Just because I can doesn’t mean I should.”

I’ve grown to love this phrase. It embodies deep wisdom, but it is pithy enough to go on a T-shirt or meme.

Consider these applications:

• Just because I can work every night till 8 o’clock doesn’t mean I should.
• Just because I can ask my team to change everything on a pending project last minute doesn’t mean I should.
• Just because I can get there if I drive all night doesn’t mean I should.

Unfortunately, the higher you rise in authority and position, the more tempting it is to live by the “I can so I will” rule.

The way to resist this temptation is to seek God’s wisdom. As James 1:5 tells us: “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

The team I lead at the national office recently had a “Hold everything!” moment. We spent considerable time during a staff meeting reviewing three key words about our working relationships: pace, communication, and priority.

These words are now on a whiteboard in the room where we meet weekly to pray, take communion, and update one another about our individual assignments.

Let me share what we are learning so that you can benefit from our experience.

Pace

All a good worker has to do to make errors, harm others, or take the joy out of serving is disregard a healthy pace. When the enemy can’t trip us up with sin, he’ll try to speed us up with haste.

Moving at a break-neck pace is sometimes applauded in ministry. It can make a leader appear ambitious, decisive, nimble, and proactive — a real mover and shaker.

Just because we can go faster doesn’t mean we should. Every person is wired differently, working at various speeds. Each project has tentacles that reach beyond what appears at the core. Sure, there are seasons in life and ministry when we must increase our pace. But we need to determine what’s a good pace for each of us, for our families, for the teams we lead, and the type of project before us.

“They that wait upon the Lord” is a popular expression from Isaiah 40:31 (KJV), which is a promise of divine help to those who need it. The verse teaches us to trust God, letting all we do be directed by Him. But the promise applies only to those who wait, who approach God with attention focused on His will.

So, why not stop right now and ask God what He thinks about the pace you’re keeping? If you listen, He’ll say what speed is right for you in the present season with that particular person or project.

Communication

With all the communication tools at our disposal — mobile phones, text messages, video-calling, etc. — you would think communication would be the best it has ever been. On the contrary, the influx of more tools might actually be working against healthy communication.

Unfortunately, the higher you rise in authority and position, the more tempting it is to live by the “I can so I will” rule. The way to resist this temptation is to seek God’s wisdom.

That’s why we still here statements such as:

“If I had only known.”

“Why didn’t you say so?”

“Who else needs to know about this?”

“I have information that would’ve been helpful.”

“I thought you knew.”

When I became general secretary, I realized the Assemblies of God national office has scores of ministries, personnel, and resources for use by our nearly 38,000 ministers, not to mention our nearly three million adherents. I had no idea many of these existed when I was a local-church pastor.

So I added a feature to this publication called “Best Kept Secrets” to make them known to you.

The more authority we gain through promotion in ministry, the less we can feel obligated to communicate. For example, just because you can make corporate decisions in isolation doesn’t mean you should, however. As leaders, when we don’t collaborate and communicate with our teams, we disenfranchise them. This increases team members’ stress levels and builds a culture of chaos that doesn’t honor God.

Recently, I invited my team to share their thoughts about how I’m doing at communicating. As an executive, I know that people will do whatever I ask out of respect for my position, whatever the cost. But I genuinely want my team to feel free to offer input when they have helpful input.

One team member shared that the deadline for a specific project was too soon. Meeting that deadline would add stress (and overtime) to team members. Moving the deadline back a few weeks, by contrast, would allow team members to complete the project without additional stress — and it would still be on time.

Moving the deadline back was the obviously right call to make. I was grateful to the team member for suggesting it. But as a leader, I had to create space to hear it in the first place.

In general, most team members feel underinformed. When we think we’ve communicated, say it again whether it’s casting vision, bringing updates or providing direction.

Priority

Leaders often talk about their priorities.

I had an “Aha!” moment recently when I learned that until modern times, the word “priority” was singular, not plural. It denotes one item highest of all. The word priorities (plural) seems like an oxymoron.

In a multitasking culture that suffers from an epidemic of distraction, ministry leaders need to give our full, undivided attention to the person right in front of us or to the project immediately at hand.

So, if you had to name the single priority that needed addressing before moving on to the next item on the list, what would it be?

Or, to introduce a different way of thinking about the topic: What spiritual or moral principle is the priority in your life, the one that affects how you do everything else?

A rabbi once asked Jesus, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” (Mark 12:28).

Jesus answered by citing two commandments: “Love the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 6:5) and “Love your neighbor” (Leviticus 19:18). His single priority was love. The objects of His love were God and people, distinct but inseparable. Love was the focus through which Jesus viewed everything else.

What is your priority in life right now? When is the last time you gave your full attention to who or what was before you, no distractions, not double duty, just fully engaged?

When the enemy can’t trip us up, he’ll try to burden us with so many to-do items that we can’t accomplish any of them.

Don’t let the smorgasbord of variety and opportunity rob you of the “one thing” on God’s heart for you! Don’t swap quantity for quality!

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

Wrapping Up

Let me close with a few questions you and your team (or family) can discuss with one another.

1. Pace.

Does your team need to pick up its pace? If you focus on communication and priority, adjustments in those areas might actually accelerate your pace. Team members waste energy when clear communication and a common priority are missing.

Or, does your team need to slow down its pace for greater accuracy or stronger health? What practical steps are you taking to accomplish that?

2. Communicate. Just because you sent an e-blast doesn’t mean your audience read it.  Pontification does not guarantee communication. Communication goes two ways.

Good communication — talking and listening — reduces stress, improves corporate culture, prevents missteps, and produces results. So choose both to share and to invite input.

3. Priority. If priorities (plural) were prohibited, do you know your priority (singular)? Does your team have a common priority? When it meets, does your team tune out distractions by turning off devices?

Whatever power you hold in your family, ministry or organization, always remember that ultimately it comes from God and should be used for His purposes: to glorify Him and edify others (1 Corinthians 10:31; 14:12).

This article appears in the Fall 2024 issue of Called to Serve, the Assemblies of God's official ministers' letter.