No Lone Rangers Allowed

As I prepared my message a couple of weeks ago on this topic, “No Lone Rangers Allowed,” my Ministry Assistant emailed me to see if I was sure I wanted the title to go into the bulletin as I had sent it to her, which was “No Lone Rangers Aloud.” What’s funny is, it proved the sermon title true. Had I been a lone ranger leader, I would have looked rather silly. That’s why there are no lone rangers aloud… I mean, allowed!

We Pastors are the worst. We don’t want to ask for help from our volunteers because they are already volunteering. And we don’t want to ask help from our non-volunteering members because, well, they aren’t volunteering! Further, nobody could ever do as good of a job as we would at any given task, right? And who wants to help anyway, right? These are the illusions of lone ranger leaders.

We actually have the idea that it is our duty to appear out of nowhere to solve every mess ourselves, then ride off into the night with everyone asking, “who was that masked man?” But that’s not God’s intention. It takes teamwork to make the dream work. We’re in this together!

Why did Jesus organize His church and call it a body, a flock, a fellowship, and a family? Because He never intended for His Kingdom to be led by lone rangers. Why did He command us to make disciples, train people for the work of ministry, and pour our lives into the development of leaders? Because lone rangers will never have the impact He desires for His Kingdom. Hey, even the Lone Ranger himself had Tonto!

Leader, you really ought to consider the damage you’ll do by pursuing lone ranger leadership. You’ll effectively put a lid on the organization you lead, whether it’s a church, company, or committee. You’re not talented at everything. You don’t know everything. You can’t handle everything. So you need help, and the Kingdom of God needs you to realize you need help.

Why not commit today to leaning on the shoulders of others? Don’t be a lone ranger leader, lead with a team. You’ll last longer, look smarter, and earn a greater return on all that is invested for the Kingdom’s sake!