The Need to Delegate and Follow-up I want to start this morning by reviewing just a little bit about what I was trying to say yesterday. I should say, also, to start with, I practice these basic management principles in my own career, and in my own business. The only way possible for me to be here this morning is to get that work done through somebody else. And that means scanning the horizons to find people, and taking the trouble to see to it that there’s training available for those people, and then taking a chance, and risking their minds, as they apply their minds to our business. But as we have established goals, and I might say that to me, goals are something that’s pretty dynamic, that means they are to be changed. Goals are not something that cast you in concrete. Some of you may be a little fearful of setting goals, and setting objectives, because it’ll hem you in. Well, let me just give you one illustration about goal setting. My job is to peer into the future as far as our business is concerned. And so we have an expansion program; a five-year program. You see, it’s a matter of trying to predict. This year we decided that we must scrap our expansion program because of the economic conditions around us. And we decided that we would do well this year to break even. And so I directed that we all tighten our belts and be as economical in every way as we possibly can. Stop all expansion. Now, my point is that because you have a plan, you’re not stuck with it. And if conditions warrant a change in those plans, then the first thing, obviously, that we have to do is change them. But I just called the office since I’ve been here to get our statistics for March of this year, and my predictions were wrong again. We have had the biggest March in our history. I predicted the worst. Now I did the best I could with the indicators that I had, and have. Now you see, I don’t need to crawl in a hole, and hide my plan, and conceal the fact that it did not turn out the way we predicted. Well, what is necessary is to lay it out, and recognize that we missed it. Our plans are too small. We can do better. So, what do we have to do? When I get back, we have to revise our plan. My point is: You’re not stuck with a plan. And if your plan is not working, or your objectives were too ambitious, or not ambitious enough, you can always change your plan. So these techniques that we are talking about are guidelines, and very, very helpful. And I can be here because I have written job descriptions for the people that work for me. I would like to suggest this to you, sir. I’m the President of a big enough company, but as the head of it, I must get my work done through other people. So in spite of the fact that we have these 300 people scattered around Michigan, I have only one person reporting to me, that’s all … one. I make no daily operating decisions, none. Oh, I have to do with setting the policies, I have to do with setting the guidelines, I have to do with setting the objectives, but the day-by-day operation I get done through other people. And this is one of the wonders of management. I have a building company. We have a big project going on right now: 178 apartments we’re building. I have nothing to do with it on a day-to-day basis. I remember one time I was in a church, and here was this minister who was soooo under pressure, and he was telling me the weight of being a minister. And we went into his study, and there were blueprints all over the place. And he said that they were building a church, and that he was responsible for building a church. I said, “What do you know about building a church?” He said like most of us, “Nothing.” “You mean you are in charge of building a church, and you don’t know anything about churches?” “That’s right.” “Well, how come you take on a job like that?” “Well, who else will do it?” “Well, that’s a good question. Who else could? It seems like anybody else would be better off than you on this job!” And that is the first question, isn’t it. Who can do it? And I asked him. And do you know what I found out? I found out that he had a building contractor and an electrical contractor in his church. Well, then how come they aren’t in charge of this building program? You know why? Because he thought he wasn’t sure he wanted to trust them. He had to call the shots. So here’s a building contractor and an electrical contractor watching the preacher struggle with the building. Does that make any sense? And I said, “Sir, if you’ll pardon my suggestion, if I were you, I would start on a premise that you’re one of the least knowledgeable people in the congregation about building churches, and therefore, the least qualified. Now one of the reasons why I can get apartment houses built is because I know that I don’t’ know anything about it, and if I wanta build some, I have to go to somebody and say, ’Please mister, I need some apartments, and I don’t know anything about it.’ That’s what you oughta do. ’Please mister, I need a new church, and I don’t know anything about it. I need help. Who can help me?’” Now that’s thinking management. And I suggested to him, “If I were you, I would try to persuade … if there’s any other group in this church who don’t know how to build churches, it’s the congregation. So I sure wouldn’t give the responsibility to the cong….” “Oh,” but he said, “We are a democratic congregation.” “What does that mean?” “That means we vote on the color.” “You mean to tell me that you’re gonna have a business meeting, and this congregation is gonna vote on how to build a church? You gotta be kidding. If I were you, sir, the first thing that I would do would be to prayerfully convince that congregation that they don’t know nuthin’ about building. And if I were you, I would pick the most knowledgeable committee out of this church that I could pick, and I would give them the power to build a building.” And he looked at me unbelievingly. “You’ve got to be kidding.” All I’m trying to say is that he oughta stick to something he knows about, which is preaching and teaching. Now one of the reasons why I’m in a building business is because I know that I don’t know anything about it, and it’s important to know you don’t know, and admit it. And I have some of the finest people building that project. The finest people that I could find, but they know how to do it. Well, I went my way; after all I was just there for Sunday morning. This minister was so tired, you see, that he brought me in to relieve him of his work while he was doing some work that he didn’t know how to do, which was build a building. I forgot all about it. And I ran into this fellow a couple of years later, and he came up to me, and he said, “Do you remember the conversation we had in my study with all those blueprints around?” And he gave me a big hug. I’m not accustomed to huggin’ preachers. And he said, “Brother, I want to tell ya, I took your advice, and this is one of the happiest experiences we ever had, that we turned the responsibility over to these men. And they just did a tremendous job, and we went about the job of running our church while they built the building.” Now you see, that is management. That is setting objectives, deciding what you want to do, finding qualified people to do it, and going on with your work. That’s getting your work done through other people. So I just want to say to you that these techniques that we’re talking about are very basic, and very, very important, and if there’s one single thing that I see among the pastors that I consult with that causes them more difficulty and pressure and problems than anything else, is the fact that you would take on a job you don’t know how to do. You can do a tremendous lot of things if you get people that know how to do it. I’m in a restaurant business, and I don’t know anything about it. I really don’t know anything about food. I’ve got people working for me that are a lot smarter than me, thankfully. We have a fellow that has a Master’s Degree in food management. He’s so much smarter than me. But you know, nobody in the company thinks he’s the president. He just works there. But he’s smart, and he’s knowledgeable. You see, management simply involves finding the sharpest, keenest, most qualified people in your organization to do what needs to be done. I was sitting on a platform one Sunday, and the ushers came forward, and this Pastor leaned over to me and said, “You see that fellow walking down the isle? He is the President of RCA Corporation.” He was so happy that he had the President of the RCA Corporation as an usher. And I leaned over and said, “What else does he do?” He said, “Oh, we don’t ask him to do anything else, he’s too busy, and too important.” I thought,” What a humiliating thing to do to a man that’s President of RCA. Ask him to usher. I’d ask him to be Chairman of the Board. I’d ask him to run the church for me! President of RCA?” Now gentlemen, I want to challenge you to scan your audience and scan your church, and put the people to work that are the most knowledgeable people you’ve got in the area of their expertise, and then you’ll be free to function in the area of your expertise. And so, I’m responsible for a rather vast business operation, but my expertise is in getting other people to do my work. Now that’s not laziness, you see. After all, you have to be able to defend the fact that you’re doing something too, and I think that my people are very happy to under gird me, and to realize that, together, along with running these businesses, we have an international ministry. So we do it together, and I hold up my end, and they hold up theirs. I have to have time to dream. Like a few weeks ago my wife and I and another couple … I needed some dreaming time, and I figured the best place I know of to dream would be to rent a sailboat in the Virgin Islands, which we did. Now that may look like recreation, but I think a leader needs lots of time to think, and to dream. Every once in a while, somebody calls me up and says, “What are you doing the week of May 14th?” And I say, “Nothing.” And they say, “Great! Will you come to my church?” And I say, “No, I scheduled NOTHING!” You see, you have to schedule nothing, if you’re going to do nothing! Now the only way that I can move you, and when I look across this audience … flat floor, ministers, what am I doing up here? And I know one thing: You came here this morning on the assumption that I had something to say. I don’t believe that any of you would be very happy for me to explain how busy I’ve been in the last few weeks, and therefore I am unprepared this morning, and isn’t that too bad. But you fellows understand. No, you assume, and you have a right to assume, that I have something to say. Now the only way that is possible is if, preliminary to this, I had some dreaming time, and some thinking time. Well, this is what the Apostle Paul was saying, I’m back to starting now. Yesterday I read you this verse, this tremendous thought. This tremendous spirit on the Apostle Paul, “I long to see you …” I can’t wait for Sunday to come to share, “that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift.” I can’t think of anything anymore strategic, and anything more important than for you, just chaffing, waiting for Sunday to come to share some spiritual gift with these people that you love. Now I didn’t say that these people that you are disturbed over, or disgusted with, or mad at, but that you have in mind the establishment of your congregation. “I long to see you that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end that you may be established. That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith of both you and me. What a wonderful thing to watch my staff grow. Grow in knowledge. Grow in experience. Grow in grace. And watch these things expand as we do it together. A lot of our growth is on the shirt-tails of some people who work for me who are smarter than me. And as they grow, I hang on. And I grow with them, and they with me. Lots of administrative detail in running six restaurants, and it has to be done, but I don’t have to do it. I have to see to it that it gets done. And so, for a minister to look over his congregation, mind you now, I’m talking about a minister who knows he’s an inspiration to his people. How do you do that? By having a message burning on your heart that you can’t wait to share with them. That’s one of the first ways of establishing rapport and confidence in you, and people wanting to help you scatter the message that is so helpful to them. That means a history of success when it comes to moving the hearts of your people. Well, this morning I’d like to share with you an experience in the scriptures, a management experience, an experience involving the leadership of men. And as we’ll develop across the week, my colleagues and me will realize that leadership involves making up your mind what you want people to do. Telling them what their job is. Telling them what constitutes satisfactory performance. Checking to see that it’s done. Recognizing quality work. Correcting poor work. Getting rid of the ones who don’t do it. That’s management. Now as I say, in my business I have people who do all of those things. And because I’m responsible for it, I repeat, does not mean that I do it! I have other people do it. Not so that I can loaf, because I have to be significantly busy also, and they need to know it. I’d like to share with you the story of Samuel. Samuel, chapter 15, and this has to do with his interaction with a king. Now, I guess there aren’t many preachers who rub elbows with kings. This would be the equivalent of the President of the United States, and there aren’t very many preachers who interact with a President of the United States. But this fellow was dealing with a king. Now you shouldn’t have to follow-up a king. Surely, if you give a king an assignment, you can forget it. But follow-up is so important. I guess one of the best illustrations of that occurred last year when we had a management seminar like this in Atlanta, and I went off one evening with Dr. Bright and the Board of Directors of Campus Crusades for Christ. Now that’s pretty challenging company, and we had a wonderful time. There’s only one thing wrong with that. I forgot that I was the evening speaker at the Management Seminar that night, and I just didn’t show up. Where was I? I was off with the Board enjoying the evening. Now I say that to say, that you see, that was somebody’s fault who didn’t follow me up. But you see, someone says, “Do I have to follow you up?” You have to follow everybody up. Now somebody learned from that experience because I’ve got two people at this conference getting me there. And if you see me walking around with a real, pretty, young thing, lovely young lady, she is seeing to it that I don’t get lost. Very simple principal. If you want something done, and it’s your responsibility to get it done, you better follow-up. It’s not enough to assign a job, you gotta follow-up. Well here is this fellow, Samuel, and in the first verse, it says, “Samuel said unto Saul, ’The Lord sent me.’” Well, I guess I can take that for Samuel to say that the Lord sent him, or I can even accept the fact that the Apostle Paul would say that the Lord chose him. Well, what would you think if I said that the Lord sent me to talk to you this morning? You know, if that’s true, do you suppose that could be true? Well, then you better listen, and I’d better be careful what I say. Do you suppose it makes sense for you to think that the Lord’s arranged for you to preach next Sunday morning? The Lord. Hear the Word of the Lord? I can buy that when it comes to Samuel and Paul, but how about you? Now I don’t know how you hear from the Lord. I have a lot of people, as a consultant of religious organizations I run into problems where I sit down and there’s a problem. And somebody says, like in a mission, there’s a fixed amount of money. And here’s this missionary who says the Lord told him to start a publishing activity, and then here’s another fellow, and the Lord told him to use the same money to start a radio station. And so here I am talking to two people who claim that the Lord gave them opposite directions for the same money. Now something’s funny. So I have to say, “You know what the Lord told me? The Lord told me, and the only way I know of to figure out how the Lord speaks, I found in His handbook, that you two fellows need to be like-minded. Now there’s something wrong with your directions. You see, you can throw these words around very easily, can’t you. “The Lord said it.” “I prayed about it.” Well, that’s the end of it if you prayed about it. I get into these problems where two people on opposite ends of a problem both claim that they heard from God. I guess one of the evidences though, is that you’ll be like-minded. And a man who walks with God is happy. He’s full of joy, and relaxed and at ease. And he doesn’t have any concerns about how things are gonna turn out. So when I talk to a tense, anxious, jittery, worried individual who says, “If it wasn’t for the Lord, I don’t know what I’d do.” My question is, “What’s the Lord doin’ for you?” Leadership implies some characteristics of a man. One of them is, he’s a happy man, and he’s relaxed, and he’s not worried about the outcome. “Well, the Lord told me to anoint you to be king over His people, and over Israel, now therefore, hearken thou unto the voice of the Words of the Lord.” Now that’s a pretty presumptuous statement, but that’s what Samuel said to the king, and then he gave him some directions. A job description. Now how detailed does a job description have to be when you’re talking to the king? You see, some of you deal with rather knowledgeable people in your churches, don’t you. You say, “This man, with his reputation, with his education, with his business, who am I to tell you what to do?” You’re the guy with Word from God. Is that presumptuous on your part? Oh, I’ve talked to ministers who say, “Sir, I’m not trying to impress you with anything. I’m not trying to be holier than thou. What? You’re not holier than me? If you aren’t who is? I should think you ought to be holier than me if you’re standing here. Anyway, that’s what I hear. “I’m not trying to tell you what to do.” “You aren’t?” “You see, I want you to know that I’m like you.” “Well, that’s sure not very encouraging to me, if that’s all you’ve got to offer.” Now I’m challenging some of these ideas that you might hear from other people. Who do you think you are? You want to make it clear to your people that you’re no better than they. You’re on the same level than they are, and I want you to know, my friend, that I don’t have any answers, but I will enter into the struggle with you, and we will wonder around lost together. That’s not what people come to me for. They assume that I can lead them out of their dilemma. They aren’t buying my company just to wander around so that we both can be lost, And he doesn’t need to be lonely in his lost-ness. No, you should be leading the way! I’ll tell ya, this is a great day! People are casting around like a hunting dog, looking for the scent today, and any minister that can say, ”Follow me, you’ll turn out like me.” Well now, if we had more people turning out like you, that’s what we need in this country, isn’t it? More people that act like you, and look out at the world like you. That’s what the Apostle Paul said. Follow me. Who do you think you are that you have some answers? That’s a good question. Who do you think you are? A servant of the Lord, who’s got time to meditate in the scriptures, and tell his men and women what the scriptures have to say in contrast to what that psychologist says that doesn’t know God. And that sociologist who doesn’t know God. And that social worker who doesn’t know God. Isn’t it your job to declare the Word of God? And I find that those are the men who are packin’ ‘em in, who declare the Word of God. And who’s declaring the Word of God? This nervous, anxious, tense guy with his Alka-Seltzer and his headache pills? Well, here’s Samuel. I don’t understand how he got there, but I don’t understand how come I’m up here, either. I just keep being amazed that I keep getting invited to talk to this many preachers! Me, what am I doing up here? I don’t know, but I’m here. My objective is to move your heart. Well anyway, listen to this job description; this is in the third verse. “Go and smite Amaleck, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not, but slay both man and woman and infant, and suckling, and ox, and sheep, and camel and ass.” Now that’s a bloody assignment. I think there’s room to doubt whether Samuel got that advice from God. I wouldn’t want the job. That’s like saying, “I want you to kill everybody in Dallas. Everything that moves. God told me to tell you to do it.” I’d say it’s at least doubtable. I can understand why there would be some reluctance in accepting an assignment like that. Now, let’s take a look … that was the assignment anyway, and it’s pretty clear. Now let’s take a look at what he did. In the seventh verse, it says that “Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur that is over against Egypt. And he took Agag, the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag.” Killed ‘em all but one. That’s pretty good. You aren’t gonna gripe about a guy that comes that close to carrying out your instructions, are you? But you have to admit he missed it. But you don’t want to point out that he missed it, do ya? What is the point in a job description if it’s not to be carried out? “And he kept the best of the sheep and the oxen, and the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and he would not utterly destroy them, but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.” Now let me ask you: Did this King need supervision? Did this King need checking up on? Well anyway, Samuel went out to visit him. Well I guess if I were to give a title to this lecture, I’d give it this kind of a title: What to Do When a Sheep Leads. Samuel came unto Saul, and Saul said unto him, listen to this: “Blessed be thou of the Lord, I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” That’s a king talking. Hi Samuel! I did it, just like you said, and if that sheep didn’t bleat … Now a nice man like Samuel, after that kind of a welcome, ought to ignore the bleat, shouldn’t he? A nice man like Samuel? Now when somebody in your church doesn’t carry out their assignment, a nice man like you shouldn’t challenge them, should you? What do you do when people don’t carry out instructions? You say, “Well after all, what can you do, we don’t pay them.” Now anybody that says the only way that you can control people is to pay them hasn’t been paying people lately. You don’t get work done because you pay people; you get work done because you make it happen. People tend to miss the mark. Objectives tend to be missed. Jobs tend not to be done. That’s why you need management: Out of the simple appreciation that people tend to miss the mark. I have 26 people in my organization that don’t work, besides me. Do you know what they do? Their full-time job is to make sure that the rest of the people do their work. It takes 26 people to make sure that the rest of them do their work. All they do, their full-time job, is simply to make happen what we want to happen. Seeing to it that the other people do their work. Full-time, that’s all they do. We have people called Assistant Managers. Now you should think that an Assistant Manager wouldn’t need supervision, but we’ve got people called Managers, and their job is to keep an eye on the Assistant Managers. We have another fellow called Assistant to the General Manager, which simply means that we have to keep an eye on the Managers. And then we have a General Manager, who keeps his eye on the Assistant General Manager, and then we have a fellow called a President, who keeps his eye on the General Manager, and we have a Board, and they keep their eye on me. Why all this organization? Because if you want a job done, you have to face the fact that human beings tend to miss the mark, even a king. Now what does a good leader do? A nice man like Samuel? When somebody says, “Bless you Samuel. I’m glad to see ya, and I did just what you told me.” And that little bleat? That’s like me walking into a restaurant, floors clean, customers are being handled well, the waitresses are doing their job, everything is functioning smoothly, but I see a bus boy leaning up against the wall. Now when everything is buzzing and humming, and business is good, and the place is packed, and the service is good, and you see a bus boy leaning up against the wall, it seems to me, what would you think would be the most important thing for me to do? A nice man like me? And I know that this manager needs a pat on the back, and he’s working hard, and he’s sweating, and he’s busy, and … I gotta point out to him that there’s a bus boy who’s not doing his work. Would you buy that? Oh, but let’s accent the positive. I can’t think of anything any more positive than keeping everybody busy, doing what they said they would do, and helping somebody that’s missing the mark to correct their waywardness, and get back on the track. Well anyway, this is what Samuel said, very simple statement: “What meaneth then this bleating of those sheep?” Now that’s what you call a testy question. After he worked that hard, and almost carried out the instructions to the letter, now shouldn’t you point out how hard he worked, and how tired he must be, and how demanding this must have been? Shouldn’t you point out that after all, he carried out 99 percent of the instructions, and that’s wonderful? I praise you. That’s great. You almost made it. That’s wonderful. No, he said, “What meaneth the bleeding of these sheep? And the lowing of those oxen.” He put him on the spot. I don’t think he put him on the spot because he was mean, or because he was venting his wrath, but Samuel simply had a job, which was to carry out God’s instructions. He had just delegated it. This is Saul’s answer. Listen to this. Have you ever said this? “They did it.” What do you do with a congregation these days? You can’t get anything out of a congregation these days, can ya? You can’t tell, you can’t direct people any more. You know, that’s the way people are. You oughta know that, Doc. Samuel, haven’t you ever been a preacher? Samuel said, “After all, he’s the King. I don’t pay him. How can I tell a guy to do something if I don’t pay him?” Then Saul came up with an excuse. The perfectly normal, natural, predictable response when you call a man on the fact that he missed the mark is an automatic excuse, or reason, and a pretty good one. And the smarter your people are the more ingenious will be their reasons. “The people brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God, and the rest we’ve utterly destroyed.” Now that’s pretty clever. You see, Samuel, we’re gonna kill ‘em all, but we saw these nice animals, and we thought that we’d do it in two stages. Now what we’re gonna do is sacrifice these beautiful animals to your God, Sam. Now what about that? Wasn’t that great? How do you like our decision? Now you’d expect a King to be at least that clever, wouldn’t you? What would you expect him to do? “You’re right, Sam, I goofed.” You don’t even expect that kind of a comeback. You see, all these tools you’re gonna learn this week are not gonna change human nature, as though when you use these tools you’re gonna transform people into somebody who can’t wait to carry out just like the job description said. Oh, your God has a framework for dealing with the deviations. That’s the purpose. And Samuel said, “Stay and I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” See, he ignored it. You don’t need to answer people’s excuses. Generally speaking, all you need to do is get back to the question, that’s all. You don’t need to deal with the excuse. You didn’t do it. “When you were little in your own sight, were you not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed you King over Israel, and the Lord sent you on a journey, saying, ’Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.’ Now here is the only valid question. Listen. “Why didn’t you obey the voice of the Lord? But you flew unto spoil and did evil in the sight of the Lord.” Then, listen to this reply. “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I did go the way which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag, the King of the Amalekites. Utterly destroyed the Amalekites.” If you ever talk about an assignment with someone, and he said, “I did carry out what you told me to do. You did tell me to do it this way>” And you scratch your head and say, “Now what did I tell him?” Did you ever have anybody twist the assignment? See, the smarter they are, the more cleaver they’ll be. Even kings. That’s why it’s a good idea to write it down. If it isn’t worth writing down, it isn’t worth assigning. So that’s the second round. The people took of the spoil, and saw him. You know what Samuel said? “There’s no question about it that Saul had worked hard, and the people had worked hard.” And we say that sometimes. What can we do, these people are working so hard, they’re missing the mark, and they’re headed in the wrong direction, but they’re working so hard! Boy, we can’t straighten ‘em out, if they’re working hard. And listen to what Samuel said, “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?” You know, you may have people who are working sacrificially, and are giving sacrificially to something that is at cross-purposes with the program, but they’re sacrificial, and they’re working hard. Does the Lord delight in how hard we work? Or in our obedience? Good question, isn’t it? And what he said was, “To obey is better than to sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of lambs.” Commitment is more important than sacrifice on your terms. You’ve got to get your people committed. And ladies and gentlemen, obedience is still a good word. Obedience, yielding, surrender, submission. That’s a nasty word, isn’t it? Submission? He said that, ”Rebellion is as a sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity, and idolatry, and because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you from being king.” And so, Samuel had a job to do. Remember, here’s the man who crowned the king. That must have been a tremendous honor. Now, he had the job of de-crowning a king. Removing him from his office. And this is the point I want to leave with you: Is it more spiritual to hire a man than to fire a man? Or is it spiritual to hire a man, and carnal to fire him? And one of the tasks of leadership is to place men in position, and another one of the tasks of leadership is, if necessary, you remove him. This is one of the responsibilities of leadership. A happy task if it’s a spiritual task. You ought to be just as happy to remove a man as you are to place him. I’m talking about a happy administrator doing his work. Committed to doing it the way it oughta be done. So Samuel had two jobs. He crowned the king, what a glorious day. And then there was a day that he had to de-crown the king. And both of those assignments he got from God. So when you lead men, you’re gonna experience this interplay back and forth between looking at the job, and looking at the performance standards. Dealing with people who are missing the mark on the one hand, and dealing with their spirits on the other. You’ll find yourself drifting back and forth, back and forth between dealing and talking about the task, and talking about the Spirit. |