Why leaders who lack personal discipline and intentionality run the risk of losing the ministry they have built

There are a significant number of leaders who are able to grow a church or ministry to a fairly large size - and then are asked to leave  the ministry they have built by their board. While there are many reasons one can be asked to leave, one that I have observed over the years revolves around the discipline of the leader to lead with intentionality and focus.

I would describe these leaders as people full of energy, a plethora of ideas, significant vision and often running in many different directions. The energy and ideas often get a church off the ground or a ministry started, and even to a significant size.

However, the larger the organization, the more stability it needs and the very thing that may have helped get them to where they are becomes a liability if the leader cannot modify his or her behaviors to provide stability for the ministry. Small ministries can deal with a fair amount of organizational chaos. The larger it grows the less able it is to do so  and the best staff will not put up with an undisciplined or rapidly changing directional environment.

The discipline and intentionality of leaders is a significant issue not only for their own leadership stewardship but because their intentionality or lack of it impacts others in either positive or negative ways. Disciplined leaders provide structure and stability to their organization and staff. 

Undisciplined leaders bring uncertainty, instability and even chaos as staff try to figure out where they are going and seek to respond to the changing directions of undisciplined leadership. Eventually leaders and staff get tired of the lack of directional stability which creates tension between the senior leader and the key leadership personnel of the ministry. Often, by this time, it is too late for the senior leader to regain the confidence of the staff and board.

As organizations need to grow and mature, so do the leaders who lead them. When they don't they run a high risk of losing what they have built. 

Church culture trumps everything!

I had an interesting conversation with a pastor recently who said to me, "Church culture trumps everything including Scripture and my preaching." He pastors a church that has been around for many years and his comment reflects the truth that the longer a church is in existence, the stronger its culture - for good or bad.

Most church cultures are not intentional but rather the influence of its founders, pastors, history, power dynamics, and a host of other factors. The culture usually includes some deeply held values (not the ones written down) that dictate how it operates. In one church I attended, for instance, one of the deeply held values and practices was not to resolve conflict but rather to ignore issues and hope they went away. It was part of the culture and didn't work out too well!

Church cultures can be exegeted and understood. In my book, High Impact Church Boards I suggest a number of questions to explore that can help you understand your congregation's genetic code.

• What do you know about the founding of your church? How do you think the motives and attitudes present in the church's founding - positive or negative - affect the church today?
• What was the philosophy of those who started your congregation? Is it the same today, or has there been a significant shift in mission, vision, or ministry philosophy? How did this shift happen?
• How do people in the church navigate disagreements? Would you give your congregation high or low marks for handling conflict? Do you see patterns here?
• Are you aware of any significant unresolved issues within your congregation? What are they, and why do you think they have not been resolved?
• How would you evaluate the unity of your leadership board? Does your board have a history of unity and love, even when faced with differences, or is there a history of conflict and broken relationships?
• If your congregation faced significant periods of conflict in the past, what do you know about these periods? Is it possible to see trends in either the causes or how the conflict was handled?
• When you consider leadership, now or historically, who has the major influence? Does the church board allow any individual (elected leaders or nonelected persons of influence) veto power over decisions made by the board or congregation? How has the power and influence structure of the church changed over the years?
• Think about the major changes the congregation has made, whether related to ministry philosophy, location, ministries or staff. Does the congregation respond to suggested changes easily, with great resistance - or somewhere in between?
• Are there any subjects, people or situations related to the ministry of your church that are off-limits for discussion? If so, why do you think these "elephants in the room" cannot be named? (High Impact Church Boards, pp. 81-82).

Once one understands the dynamics that made the church what it is in terms of culture, it is possible to craft a preferred culture that is intentional, rather than accidental. Every organization has a culture. The question is whether it was intentionally designed or "just is" as an aggregate of many factors in the past. If you are a church leader, are you able to define the culture of your church and the influences behind that culture? 

Chapters 2, 3 and 4 of the companion book, Leading From the Sandbox describe a paradigm for designing an intentional, healthy, God honoring church or organizational culture and how to make it a reality. While existing cultures are deeply embedded, as my pastor friend suggested, it is possible to change and modify church cultures with intentionality in the process. Not only is it possible but necessary if the church is going to be everything God designed it to be.

Symptoms of organizational non-alignment and signs of healthy alignment

The level of alignment within an organization is a direct indicator of its health, clarity and ultimately its ability to deliver on its mission. Thus it is worthwhile to consider symptoms of non-alignment as well as signs of healthy alignment. Think about the organization you lead or serve with as you consider these.

Symptoms of organizational non-alignment:

• There is little or no coordination of efforts between teams or ministries and often they do not know or care what others are doing.
• There is competition for resources and jockeying for position within the ministry and people guard their turf.
•  A common vocabulary is lacking.
• Active cooperation between teams and their leaders is rare or nonexistent.
• Members of various teams or divisions do their own thing without a cohesive ministry plan that everyone adheres to.
• Critical spirits and mistrust are common.

Signs of healthy alignment

• There is a common missional vocabulary that you hear from everyone in the organization.
• A great deal of interaction occurs between ministry leaders and team members as they pursue common goals, coordinate their efforts and actively support one another.
• Lone rangers (teams or leaders) don't exist and when they do occur, they are quickly brought into alignment and relationship with the whole.
• Rather than politics and turf guarding there is dialogue around issues and a concern for the health of the whole. 
• Teams and members speak well of one another in a highly collegial atmosphere.
• There is a high level of trust within the organization as a whole.
• Teams cooperate with one another, support one another and actively work together toward common objectives.

There is no doubt that alignment or the lack of it has a direct impact on the organizations culture and their ability to deliver on their mission. Which of these symptoms or signs describe the culture you work in?

Ten suggestions for ministry policies

Policies are an important part of organizational structure but they can be put in place for the wrong reasons, hinder or help ministry and either protect or control. Here are some things to think about in regard to policies.

1. Policies should protect the organization from practices that could hurt it. Financial policies, for instance, are designed to minimize fraud or waste and to properly control spending. HR policies, likewise keep the ministry legal and protect its staff.

2. Policies should cut down on the number of decisions that need to be made. Rather than taking situations one by one, a policy means the decision can be made once rather than over and over.

3. Policies should not be used to control people who make unwise decisions. Reactionary policies usually hurt others in the organization. If there is a problem employee, deal with the individual rather than write a policy that impacts everyone.

4. Policies should serve people, not control people. Organizations that seek to control people through policies are unhealthy organizations. Policies are not meant to control but should empower staff in healthy ways.

5. Policies should be reviewed annually. It is amazing how many ministries have policies from years ago that make no sense in today's world. Review, add, and delete on an annual basis.

6. Policies should have a good rationale. If a policy cannot be explained easily it probably should not exist. 

7. Policies should be minimal to protect the organization but not restrict opportunity. Have as few policies as you need to protect the organization. 

8. Policies should be fair to everyone. Policies that carry advantage for some but disadvantage to others need to be carefully scrutinized. 

9. If you are writing policy find out what others have done so that you are not starting from scratch. Others have probably thought of things that you have not.

10. Communicate policies clearly. No one likes a surprise.

Moments of clarity - don't ignore them

One of the gifts God gives us from time to time are moments of clarity when something about life or God become crystal clear. It may be the goodness of God when He intervenes on our behalf, or a sinful pattern that He gets our attention on, a job we know we should give up or a family matter that grabs our attention. 

It is a moment when a bright light shines on our soul and we wake up to something that we had not experienced before.

Saul had a moment of clarity when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. David had a moment of clarity when Nathan confronted him regarding his sin. Moses had a moment of clarity at the burning bush. 

Moments of clarity are precious moments, holy moments when they  move us closer to God or point out something in our lives that demands our attention. The loss is when we either ignore them or forget them which we often do.

Think about the moments of clarity God has given you over the years and then consider whether you are living up to the clarity you were given in that moment. We become poorer when we ignore those moments when truth and understanding shine through. It may just be that God is speaking to us at that moment.

Pseudo or real spiritual transformation

Someone comes to Christ and we celebrate! As we should - Scripture says that parties occur in heaven when a new individual steps into the kingdom. Of course, this new believer comes with all the habits, behaviors and thinking of the newer nature and we desire to help them start to the journey toward spiritual maturity. At this point we face two choices and the choice we make will have a direct impact on the spiritual transformation or lack of it of this new believer.

Choice one is to quickly help this new believer understand what is acceptable and unacceptable as a Christ follower. What this generally includes are the grey areas of the Christian life where our brand of "Christianity" has made decisions about what is acceptable or not. I call this life or behavior modification. It is not based on an internal heart change but by the behavioral expectations of the group. The key component here is that we take personal responsibility to help them understand what is acceptable - or not.

The key problem is that behavior modification in itself has nothing to do with spiritual transformation and in fact may become a substitute for the transformation of the Holy Spirit in one's life. In fact, behavior modification can be nothing less than a legalistic way of looking at following Jesus: I do so by this set of rules.

Choice two is to quickly get this new believer into fellowship with other Christ followers, a good church where Jesus is proclaimed, and to encourage them to start reading God's word and applying it to their lives as they see application. Coupled with an active prayer life and the example and encouragement of other Christ followers who rather than playing the role of the Holy Spirit (this is what you need to do) encourage the new believer to see what God has to say on issues of life and make application from His convictions. 

In this case, there is also behavior change but not because it is what others suggest but because it is what God desires. It comes from the inside (the conviction of the Holy Spirit and a desire to follow Him) rather than the outside (what others believe they should do).

We often overestimate our responsibility with new believers and underestimate the Holy Spirit's ability to speak to them, convict them, encourage them, and transform their hearts. We can convince someone to transform their behavior but only the Holy Spirit can transform their hearts leading to authentic inside out change. 

When our focus with new believers is on behavior modification to fit our Christian group or even our own personal convictions we engage in a pseudo transformation. It may look good on the outside but it does not emanate from the Holy Spirit's work but rather from our own. It is no different than the pseudo transformation of the Pharisees.

When we focus on helping people embrace a followership of Jesus, based on what the Holy Spirit teaches and convicts them of, we are engaging in real transformation from the inside out. As we model that kind of lifestyle for them, we become an encouragement for them to follow. When we point them continually to the Scriptures and a life of prayer we point them to the One who is the source of their lives and the authority of their lives.

The first is all about us and the second is all about Him.

For those fifty and over: think convergence

Much of our lives are spent learning who we are, what our gifting is, where our strengths and weaknesses are and through the experiences of life and work finding out our strongest lane. 

Ironically, it is often in our fifties and sixties and beyond that we have our greatest impact. No longer running on raw energy we are living with greater wisdom, doing less but accomplishing more and seeing greater results. Hopefully we are also comfortable in our own skin with nothing we need to prove and nothing to lose. It is a good place to be.

There is also the greatest possibility of convergence in our lives where our biography, experience, training, gifts and passions come together in a powerful combination for maximum influence and impact. I call this convergence and if you are fifty or over I would encourage you to think about what convergence would look like for you and then ask whether you can arrange your life and work in a way that helps you get there.

We accumulate activities and responsibilities in our personal and work lives over time and often don't take the time to shed those that are old, or that are not truly in our lane of effectiveness. It is like the stuff in our garage that just sits there, of no use to us anymore but we continue to let it accumulate.

Convergence comes when we are able to let go of those things that someone else can do and we are not truly gifted in to focus on areas of passion, skill and greatest impact. I often ask ministry leaders in their fifties what their greatest passion is and then, how could you arrange your life and work so that you spend the greatest amount of time in those areas of passion? Often they have never realized that they could actually do that.

But this is not just for leaders. It is for all of us who want to make an impact in whatever area of life we inhabit. We can declutter our lives for greater focus in areas where God uses us the most. And this is where we find our greatest joy and satisfaction anyway.