Below is an excerpt for a research paper written for my Masters. I thought it might be helpful, because we as pastors many times struggle with the issue of administration.

Because of the way the term Administration is used today, we tend to think of this gift (see 1Co 12:28) in terms of mere administrative ability: balancing numerous tasks, making endless lists, keeping one's workspace neat, etc. While such tendencies may well characterize a person with this gift, the term is a broader one, actually conveying the idea of guidance.

In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament), we find this word conveying the idea of giving guidance: "Where there is no guidance (or "administration") the people fall, but in abundance of counselors there is victory" (Pr 11:14, NASB). In Acts 27:11, the term is used of the pilot or steersman of the ship on which Paul was traveling. The term typically denotes some activity that gives guidance, that steers, that provides wise counsel so that the right course might be taken. We can suggest the following definition:

The Spirit-empowered ability to provide wise guidance to a sphere within or a function of the body of Christ.

In other words, this is a gift related to leadership. The person with this gift is more than just tidy; he can examine a situation and determine the steps that need to be taken. He can marshal resources and people and steer them toward an intended goal.

The local church is replete with opportunities for the exercise of this gift. Leaders in the church, far from being threatened by people with this gift, should rather create contexts for them to exercise it. Such people are invaluable to those in leadership, freeing them for more focused and strategic ministry, much as the choosing of the seven men to oversee food distribution in the Jerusalem church freed the apostles to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word (see Acts 6:1-7). Without the support that this gift provides, pastoral leadership flounders, awash in administrative details to the detriment of prayer and the Word. Perceptive pastoral leadership cannot underestimate the value of biblical administration.

If Christian administration is a function of Biblical leadership and Biblical leadership is concerned with discipleship, then administration should always have as its primary goal the development of Christ-likeness in its followers. This people orientation is significantly different from common approaches to administration. Perhaps the most common definition of administration is that it is getting things done through people. From a Biblical perspective, however, this definition has the wrong focus because it views the tasks as primary and people as merely the means of accomplishing those tasks. The "bottom line" in business is turning a profit, but the "bottom line" for the church is making disciples. The objective of the church is to reach people for Christ and make them fit citizens of the kingdom of heaven. By its very nature, then, church administration must view people as primary and projects as the means of building people for the glory of Jesus Christ.