One of the things I do to stay sharp as a leader is attend a monthly lunch-and-learn called Lunch With A Leader. Hosted by Mike Linch, the senior pastor of NorthStar Church in Kennesaw, GA, this event attracts over 100 of North Atltant’s top leaders including mayors, police chiefs, business leaders, and top educators.
This past week Mike taught on King David’s moral failure and how we can avoid such a thing happening in our lives. The content will keep a lot of leaders from stumbling. I felt the material was so important I wanted to share it with you.
The following are 37 Things To Know When A Pastor Or Church Leader Falls:
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Every leader stumbles.
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It’s amazing as a leader how quickly confidence changes on you.
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When you lose confidence it changes how you lead.
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Doubt changes everything.
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If you stumble and you’re not the leader some people may never know. If you are the leader and you stumble, everyone knows.
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The best part of leadership is people know you. The worst part of leadership is everyone knows you.
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There will never be a stumble that will cause God not to use you if you handle it correctly.
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Be honest with yourself.
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The less people ask you questions the higher up you go.
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It is hard to be honest with yourself the more you are isolated.
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“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me… You delight in truth in the inward being.” – the words of David from Psalm 51:3, 6
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When you’re unaccountable for your time you’re in trouble.
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“When sin is exposed, we as humans have a tendency first of all to deny it, secondly, to minimize it, and thirdly, to compare it to someone else who is worse than we are.” – Erwin Lutzer
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The worst part of my job is I sometimes have to sit down with good people during very bad times.
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“We can manipulate our feelings, but we can’t manipulate the truth.” – Ed Young
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We’ve got to be able to take up a mirror and say, “It doesn’t matter what the public says, who am I?”
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Do not believe your press clippings.
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“The most miserable person in the world is a Christian who is trying to sin and get away with it.” – Rick Warren
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Be dependent on God.
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We think God is ashamed of us… Your mistakes do not change how God feels about you. But it may change how you feel about God.
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There is no quit in love.
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The temptation we face after we sin is to think that we must earn God’s love and acceptance though better behavior.
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The Holy Spirits uses the Word of God and our conversations with God to renew our minds and reorient our desires.
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“Maintain your personal relationship with God at all costs. Never allow anything to come between your soul and God, and welcome anyone or anything that leads you to know Him better.” – Oswald Chambers
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We live in a world that quits on you. God won’t quit on you.
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Have other people in your life. Don’t do life alone.
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Be realistic about the consequences.
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God often allows the consequences that result from our sin to run their course because He wants to purify us, not penalize us.
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“Not all of the disciplinary pain ordained by God is directly owing to sin we have committed, but all of it is ordered for our good as forgiven sinners.” – John Piper
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Be patient in the process.
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All of times after the failure and stumble, we want to get right back to where we were. It doesn’t work that way. It’s a process.
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There’s a process for my healing.
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It’s always too soon to quit. God is not finished with you.
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Snapshot movie. Snapshot is what you see in front of you. You don’t see the whole movie.
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“For the righteous falls seven times (infinity) and rises again.” – Proverbs 24:16
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You can determine a person’s greatness by what it takes to discourage them.
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David didn’t quit living when he stumbled.
What is one thing you learned from the statements above which will keep you from falling?