As Christian leaders we often have a hard time dealing with parts of our church which are failing. Rather than dealing with the hard issues directly, we pray. When that doesn’t work, we pray AND fast. When those do not work, we try throwing more money or people at the problem.
Then we rationalize. We hold specially-called meetings to get people’s input. We pray some more. The issues are then sanitized by “taking a long-term view” or talking about how God uses small things in a big way. But God is often wanting us not to be passive but to lead.
Months go by. Trust is lost. Apathy sets in. Attendance and giving declines. Here is the hard truth – when parts of your church are failing, more often than not you have a leadership problem, not a spiritual one.
And as a leader, God has called you to lead diligently and this often means making the hard choice of changing leadership.
There are some interesting trends in the NFL right now which has reminded me of the impact of ineffective leaders. In 2012, the Washington Redskins traded a number of draft picks to the St. Louise Rams for Robert Griffin III. Here are the results of the trade:
Washington received Griffin.
St. Louis received in:
- 2012 – defensive tackle Michael Brockers, cornerback Janoris Jenkins, running back Isaiah Pead, guard Rokevious Watkins
- 2013 – linebacker Alec Ogletree, wide receiver Stedman Bailey, running back Zac Stacy
- 2014 – tackle Greg Robinson
That is eight players for one. Despite this haul of players, the Rams currently have a 1-4 record and occupy last place in their division. Why? Instability at the quarterback position because of Sam Bradford’s continual injury concerns. This trend is not unusual.
The teams with the eight worst records in the NFL all have instability at the quarterback position. Conversely, the top 13 teams in the NFL all have strong quarterback play.
The answer to every problem is a person. If you place great leaders in key positions of influence, you likely will have a strong ministry department. If you have poor performing areas of ministry, you likely have poor leadership in those areas.
NFL teams exhaust all resources in hopes of securing a franchise quarterback. They understand great quarterbacks bring relevancy, consistency, a chance to win the Super Bowl, and sustained excellence over an extended period of time. Great quarterbacks make other players better. Great players want to play on teams with great quarterbacks.
The same applies to ministry departments in a church. Great ministry leaders bring stability. They provide hope. Resources flow to them. People are appreciated and unleashed to accomplish great things for God. People line up to serve on their teams. Life change continually occurs.
The question becomes are you willing to do everything in your power to improve the quality of your ministry leadership teams. This is far more important than professional football. People’s eternal destinies are at stake.
A “spiritual” solution will not solve a leadership problem. If you keep doing what you have always done, you will keep getting what you always gotten no matter how hard you pray. When parts of your church are failing, you likely have a leadership problem- not a spiritual one. Are you willing to make the necessary changes?
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