Opportunity Revealed Through Problems

Opportunity Revealed Through Problems
Jonathan A. Buckland


Acts 6:1-8

Leadership is one of those interesting gifts that many are rarely neutral about. Throughout my years in leadership I have discovered how fickle people can become with leadership. When you are leading the team and your mounting up win’s and motivation is at a high level and volunteers are pumping on all cylinders it appears that the sky is the limit. It is in the seasons of leadership when you are feeling invincible that you feel leadership is the greatest joy in life, but as sure as there are moments when things are going wonderful, inevitably around the corner a problem will either A. slowly arise or B. come out of nowhere. Problems threaten every amount of traction that you have gained up to that moment in your organization. We have probably heard the saying before which goes like this, “Leadership would be great if there were not people involved.” You can’t remove the aspect of dealing with people in leadership. Whenever you have people involved you will always have problems that must be dealt with or else they will destroy everything that has been accomplished and derail you from the vision of what could be done.

Looking at the story of the first church in the book of Acts we find that the early church did not start off slowly and discreetly, but rather started off with a bang. The first message that Peter preached we discover resulted in a growth from 120 people into 3,000 people in a matter of a few hours. Things were popping and excitement was in the air. We even find that a boldness came upon the leaders of the church, partly because of what God had done, but I can’t help but think of the type A personality bleeding through as well for they were feeling pretty confident that they were going to take over the world. As we soon discover, things go from wonderful to tense very quickly when problems started to arise. The massive revival and explosive growth that the church had experienced was now at a crucial moment that would define their future forever. The church was at a major crossroads. I am convinced that we all can look at our stories and find similar moments that define our leadership. A true leader will not run when they encounter a problem, but rather will view a problem as an unprecedented opportunity! Here are a few observations that I have found in how the church leaders dealt with their problem in Acts 6.

1. They didn’t pretend that there wasn’t a problem, but rather defined what the problem was and who the players in the problem were. Many organizations can never move past their problem because they are not willing to define the issue and even more so not willing to admit who the players in the problem are.
2. They built a team of disciples to take the problem head on. They understood that the problem, if not dealt with properly would make the entire organization lose their focus, so they built a team to help them define the problem and be proactive in solving the problem. One senior leader can deal with many problems, but there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors. Team building to find answers to problems will always bring creative results.
3. They were wise in their delegating. The leaders of the church did not delegate a task to people that were not able to handle the task, but rather they chose people selectively that could rise to the challenge at hand. If we delegate the task of problem solving to the wrong people the problem will grow, not diminish.
4. Together as a team they found consensus and prayed and appointed the problem solvers in the open. Nothing will hinder progress like giving a task to someone to complete but not giving him or her the authority to complete the task.
5. We find the result at the end of the problem – The Word of God grew and the amount of conversions increased and obedience to the vision became the standard.

The early church turned a major problem into an opportunity for growth. What struggles are we facing at this moment? Have you allowed the problem that is looking at you to cause stunted growth in your organization? Are you scared to admit that there might be a problem? Maybe you have been trying to take on problems by yourself instead of building teams around your problems. Problems will define us one way or another. We can allow our problems to deter us from our dreams, or we can find opportunity in the midst of our problem.