HUNGER FOR POWER WILL SHRIVEL YOUR SOUL

Ecclesiastical power seekers love titles, expect to receive honor, exploit relationships, and long for the best car, house, or boat. These toxic traits silently devour a leader’s inner life like a fast growing cancer. Power addicts keep churches from breaking out to greatness in faith, service, and compassion.

But there is a better way. Revitalized spiritual growth can flow like life-giving oxygen into the Body of Christ when all authority is yielded to the Lordship of Christ and used as He directs. The apostle Paul uses six short words to nail down these issues: “Strength is for service, not status” (Romans 15:1, TM).

A leader addicted to power:

1.      Assumes the ministerial position gives superior intelligence or spirituality.

2.      Allows personal attitudes and actions that do not square with the teachings of our Lord.

3.      Expects and accepts favored status.

4.      Forgets that ultimate accountability is to God.

5.      Believes people are following, when they are merely tolerating the addiction.

6.      Holds authority and power, but refuses to use it.

7.      Avoids praying, “Is my leadership pleasing to the Lord Jesus?”

Power by its very nature creates subtle temptations for pastors. Since ministers are usually chosen by the congregation and often serve on every significant committee in the church, it’s easy to think their control produces effectiveness. To make matters even trickier, pastors are often given almost free reign to operate the church as they see fit. Thus, it is possible for pastors to come to believe they know more than anyone else or to think of themselves as the most Christ-motivated person in the congregation.

There are several ways for pastors to resist misuse of power. Why not consider these possibilities?

Resist infallibility. Election, seniority, or status do not produce infallibility. If you are tempted to think you are infallible, remember that humility is an important leadership trait God loves to honor.

Avoid ownership obsessions. Power abusers love to talk about my church, my people, my sermon. Keep reminding yourself: no human being owns any of those things—they are all His.

Embrace Serving. Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave” (Matthew 20:25-27, NIV).

Personify integrity. Soul honesty and integrity are not insignias stitched on the Sunday suit to create a good impression. Rather, they are an outflow of a pastor’s devotion to Christ and a modest assessment of our own abilities.

Avoid pride and arrogance. Paul believes humility comes from an accurate memory of who we used to be: “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:26-27, NIV).

Welcome accountability. Try creating an accountable relationship with peers and subordinates for use of your time, effectiveness, competency, integrity, and personal spiritual development. As a result, you will grow personally and encourage others to increase their level of accountability.

Test your use of power against the biblical standard of Psalm 15:

Lord, who can be trusted with power,

            And who may act in your place?

Those with a passion for justice,

            who speak the truth from their hearts;

            who have let go of selfish interests

            and grown beyond their own lives;

            who see the wretched as their family

            and the poor as their flesh and blood.

They alone are impartial

            and worthy of the people’s trust.

Their compassion lights up the whole earth,

            and their kindness endures forever.

Paraphrase of Psalm 15 in Stephen Mitchell,

A Book of Psalms (New York: HarperCollins, 1993), 7.

—NBW

ADVICE FROM AN ESTEEMED MENTOR—STRETCH FOR EXCELLENCE

More advice from a trusted mentor and friend, Dr. Milo Arnold:

Mediocrity is never exciting. The person who is content to be a member of the herd, to do as much as others, or to do only as well as others, will find life getting dull before he runs out of years. The adventure is in excellence. To do more than you thought possible, to take the lead in self-discipline and self-becoming, opens the door to interest. There is more excitement and reward in painting one masterpiece than in painting a room full of dull works. There is more personal fulfillment in preaching a truly excellent sermon than in raising a bed of flowers. There is something really exciting about excelling the norm you had set for yourself, in doing what you thought impossible and exceeding your first expectations.

STRATEGIES FOR REPLICATING JESUS’ TEAM BUILDING MODEL

Jesus chose disciples with incredible differences in personalities, perspectives, and backgrounds. Every disciple had a separate, important function. Together, the disciples made up a team with complementary perspectives and abilities that helped the early church impact their world with the gospel. Team building requires one to cherish the uniqueness of people. Here are a few more ideas to stimulate your thoughts:

¯     Identify Potential in Others: Always be on the lookout for persons who could become new leaders. Look for folks whom people naturally follow. Notice when people near you help others to move toward quick agreement. Give people assignments to see how they organize their work. Look for folks who call on others to help them. Once identified, move toward training and involvement quickly.

¯     Emphasize Synergism and Ownership: The decisions we make together are important. Remind folks that what we have done together is important, that these decisions are “ours,” and that we need to work together to bring the plans to fruition. Remember that a team can accomplish more than the sum of its members individually.

¯     Utilize Tear Sheets and Quotes: Constantly resource your leaders. Place articles and ideas into their hands. Circulate news clippings among your leaders. Initiate and maintain a conversation around leadership methods.

¯     Spend Time with the Inner Circle: The shaping of your leaders is vitally important; it can only happen through time. By investing time with your inner circle of leaders, you keep everyone headed in the same direction. You also make yourself sensitive to any changes in direction or commitment among them. Developing leaders multiply your effectiveness.

¯     Train, Mentor, Coach, Ask for Support: Your congregation needs to know you need help. Ask for it! Ask for it by recruiting helpers and then investing time in their success. Giving folks work without helping them to do it well, is the same as asking them to fail. Set people up for failure too often, and you will have no volunteers to help you in a very short time. Help them succeed, and they will be more likely to spread the good news of how satisfying service is in the Kingdom.

—DEW/NBW

WHAT BANKERS WANT TO KNOW BEFORE MAKING LOANS

While many pastors shy away from the financial side of church administration, it is important to be thoroughly versed in current practices before approaching a bank for a loan. Take this list to an experienced friend who can walk you through the process before you even begin talking to bankers.

1.       Financial Statement—Ideally this statement should include several documents: a copy of proposed annual budget with documentation of how well it is being met; receipts-to-disbursement statements; and reports for various funds showing activities and balances. Include current year and previous two to three years in each of these statements.

2.      Study of Giving Units—How many giving units does your church have, that is, the number of persons who give on a regular basis? A separate list of the names and addresses of those people, without listing what they give, helps bank officials know how many of their current customers are financially committed to your church.

3.      Demographics—Lenders like to see a study that shows a good mixture in age categories. A healthy percentage in the 35-55 age bracket implies strong current leadership of people who are able to give strong support to the church in the areas of finances and energy. Figures on the growth trends in each age category will also help lenders decide in your favor. It may also be useful to demonstrate a wide spectrum of employment categories, if possible.

4.      Leadership—Banks often place importance on what the business world calls “quality of management.” It will be useful to list the names of lay leaders, positions they hold in the church and community, including their tenure in those positions. The pastor’s name, training, and years of experience should also be included. The appearance and organization of the material you submit to the potential lender also communicates the quality of a church’s leaders.

5.      Building Project—The lending institution will want information on the location and size of the building. Cost estimates and bids are also helpful. Studies and data gathered regarding the cost of similar building projects in the community will help convince the banker your leadership team knows what they are doing.

6.      Support of Congregants—Lenders will want you to demonstrate the broad support of the membership in all financial matters, as well as their commitment to a particular project like a building program. Has the congregation voted on the project? If yes, by what percentage? How much money has been raised for the project?

7.      Safe Limits—Lenders are usually interested in three benchmarks: a) the ratio of the proposed mortgage to the annual giving of the church—generally the limit should not exceed three times the church annual giving; b) the ratio of debt service to the church annual giving—generally it should be no more than 1/3 and it would be much safer if it were closer to 25%; c) The amount requested compared to the cost of the entire project—it should usually be less than 80%; this demonstrates the congregation’s commitment to the project.

By the skin of your teeth?

A gentleman once said to his pastor, “How little salvation can I have and yet get into heaven? Do not answer me in terms of Scripture, nor with quotations from theology, but plainly as one man talking to another.” In a word, he wanted to know what was the minimum of requirement to enter the holy city. Many others have desired the same information but have not dared to be as frank. The pastor answered, “You must have at least this much—enough to make you comfortable with God when you meet Him.”

—J. G. Morrison

May this day’s journey of ministry bring you joy and fulfillment,

Dan and Neil

Developed and edited by Dan Whitney and Neil Wiseman.

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