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MINISTERIAL WARS

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MINISTERIAL WARS

Advice on Ministerial Wars

Ministry wars are inevitable. Therefore, the pastor must know the difference between a breeze and a tornado. The pastor who is insecure and suspicious of everyone will constantly be plagued by fears and doubt.

If you believe a matter requires confrontation or a war, contact older pastors in whom you have confidence and seek their counsel and advice. If you have mature and trusted men in your church, it may be helpful to seek their guidance. Regardless of the decision, you must stand up to the challenge and accept the outcome.

Most problems are power struggle or frustrated ambition on the part of some member. Your problems will most likely come from someone who is close to you. That is, a staff member, a deacon, a treasure, a music director or their wives. These people usually get offended because of a policy decision you have made or over budget allocations.

In order to minimize ministerial wars, communicate clearly and lovingly with your congregation. Be transparent in money matters. Give people more information than they need. Remember, people in the dark tend to be more suspicious and will believe the gossip mongers. Silence them, if you can, with light.

You should show humility, but never show weakness. A church that will not change, will not grow. Be slow to make changes and expect to lose some people when you do. The pastor should not seek war or start them. But, he must be alert to the fact that the devil uses wicked men and women to hinder or destroy his ministry. Therefore, get all the advice and help available to you; spend much time in prayer and when the war is over, move forward in victory to build a greater ministry for Christ!

I recommend to every pastor and church worker a book by Marshall, Shelley titled, Well Intentioned Dragons. You can purchase it at Amazon.com

THE WRECKING CREW

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Critics in the Church.

By Ken Blue.

critics in the church

Every church has critics in the church.  They are like members of a demolition crew. These men/women cannot be detected by steel toed shoes or by hard hats. Most of them wear suits and ties, and have just the perfect hair cut. They will also be seen with their Bible and may sit in the “amen” section.

One of the ways you can detect them is by asking yourself, “What positive thing have they done for the ministry?” The answer, in most cases, will be “nothing.” They act big, talk loud and love attention, but are the first to give the pastor problems.

What is the “ball and chain” they use to wreck a church and its ministries? The first and most lethal is that of gossip. For this to happen, certain people must spend lots of time together without the pastor or staff present. There will always be a “foreman,” but it will be hard to identify him at first. Usually, a select family or more will be invited to their home for fellowship, prayer, and Bible study. This is done without the Pastors knowledge or approval.

You can never stop people from gossip. The best remedy is to preach a few sermons on it, and emphasize from the pulpit the positive things God is doing in the church. As a last resort, it may be needful to call the leader in and confront him about it. Be sure to have one or more staff or deacons present.

Another action that will hinder or demolish your teaching, is for some family or families to have their favorite pastor, evangelist or Bible teacher who is not connected with your church in any manner. You cannot pastor those who put their favorite teacher ahead of you, and are checking your teaching by what their “guru” teaches. One fellow who was reading my books said he checked by the writings of Dr._____.The only way to deal with this team is meet them head on and put a stop to their actions. If they are unwilling to do that, ask them to leave. Again, always have staff and deacons present when dealing with these problems.

A third wrecking crew is those who do not give, or they designate their money to their favorite missionary or ministry. If you have too much money designated, you cannot pay the needed expenses. Do not ask people to designate unless you have a specific project. However, ask them to give it above their tithe. Explain the problem designated monies cause. Most people will understand and work with you. However, there are those who never will cooperate. What should you do? Either return their money, or use it for their designated purpose.

Another area the wrecking crew loves to work on is the finances. The best way to handle this problem is to work with your deacons and one other person who is skilled in finances and develop a budget. Have everyone involved to sign a cover page indicating his or her involvement and approval. The cover page should be attached to the budget with information how it was compiled. Add a paragraph stating that anyone having a question about the budget may go to the deacons. Tell them to not to come to the pastor or staff. Also, state that the budget will not be discussed at any meeting. It will be voted on and approved or disapproved. This procedure disarms those who are seeking status and want to cause trouble. Make the budget and the cover page available 30 days prior to the vote.

The final area the wrecking crews seek to work is in the setting of policies. Remember, those who control the budget and policies, control the church. Policies should be finalized and approved by the pastor. If necessary, this procedure could be formalized in the same manner as the budget.

Be aware, that Jesus, the Twelve, and the Apostle Paul could not escape their critics, neither can you. All you can do is head off as many as you can, and ask God for wisdom. Every church has its wrecking crew; try not to provide equipment for them.

(THREE NEW SONGS)

 

 

A LITTLE BIRD TOLD IT

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A LITTLE BIRD TOLD IT

 little birdBy Ken Blue

“…A bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.” Ecc. 10:20.

There’s no lack of little birds these days waiting to wing the message to willy and willing ears. That ought to put the fear of God in us when tempted to gossip. Rest assured you will be quoted no matter where you are or what you say. Remember, your best friend also has a best friend who also has a best friend and on and on it goes.

There is also a warning to those of you who are eager to hear the latest gossip. You need to be certain when a little bird delivers some juicy tittle-tattle, it wasn’t a cuckoo bird you were entertaining.  You wouldn’t want to destroy someone’s life and reputation by listening to a cuckoo, would you?