By James Smith

Often times in ministry we feel that the problems we face in the church are usually people problems. After all we are in the business of ministering to people. So when a problem arises it must be a people problem - right? Not always.

Too often, but thankfully, a problem is not as it seems. It’s not ALWAYS a people problem. Let’s face it. People problems are a hassle. Dealing with personalities and character flaws is exhausting. Sadly, many Pastors and Ministers simply stop trying to improve the ministry capacity of their congregation simply because they have grown tired of trying to change the behaviors of people to create positive change.

Do you feel that people are most often the problem in your ministry? If so, you are among the majority of pastors and ministers. Would you be interested to find that not all problems are people problems? In fact, many of the situations that we believe are people problems are simply situation problems.

Here’s an example of a situation problem: The person who is the lead minister over your churches Greeters ministry is growing frustrated. Too often, the people they employ to greet guests are calling at the last minute to say they cannot be a “greeter” that Sunday morning. This is very frustrating for the lead minister as they thought they had everything under control. Their work was done…everyone was in place. But now at the last minute, there is confusion and worse yet, disappointment in people.

This all creates another host of problems, as now the faithful few who the lead minister is about to call upon to “fill in” for the absentee are about to become burdened with the constant chore of being a greeter. These gracious people have limited patients too. If constantly obliged upon, they are going to begin to experience resentment at those who are “calling off” all the time. Worse yet, they are going to begin to feel frustration at their fearless leader who is once again asking them to fill in for someone else.

This all sounds like a people problem doesn’t it? You might be surprised to find however, that it is not a people problem at all. Well, it can certainly develop in to a people nightmare if not corrected, but to correct it is very simple. You can change this whole situation without dealing with any of the individuals directly. You don’t have to meet with these people and constantly motivate them towards change or attitude corrections. What you have is not a people problem - it’s a situation problem! So forget about the people for a moment and fix the situation.

The situation is that you need to create commitments (policies) that will help curb first of all the ease at which a member of the Greeters team is able to call off. When a person volunteers to be on the greeters ministry, have a short meeting with them to go over the commitments that each of the greeters corporately agree to. Put these in writing and ask the new recruit to check off that they agree to these things and have them sign at the bottom of the page to signify that they will earnestly commit themselves to accomplish the goals of the commitment sheet.

Here is an example of some of the goals that you could use.

I (Your Name)

1. Do promise that I will to the best of my ability arrive at the church 30 minutes before service.

2. Will present myself to our guests with a smile and loving greeting that reflects the kind of welcome that our church would want to extend to each of our guests.

3. Will endeavor to always be present on my scheduled days to serve so as to not put an undue hardship on my leaders or those who would need to serve if I were unable to do so.

As time goes on, meet with your greeters occasionally to reward them for adhering to the commitments they agreed to. If one of your team members is unable to continue to commit to the policies, simply move them laterally to a place of ministry within the church where their level of availability will not pose a problem.

In addition to a few policies like this, one could also have in reserve a small group of people who only serve as fill-ins for when the inevitable occurs. These people are not regular greeters, but rather substitutes ready to be used when called upon. This way, when a person calls off, you will not be burdening the already faithful few who are doing their best to serve and who do not deserve to have additional burdens placed upon them.

I’m sure you get the idea. By changing the situation, you can alleviate most all of your people problems in this scenario.Through the years, we have all seen horrific people problems that did not start out as people problems. They were simple situation problems that if dealt with early on, could have easily been healed. Left undealt with however, they too often grow into people problems, which ultimately harm the church.

Identifying which problems are people problems and which ones are situation problems can often times be a bit confusing as our vision is blurred by personalities and hurt feelings of individuals. By taking a step back and analyzing the situation, you may be able to identify ways to cause the situation to change which will cause your people problems to diminish. If you feel that a certain problem is a situation problem, but are unable to determine how to resolve it, ask someone who is not so close to the people involved to give you some advise on how to correct the situation that has evolved.

Ask yourself: Is this a people problem or is it a situation problem? If you feel it is a people problem, is it possible that it started out as a situation problem but has escalated into a people problem. If it has, address the situation before you address the people. Apologize for creating or allowing the situation that has enabled this people problem. Then allow the people to join another area of ministry in the church if they feel it would best help them to heal from the problem. Don’t let them take a backseat however. Help them find a new exciting place in the church to serve. If allowed to retreat from ministry at this point, it will be very hard to get these people back into a mindset to serve.

When you determine what kind of problem you have, you are on your way to correcting it. You may find that the solution is much easier to implement if it is a situation problem and not a people problem.

By David Church

I am the second born in a family of five siblings. My older brother is a little less than two years older than me. While growing up, I can remember my mother dressing me exactly like my older brother. This happened quite frequently, especially while we were young. I remember people asking her if we were twins. I thought that was really strange since I was two years younger, smaller and did not look like my brother at all. (I am better looking) Then my twin sisters were born. Identical twins. They were the cutest little girls. They looked exactly alike. Even until recently their husbands have mistaken their identity. This has led to many interesting moments in our family.

I don’t know what mom was thinking, but after the twins were born the matching outfit thing became more regular. I caught up to my brother quickly in size and for a number of years it actually looked like there were two sets of twins in the family. I admit it probably looked cool to have two sets of twins. We drew a lot of attention from people in churches, restaurants and malls. Everywhere we went, people would crowd around the ‘church twins’. They thought it was cute, but it was actually an identity crisis times two.

As I grew older, I did not appreciate being dressed like my brother, and he felt the same way. It wasn’t so cool anymore. We weren’t twins and were not anything alike. I didn’t want to be like my brother and he didn’t want to be like me. In fact, we wanted to be as different from one another as possible. My twin sisters came to feel the same way. Thankfully, mom gave up on the ‘two sets of twins’ thing and our unique identities were preserved.

We live in a world today of ‘identity crisis times two’. Everybody wants to be like somebody else. Look like somebody else. Talk like somebody else. Live like somebody else. It is no different in the church. It is part of man’s nature. We want to preach like somebody else. Sing like somebody else. Build a church like somebody else. Inherently, we look to others successes and desire the same for ourselves.

Perhaps that is why one of the Ten Commandments states;

Ex 20:17

17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

It is a great thing to desire success. It is a great advantage to be able to use methods and ideas from those who have had success. I am all for that. I am all for mentoring and being mentored. You ought to use every advantage you can for the benefit of the Kingdom. But it is another thing if you lose your identity in the process. God has not called you to be somebody else. God made you just as you are for a purpose.

Most of us in ministry feel that somebody else can do it better. However, that is not how God feels about you.

Hebrews 13:20-21

20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

God has made you perfect. You, not somebody else, are perfect to do every good work. You, not somebody else, are perfect to do His will. You, not somebody else, are well pleasing in His sight. The faults that you think you have are all part of God’s perfect creation in you. They make you who you are.

King David was able to say;

Ps 139:14

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

God has made you unique and perfect. There never was and never will be anyone exactly like you. Your DNA confirms it. You cannot be reproduced. If a copy of you could be made it would not be exactly like you, it would be a little different than you.

God has called you, not somebody else, to do a work unique to you.That calling is without repentance. There are people you can reach that nobody else in this world can reach. Don’t try to be anybody else but yourself. God wants you to be you. You are a masterpiece created uniquely by Him and you are precious in His sight. Use the abilities God has given you with confidence knowing it is ‘well pleasing’ to God.

By Dr. Fred ChildsMatthew 15:18-19; James 4:1-12

There are times when we as Christians are called to arms, as the song goes, “onward Christian solders.” As they said in the Middle Ages, “if the cause is just…”of course most of the causes were not just. But for us, if there is a situation that must be defended, we need to prepare ourselves and be willing to fight for our Lord. Conflicts that are worth fighting for are such as moral and value issues, spiritual warfare, evil desires, or physical attack.

“When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.” (Galatians 2:11)

If someone is going to assault you or a family member and all means available to involve the authorities is exhausted, then we fight. I personally do not get into fist fights, but as a youth pastor, I was on a trip where one of my girls was being assaulted and I had to respond to that situation with physical force or the girl would have been raped. There have been numerous times I had to keep bad intentioned people away from my group to protect them and even use physical force. We as leaders must protect the people God entrusts to us. In working in some inner-city areas, I hired security to prevent potential problems with various events. Yes we are to trust in the Lord, but we are also to use commonsense and practical judgment. As Jesus told His disciples to buy a sword, we to need to follow suit. I do not believe we need to literally be buying swords and wearing guns like the old west. But, we do need to protect the people under our care.

A case in point, several years ago I was doing some intervention counseling with a couple. The husband was severally beating his wife. So I put her into a battered women’s shelter. He then came to me very violently, threatened my life if I did not disclose her location. The police were immediately called, but there was nothing they could do. I heard that the husband found her location so I took some elders with me to the women’s shelter to protect the wife. She got scared and left the shelter and went home. The husband was in the process of literally killing her when we showed up; the police were called and we had to wrestle him to the ground. He was a very big man. I had to knock him out in order to subdue him. It was one of those situations that you may never have to deal with, but they do accrue. By the way, it took the police over two hours to show up as we sat on him; life in the inner city of America.

He said to them, But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36

We need to realize we have an enemy who is nearly eternal, and fully desires to interfere, steal, and destroy us. So, we are called to wage war on Satan and his onerous cohorts. We can do this by prayer and various techniques found in spiritual warfare resources available in most denominational resources centers and Christian bookstores.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:7-8a

We need to battle our sinful nature and the evil desires that come from that nature. If we put no effort in self-discipline, then we will not last long in tough situations or grow to be fully used by our Lord.

Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation–but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Romans 8:12-14

Conflict is almost always necessary when the forces of darkness encroach upon the Christian Life. It is necessary to stand up for the rights of the unborn. It is necessary to fight for morals and values in our schools and government. It is necessary to not yield to Satan and our evil desires. For, if we do not take a stand, our fall will be close at hand.

The Problem of Conflict: Proverbs 3:5-6; 20:30; Job 23:10; 36:5; Matthew 5:13-16; Romans 5:3-5; 8:28-29; 2 Corinthians 1:9; Ephesians 4:1-6; Philippians 1:27-30; 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; James 1:5-8; 1 Peter 1:6-7

Principle Scripter to How to Understand, Solve, and Prevent Conflict: Genesis 4; Psalm 37:4; Proverbs 3:4-6; 18:13; Matthew 5:9; 7:5; 15:18-20; 18: 15-20; Luke 6:27-36; 19:1-9; Romans 8:28-29; 1 Corinthians 6:1-8; 10:31-11:1; 13; Galatians 5; Ephesians 4:22-32; 5:1; Philippians 2:3-6; 4:2-9; Colossians 1:17-20; 3:12-17 James 4:1-3; 1 John 14:15

By David ChurchOver the last 17 years, I have managed to build a successful business and I now pastor a vibrant and growing church. I have made many mistakes along the way, and I am still learning new things every day. However, one of the things I have learned is, it is critically important who you surround yourself with. The men and women you choose to help you reach your goals will make or break you. I have learned a few things about what to look for in potential leaders. I want to share them with you.

1. Look for people who can make things happen.

My business is residential construction. The unfortunate thing about the residential construction industry is it is difficult to verify the qualifications of new employees/crew leaders. Most of the time, you have to take them at their word. The fortunate aspect to this is when you do hire them, you know within a few days, sometimes hours, if they can make things happen or not. At that time you can make the necessary decision.

This application is not always possible in ministry, but my advice is still the same; Watch what people do more than listening to what they say. Actions always speak louder than words. People that make things happen seldom make excuses. Instead they create their own opportunities when none might have existed.

2. Look for people who can influence others.

A person’s ability to make things happen is directly related to their ability to lead people. This is called influence. Whether a church department leader or a construction crew leader, a leader must be able to influence and persuade people.

When you are selecting a potential leader, don’t just look at the person, but look at all of the people that person influences. The more people they influence, the greater leadership potential they have.

Here is a good question to ask; What kind of people do they influence? Do they influence other leaders? Or do they influence followers? A person who can influence leaders has much greater potential than a person who can only influence followers.

Influence also includes how they treat people. Do they respect people? Do they have a genuine love for people? Do they treat people right?

3. Look for people who can equip others.

I have had many crew leaders who were great at influencing others, but when crunch time came they had not equipped their workers to do the job. These crew leaders ended up doing most of the work themselves and the company lost money.

It is one thing to persuade and influence others. It is another thing to equip them with the necessary tools and training to succeed. Most of the people in your church will need to be trained and equipped in order to succeed. If the leaders you choose cannot equip and empower their followers, then they will ultimately be standing alone at the end of the day.

4. Look for people who can generate vision and create ideas.

The leader who knows where he is going and what his mission is will always be far ahead of the one who isn’t so clear. Make sure the leaders you select can communicate their vision to their team.

The leader who is constantly coming up with new ideas will be more successful than a leader with few ideas. If you want good ideas you need a lot of ideas. You can never have too many. Ideas are the greatest resource a leader could have.

5. Look for people who are loyal to you.

You should automatically disqualify any person whose loyalty to you is in question. This type of person will always hurt you and your cause more than they will help.

Loyal people will always make your vision their vision. They will share your dream. They will always lift you up in front of others. They will accept your strengths and weaknesses. They will laugh when you laugh and cry when you cry. They will love you unconditionally. They will be loyal to you until death.

If you can find a person who is loyal to you and who has all of the previous traits, take good care of them. Be loyal to them. They will bring success to your ministry.

Problems. If you’re going to work with or minister to people, you are going to have problems. Sometimes big problems. Moses was one person in the scripture who had people problems. Millions of them. Everywhere he looked - people problems. How to feed them. How to water their livestock. How to settle their petty problems. How to settle their big problems. Where do the tents go? How about the toilets. Everywhere problems.

Surely with all these problems, the solution must be complex. Big problems should mean big, intricate, thoroughly researched and analyzed solutions - right? Not necessarily. In fact, very often, the solution to one’s problem is asymmetric to the problem itself. Big problem, small solution.

When our problem is large or complex, we too often feel that the solution has to be the same. Because of this we usually miss the obvious, simple answer. In Moses’ case, it took his shepherd father-in-law’s simple mind to figure it out. A shepherd understands that a flock can get too big. When it does, it can begin to overgraze the fields and ruin the good pastures. This simple sheepherder was not educated by the most learned teachers of Egypt as Moses was, but he did understand something about having too many sheep in one place. He knew that when you have more sheep in a field than what that field can contain, you have to hire an under-shepherd to take part of the flock to another field. With that elementary laymen’s thinking Moses was able to correct very simply, the extremely complex dilemma the nation of Israel had found herself in. Jethro told Moses to break the number of people down into smaller segments and then place leaders over these small segments. How simple.

The biggest problems that your ministry is facing today probably could very well be corrected with a simple solution. Too often however, we go shopping for the big answer: The complex answer. The expensive answer. The time consuming answer. Here’s why: We focus on the negative instead of the positive. Seriously, nearly everyone does. Did you know that in the English language, 62 percent of the “emotion” words are negative, vs 38 percent that are positive. A group of psychologists once reviewed over two hundred articles and concluded that for a wide range of human behavior and perception, a general principle holds true: “Bad is stronger than good.” Ask yourself, do you remember more of the bad that you hear about others or do you remember more of the good. A vastly larger audience of people remembers the bad instead of the good.

If we are focused on the negative, we seldom see the positive. This is a sad series of events as most often bad is not the only thing that is going on. Very often there is good going on too. Usually, much more good than there is bad. The problem however, is we humans have a tendency to only recognize and focus our energies on the bad. When we do this we fail to recognize what is going on that is right. If we could recognize the right things that are going on, then we may realize that our big problem is not that big at all. In fact, maybe it is dwarfed by the good that is going on.

Moses could only see the small picture of his big problem. He could not see the big picture of his simple solution. Israel had a lot of good going on at that moment. She had a multitude of varied talented people who were easily equipped to assist Moses however he needed. If Moses could have gotten his gaze off of his dilemma long enough to thank God for the good people who were under his leadership, he may have found his solution sooner and possibly without the help of his wife’s father. After all, who wants that hanging over their head, “Hey sonny, I fixed your problem for you.” Moses was an extremely educated man. You have to know he wanted to figure the biggest problem of his entire ministry out for himself.

There is more to celebrate in what you have than there is to grieve in what you don’t have.

When you can identify what is happening that is right you can learn to duplicate that process to bring about change and growth for your church or organization. For instance, let’s say that of the ten varied recognized ministries in your church. Seven are doing well and three of them are doing badly. Our general response to this situation is usually to focus our energies on the ministries that are doing badly in the attempt to get them up to par with the ministries that are doing well. In short, we leave off of the ones that are doing good to help the ones that are doing badly.

Why? Have you ever asked yourself, “Maybe that broken down ministry in your church is not the will of God in the first place. Maybe, it should have been dissolved years ago?” In any event, what you are missing is that something fantastic is happening in a few areas of your church that are worth exploring and replicating. If you could find out what those ministries are that are doing well, you may find what will help the struggling ministries of your church. Could an answer to all the bad that is in your church be as simple as finding, identifying and exploiting the good that is happening? What could happen if we spent all the valuable time that we do focusing on and encouraging the good that is happening in our church instead of getting caught up in the mess of all the bad?

Begin to study, survey and dissect the ministries of your church where good positive growth is happening and you will probably find the answers to the problems that plague the ones that are not doing so well. Focus on your church’s strengths rather than obsessing over its weaknesses.

By David Church

While in Bible College many years ago I was fortunate enough to be selected for the Chorale. It was a big thing to make the Chorale. We were to go on a two-week tour during the summer break. It was the highlight of our summer. I don’t know why, but recently one of the songs we sang during that summer tour has been on my mind. I can’t remember much of the song except the main line of the chorus, which was also the title of the song. It was called, “Shut up and March”.

The theme of the song centers around the idea that talk can only do so much good. There is a time to quit talking and a time to get on with the business at hand. I frequently tell my employees, “A little less chatter and a little more clatter, please.” I think you get the idea.

When Israel fled from Egypt after 400 years of slavery they thought they had gained their freedom. The Pharaoh had finally relented and allowed them to go. On their very first night of freedom, they set up camp on the shores of the Red Sea. I can imagine how their spirits were soaring. They were looking forward to a bright future. However, in a moment’s notice, their freedom was taken from them again. The Pharaoh had changed his mind. He had assembled his mighty army and come to take Israel back. When Israel saw the Egyptian Army they panicked and began to cry out to God. They began to curse Moses for leading them out.

When this barrage of words came against Moses, he responded with some of the most inspiring words in Scripture;

Ex 14:13-14

13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

14 The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

We have all heard these words before. “Fear not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.” “Hold your peace, the Lord will fight your battles.” We have preached great sermons of faith from these words. We have written songs about Moses’ words in this story. We lean on this Scripture when we need to build up our own faith. We depend upon it when we need an answer from God.

It is encouraging to know that the Bible says that we can stand back and let the Lord fight for us. We don’t have to do anything except stand still and pray. God is going to take care of it all.

I warn you, there is a little problem with this kind of thinking. God has a different outlook about the whole thing than what Moses had. Remember, it was Moses who spoke those words, not God. In verse fifteen, God contradicts what Moses said in verse fourteen.

Ex 14:15 TLB

15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Quit praying and get the people moving! Forward, march!

Apparently there was a whole lot of praying going on. Israel was crying out to God. Moses was crying out to God. At the same time, there was a whole lot of complaining going on. The people of Israel were blaming Moses for this dilemma they were in. In fact, I submit to you that their prayers were prayers of complaint. “God what are you doing? You set us free only to die in the wilderness? It would have been better to die as slaves.”

I can picture God looking down at this crazy scene of panic and confusion with more than a little frustration. He had just sent ten miraculous plagues to convince the Pharaoh to release Israel. He had just saved Israel’s sons in the very first Passover. He had just delivered Israel from bondage. Yet, in a moment’s notice, Israel lost faith in God. I love God’s response to them; “Shut up and March”. I wish I could say that and get away with it.

What is mind boggling is that God told them to shut up while they were praying. Imagine that. Why would God do that? There are a couple of very good reasons; First off, complaint prayers don’t get you anywhere with God. Secondly, there is a time to quit praying so you can get on with the business at hand. In this case that business was marching. If you read the story and pay attention to the timeline you will see that Israel had to start marching before Moses lifted up his rod. Israel had to start marching before the waters were parted. It wasn’t until they ’shut up and marched’ that God parted the sea and gave them ultimate freedom.

Faith is not when we ’stand still and cry out’, faith is when we ’shut up and march’. God will fight for you, but He will only fight when you are marching forward.

By Dr. Fred Child

Romans 12:17-21; 1 Corinthians 6:1-8; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Galatians 6:1-5

We must remember that as a Christian and ambassador of Christ, we are to proceed any endeavor with the Fruits of the Spirit where love is our focus. We must have the proper motives before we can be the peace makers and resolve the conflict. Galatians tell us,

“Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.” (Galatians 6:1-5)

We are to take seriously the call to be responsible for each other in love and care. When we help each other, even in the midst of conflict, to point out sin and wrongdoing, we are helping that person. We need to take seriously the call that our Lord gave us, that we are positioned to be peacemakers and help in the restoration process of all humankind from evangelism to conflict management.

Restore gently is with the attitude of love and care, not being overly harsh and, especially, not allowing our anger and outrage to get the best of us. God did not express His anger and outrage to us or we would be space dust, rather He gave patience and grace. We are to reflect and replicate His way and not ours. The primary goal with any confrontation is the restoration of the individual, just as it is God’s will to restore us in our love relationship with Him. The goal is not the chastising; this is not a sport, but a serious manner where the person must be dealt with the motive and attitude of respect.

Our churches are riddled with conflict and we need to realize the frustration levels of the people we deal with. Most Christians can and will act in a very ungodly manner and, basically, bite the hand that feeds them. The forces that drive them are fear. Fear of change, fear of being wrong, fear of being embarrassed, and a fear of having no control. We need to see the root motives of others and ourselves in order to deal with the attitude and situations respectively. When we are ministering to those who are insecure and bring our own insecurities, then the proper attitudes will be cut off and our effectiveness will be mute. Our motives must not be self based but Christ based, so when we go into a conflict situation we can deal with it in a levelheaded attitude.

Our own motive must be in the restoration of God’s people from sin, not the work of the Holy Spirit, but our call of being constructive and providing solutions, not more strife. Our call is to extol people, that is to come along their side with comfort and help. We are to help each other grow in our relationships with God and each other. And with this motive in mind, sheepdog people on the right path when they veer off, as a loving parent does with a child. As a community of believers, we are responsible for each other, including the actions and deeds that we extol on to each other. We are also responsible to extol each other onto the right path. So conflict management is not a double barrel shotgun, but the love to extol and lift up each other. Conflict management must have the best interests in mind for the people involved as well as the church, and most importantly a driving force to glorify our Lord. We get ourselves into trouble when we try to be a savior/ super hero and ‘save the day,’ so we look good. Our focus is not just to look good, but lift up our Lord.

Be Prepared Spiritually

Before a leader or any Christian can be effective to extol each other, we ourselves must be prepared. Extol is defined when attributed to God as to give praise very highly, that goes beyond emotion and experience, but into a deep commitment and passion. Extol is also the ability to encourage and lift up someone beyond just to tolerate and put up with. So we need to extol as our Lord did for us and then extol to each other. We also need to extol with gentleness and firmness when we confront and encourage the person being confronted. Sometimes the person we confront is innocent, and we need to follow our Constitutional law of innocent until proven guilty, this is Biblical.

So when we confront someone, it must be to lift him or her up while pointing out the grievance and we have to be prepared mentally and spiritually to do this. This is why it is important that someone new to the faith, or someone not as mature, should not get involved in conflict management. Our preparation in any situation is our maturity in the Lord, and the knowledge of the situation, the person, and ourselves. We need to ask ourselves these questions so we can confront with the proper attitude and motive.

First, we must be willing to deal with conflict in a healthy manner and not hide ourselves from it. Are you willing to abide to the mandates of Scripture or are you too engrossed in your anger? If not, you cannot possibly be objective and listen. Are you yourself willing to admit your mistakes and sins, if not, how can you expect others to do so? Are you driven by God’s Word and not your own will so you can listen and be objective? Can you, as a person in Christ, handle change and growth where you have not been before? If not, how do you propose to handle others with encouragement and help where you have not been? Do you have the confidence to go against the peer pressure and expectation of others if they are not in alignment with God’s Word in order to stand up for truth? If not, you will not have the courage to extol to the level the person may need. Do you have the thick skin and tenacity to listen to self-criticism without it affecting your self-esteem? That is if someone accuses you falsely, can you stand up with confidence of who you are in Christ and not melt away? These characteristics must precede the conflict management process, if not, you will create an even bigger mess. Remember you cannot do the work of our Lord effectively until you are modeling His Character!

The good capable leader will be sensitive to the recognition of the seeds of conflict. That is the type of conflict that simmers below the public surface that we do not show until we are “fed up.” Such as people avoiding other people, with such comments like, “I just do not like Timmy” or “I am just not drawn to that person or personality.” Now it is unrealistic to expect everyone to like everyone else. As Christians, we will all end up in Heaven together, so we should get along, but we do not. There are tendencies for simple personality dislikes turning into eruptions, we should beware of them and have a plan to deal with them. When we have our radar screens up for conflict detection at its earliest, it will prevent blow-ups later.

A few years ago there was a story in the LA paper of a woman in Florida who won the lottery. She called her live-in boyfriend, told him the news and told him to pack. He responded, thinking they were going on a trip, “That’s great, what should I pack, for hot or cold weather?” The woman responded, “I don’t care as long as you are out before I come home!” Life is full of interpersonal storms. Either we are in a storm or we are leaving a storm, but one thing is clear, a storm is sure to be on the way! So how we deal with it will make the difference of a bump in the road or all out divorce.

The storms of life can be such a frustrating experience, but also a source of growth and maturity. But the crisis in and of themselves can be an opportunity or a danger, as the Chinese word for crisis expounds both the characters of danger and opportunity. They come into our life sometimes without a hint of warning, and other times it is our own miss planning and arrogance that gets in the way and creates the problem. We cannot avoid them, so we need to learn how to deal with crisis in a Biblical and mature manner. If not, the results can and will be devastating and un-repairable.

The pastor must beware of his leaders’ situation and the maturity level of their leadership. If the elders are not mature enough to handle a disagreement in a calm level and encouraging way, then they will just make the situation worse. Because in an unhealthy and immature church (which most churches fall into these days), a pastor or leader who confronts the wrong person of sin or any situation will find their bags packed and office vacant. I have seen this situation in church growth consulting over and over. The people who are supposed to suppress it in the first place blow a simple disagreement way out of proportion. Maturity is your key. The problem is most people think they are mature, but in fact they are not. Your template for finding your and the leaders maturity level is in Galatians 5. A pastor can survive having sinned greatly himself, such as infidelity, but they will not survive confronting a key money giver or key personality in the immature church. This is extremely unfortunate, and a lot of leg work needs to be done to disciple and help a church mature, or seek another call and wipe the dust off your feet.

To be a healthy church, we must have a plan of action on how to handle conflict. The ability to deal with conflict as it emerges will allow a church to stay healthy and vibrant. So it is my goal to show from Scripture a simple model of conflict management that can provide the foundation of understanding to create and implement this essential value in church leadership. It is the wise and mature church that can receive and give criticism as well as to have a written out Biblical plan to deal with it when it ventures off too far.

Principle Scriptures to How to Understand, Solve, and Prevent Conflict: Genesis 4; Psalm 37:4; Proverbs 3:4-6; 18:13; Matthew 5:9; 7:5; 15:18-20; 18: 15-20; Luke 6:27-36; 19:1-9; Romans 8:28-29; 1 Corinthians 6:1-8; 10:31-11:1; 13; Galatians 5; Ephesians 4:22-32; 5:1; Philippians 2:3-6; 4:2-9; Colossians 1:17-20; 3:12-17 James 4:1-3; 1 John 14:15

By Ray Johnson

1. There are specific, reasonable and attainable growth goals that have been developed. A pastor must see, believe it and work for it!
2. There is powerful Bible-based preaching and teaching, anointed singing, vibrant worship, fervent praying, and generous giving.
3. There is consistent visitation and follow-up on visitors.
4. The pastor recognizes and releases the gifts and callings among the congregation. These gifts include the gifts of teachers, helpers, prophecy, exhortation, ruling, etc.
5. The organization, coordination, and emphasis of the basic departments - Sunday School, Youth, Outreach, Music, New Convert Care - is always on soul-winning and discipleship.
6. The pastor works to have every member involved in the church in some capacity.
7. There is continual training and disciplining for all members and leaders throughout all the ministries.
8. The pastor and church has considered the importance of church location, parking, properties for expansion, and development of new buildings for growth.
9. There is good financial planning and money management with emphasis on giving.
10. The church has good community visibility, which includes not just the church building, but also the involvement of pastor and members in the community.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

For additional leadership resources, please visit the following links:

http://preachit.org/

http://pastoralhelps.com/

http://preachitaudio.com/

By James Smith

Get up before they get up.  If you are lazy and don’t get started on things until the last minute, your critics will have already accomplished an alternative less effective way of doing things.

Do your homework – Study the situation.  Don’t take other peoples word for it.  Research the problem and with God’s help, find the best solution.

You run the meetings – Never let anyone but you or someone you desire, to run a meeting.  If they take the platform, shut them down.  Don’t let them take over the meeting.  Never walk into a meeting without knowing the direction and result that the meeting will bring.

Know the trouble makers past – Find out what makes that person tick.  Why are they the way they are?  Knowing more about them will enable you to understand why they feel the way they feel about things and enable you to change them.

Share your vision with others before your critic gets the opportunity to share theirs. These are busy little people and they work hard at spreading their opinions.  Work harder!  Have coffee meetings where you tell others your dreams and vision.  Go to congregants homes unexpectedly (As your critics do.) and open your heart to them.

Be confident.  No one wants a sissy for a Pastor. (Sorry if that sounds demeaning, but I’ve seen some.)  Don’t be bullied.  Be strong.  Know your calling.  Walk tall.  Square your shoulders.  Lead!  People will follow.   You may lose some critics along the way, (Let them go!) but you will gain a congregation who will follow you into revival.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For additional leadership resources, please visit the following links:

http://preachit.org/

http://pastoralhelps.com/

http://preachitaudio.com/

By James Smith

Fear can and will keep many good leaders from becoming great leaders. Many mountain climbers have stood at the base camp of Mt. Everest, yet only a small percentage of them have had the courage it takes to actually climb to the top of that mountain.

Fear of the unknown. Fear of what people will say if we fail. Fear of the criticism along the way. Fear of being the only one saying “It can be done.” Fear of our vision being rejected by others.

Fear can kill our God given directive. It can suffocate our dream.

A position or office does not cause a person to become a leader. Though a person be chosen to Pastor a church, they are not truly a leader until they face their fears and actually lead that congregation into the places that God would want it to go. Being chosen to lead is easy. Actually leading is hard.

What defines a true visionary? Is it someone who has a lot of great ideas? Someone who sees the need for change, but never causes that change to take place? About 1 year ago I asked my wife to be very critical of me. I asked her to honestly tell me if I was someone who saw the things that needed to change and caused them to change or if I was someone who pointed out all the areas of needed change and did nothing. Her response though honest, was not what I wanted to hear.

I have determined, that if I am unable or unwilling to cause change in a given area, I will keep my mouth shut. Although I may see a need to change, I will say nothing, unless it is to spark a vision in another person who is capable of creating the needed change.

When I see another person or ministry who is successful, I go to them and find out how/why they are having success. I try to learn from them. Yet, I usually find that the reason they are having success is something I felt the Holy Spirit speaking to me about in the past. I get beat up pretty bad as I realize that God told me to do this same thing several years ago, only I lacked the courage to launch into it. You must admit with me that some of the more successful people around you are doing things that you yourself have considered, only they did it and you didn’t.

Our temptation is all too often to accept the status quo. We measure ourselves by ourselves. We determine that since we have increased by some percentage point, we are being successful. However we really need to begin measuring ourselves by God’s measuring tape. Does He view a church of 75 as a success when it sits in the middle of a 10,000 soul populace? Now if that church is less than 3 years old, it is truly a success. But if that church is 30 years old, that might be another story.

The status quo is safe. It’s comfortable. Accepting the status quo however will kill a church. Oh, it will still be there, but the vision and drive that it takes to win a community, will be forever lost unless the Pastor decides to face the enemies of change and even his own fears.

Presently I am watching several successful churches. I am following the steps they are taking to create and maintain the revival they are having in their city. What is interesting is that no two of them are doing the same thing. What’s causing their success is that they are doing things that are radical to the sideliners who question their motives, intents, and directives. In the face of great criticism from within and without, every one of these churches and their Pastor’s have decided it is better to fight and lose than sit on the sidelines and do nothing.

For a man to accept mediocrity or the status quo is to die. He may be living on the outside, but on the inside he is dead. His vision casting days are over. His ability to walk into the darkness and know that people are willing to follow him is gone. He is no longer a leader. He may have a position. He may be the boss, but he is no longer a leader of people. When a man finds that his ability to lead is over, it is time for him to prayerfully ask God for the courage to face his fears.

Moses, there is a Red sea waiting for you to split. Elijah, there is a Jordan river in front of you. Peter, go ahead and step out of the boat. David gather up your stones, your giant is going to fall. John, though they’ve boiled you in oil and sent you to die on Patmos, God now has a book he wants you to write.

Pastor, that congregation will follow you if you boldly step out in faith and do all that God is telling you to do. They have inwardly been waiting for you to lead them for years. That church bully is really saying to you, “Lead Me!”

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For additional leadership resources, please visit the following links:

http://preachit.org/

http://pastoralhelps.com/

http://preachitaudio.com/