Coming from a blue collar family, I know outsourcing can be a bad word when it means the loss of American jobs to other countries with unjust labor costs. That’s not how I’m using here. At its most basic level, outsourcing is about shifting the responsibility of some part of a process from one entity to another. That’s how I’m using the term here—to describe a basic shift in responsibility.
I’m thinking about doing a bigger race next year. It’s a goal that I don’t think I can train and prepare for on my own so I decided to reach out to a potential coach. In preparing for my conversation with her, I realized what I was doing and what I wanted was to outsource the expertise of putting together a training program as well as the stress of wondering if I was doing it right. Shifting the responsibility of carrying that mental load would help me focus on attaining my goal.
That phrase of outsourcing the expertise and stress resonated with me so much that the following week I found myself using it again when the Visioning Team met with the lovely guide that will help us facilitate our day of church visioning and dreaming. When I felt myself getting anxious about leading the process she was laying out, I realized her job as our guide was to facilitate and lead us. Outsourcing the expertise and stress to her was a relief. Trusting her with the process was freeing.
I was thinking about these two incidents of how outsourcing expertise and stress reduced my burden of responsibility and allowed me to focus my attention on more important matters, when I realized there’s a lesson in there not just for delegating responsibility, but a real lesson in faith. It was an opportunity to reflect on how often I take on things that ultimately belong to God. I need to do what I can to cultivate my little corner of creation—to work towards making the world a little more just or peaceful or beautiful than how I found it. But in order to do that, I need to outsource the expertise and stress of somethings. I need to give them back to God whose able to handle the bigger picture and things that are out of my control.
I like the language of outsourcing better than releasing because I like the element of relationship and trust that’s part of shifting responsibility from one entity to another. Outsourcing is the release of responsibility and the trust that the work with get done.
So here are the questions I’m still wrestling with that I invite you to ask yourself. What are the things that are stealing your focus or garnering more attention than they deserve? What are the responsibilities, areas of expertise, or stressors that you can outsource to God? What are the worries and frustrations you can give to God? These are the questions I’m asking myself in my desire to be more present and focused on the things God has entrusted into my care. I pray they may also help you find a new sense of freedom and relief.
In Love,
Pastor Annette