Last Wednesday night, as we returned home exhausted at the end of a Christmas outreach to international students, my wife turned to me and said, "Bob, you had too many goats on ropes tonight."
"Yes, I sure did," I replied.
The day before, I attended a leadership conference where Dr. Dale Burke introduced us to the phrase. He explained it this way:
In East Africa, a young man will start off with a single goat. He’ll put it on a rope and take great care of it, leading it to eat green grass and drink from the stream. At night, he’ll bring it home to keep it safe. Over time, he hopes to add to his herd. Soon he has two goats, then four, then eight. But what happens when he has sixteen? Not all the goats want to eat at the same time, and they start pulling him in different directions. He simply has too many goats on ropes.
That night, I definitely had too many goats on my ropes. I:
- Brought and set up the sound system
- Barbecued corn for 100 people
- Acted as MC
- Led songs
- Helped clean up
No wonder I was exhausted.
How could I have avoided this problem? By spending more time recruiting a team.
Want some tips on how to do this?
Tune in next week when I share how a church ran a successful Deepavali outreach which avoided burnout.
Let’s pray:
Lord Jesus, keep me from having too many goats on ropes. Show me how I can recruit people to join me in outreach — in both small and large events. Thank you, too, for this holiday season and the many opportunities we have to connect people to you and to other believers. Amen.