People Spots
Online
Produced by James W.
Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants
Provided as a service by New Life Ministries
Risks
Leaders are willing to take risks.by James W. Moss, Sr.
What are you or your church doing that would utterly fail if God
wasn't helping? Faith begins when we move beyond our apparent resources. If we
make sure we have every dollar in the bank and every human resource available
and then we move—where does faith come into play in such a scenario? God
selected an unlikely hero in Gideon. He selected the least member of the least
family of the least tribe of Israel. Then God had him pare down his fighting
force to a quite unreasonable number. Yet the victory was won and God had the
credit. (See Judges 6-8.)
A leader has to be ready to walk out front. Walking out front can
be dangerous. A leader can't appoint others to take the point; the leader
him/herself must do so. Leaders who introduce change are at risk. The pain of
change causes trauma. Every change is a trauma for someone. Trauma produces
some strange behavior by the traumatized party.
In the process, a leader will encounter antagonists. A person
traumatized by the proposed change frequently becomes an antagonist. Sanballat
had the most to lose if Nehemiah built the wall around Jerusalem. It seemed
that every time Nehemiah turned around, Sanballat laid another obstacle in his
path. It took wisdom, persistence, and an unwavering spirit to rise above the
obstacles. (See Nehemiah 4, 6.)
Someone has suggested that obstacles are what we see when we
take our eyes off of the goal. What is the goal? Seeking to know the will of
God and striving to fulfill it is the goal. Keep focused on the King.
The traditional barriers laid in our path are characterized by
several strategies of opposition. Even if you do what you want, there will be
no pay-off. The losses will outweigh the gains. In essence, there is a lack of
perceived value. Another may feel, “I didn't come up with this idea, so it can
have no value.” Remember what they said about Jesus: “Can any good thing come
out of Nazareth?” Even Machiavelli pointed out in the 1500's that there are few
who will lay down their lives for the new but many who will fight for the status
quo. A fear of failure frequently is the driving force to protect the present.
If this new idea succeeds, it will make current practices and
skills obsolete. The advent of the printing press put a lot of scribes out of
business. I typed my first book on an IBM Selectric™ typewriter. What a task.
To remove a sentence or add a paragraph meant retyping the whole chapter. The
advent of the personal computer played havoc with the typewriter business.
It is possible that the new change will be introduced but instead of succeeding,
it fails. One person said to me, “Jim, I don't know whether I
could try something if I thought it might fail.” That kind of fear will
paralyze one into inactivity. We have to be willing to try things that will
fail. Every failure brings the potential for new knowledge and new
opportunities for success. We need to keep trying a wide variety of options to
find the ones that work for us.
Okay, so we introduce the new program and it works. What new set of
problems will that bring to us? At least we know what we are dealing
with now. I'll never forget two churches that had grown from 15 to 70. In one,
an elder asked, "When will you give us our church back?" I asked. "Do you want
your church of 15 back?" The new people had taken over. In another, the
janitor was upset. "Before the pastor brought in all this trash, I only had to
vacuum once a month. Now I have to vacuum every week." The fact is that a
successful program will bring with it a whole other set of problems. I have
worked with several churches that have added a third service of contemporary
style on Sunday morning. They added a significant number of new people. Now
there are a whole other set of issues to deal with.
When does a leader fight?
· Over issues that present potential safety hazards—when a broken step needs to be repaired, for example.
· When the overwhelming evidence is in your favor. If that is the case then you can take your time and allow others to get on the same page with you.
· When principle or integrity is at stake. A leader will lay everything on the line when the ultimate life of the church is at stake. However, there aren't many such life and death issues.
When does a leader forfeit?
· Leaders forfeit when they are wrong. It takes a big person to humbly acknowledge a mistake.
· A leader forfeits when the decision is already irrevocably made and won't be changed. That is a lost cause.
· When the leader hasn't taken proper time to adequately prepare for the presentation. The homework hasn't been completed.
· A leader should forfeit if the struggle will cost you your capacity to minister. There are very few issues worth laying your ministry on the line. Please don't use ultimatums. Most ultimatums result in sad endings.
Leaders are willing to take calculated risks. What branch are you on that
would break and send you tumbling down if God were not holding it up?
I am now available to present "Churches Have Personalities" as well as "People
Spots" "Does Your Church Really Care About People?" and "A Christian
Perspective on Leadership Skills." jm
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Read about Jim's seminars and books.
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August 13, 2002. Volume 5, Issue 10. People Spots Online is prepared by James W. Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants. It is provided as a service by New Life Ministries, www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org. Articles may be duplicated and reproduced in any way with proper credit. A new article is produced about every two weeks. To be added to a list to receive these messages directly by e-mail, send a request to churchconsultants@yahoo.com.