay faithfully invested, because when you do, God brings the increase. Yes, he does. Yeah. God bless every one of you, and we will see you next time.

Allen 39:00

Bye-bye. Thanks for joining us on Faithfully Invested with Alan and Stacey Joe. If today's conversation encouraged you, challenged you, or helped you see your calling more clearly, don't keep it to yourself.

Stacy Jo 39:15

That's right. Share it with a friend, leave a five-star review, and keep leaning into God's blueprint for your life, your leadership, and your legacy. So until next time, remember when you invest in his kingdom, he brings the increase.