Confrontation IS going to happen if a church/organization is going to achieve its maximum potential. I recently heard Craig Groeschel say, “Sometimes the difference between where you are and where God wants you to be is the pain you are unwilling to endure.”
Confrontation is NOT easy or enjoyable for anyone (unless they are SICK!) And every leader is going to be on the giving and receiving end of confrontation. I was thinking about confrontation the other day and listed out three types of people when it comes to it…
#1 - The “Yes Sir/Yes Ma’am” Person - This is the type of person receives the correction that comes along with confrontation and allows it to make them better instead of bitter. They have a teachable approach to whatever is being spoken to them about and understand what the Scripture says in Proverbs 27:6, that wounds from a friend can be trusted!!!
(By the way…RELATIONSHIP is SO important in confrontation. The closer you are to a person very often the harder it is to confront them…but the more likely the other person will listen to you because they trust you!)
#2 - The “Yeah, But…” Person - This person cannot receive any sort of correction/confrontation. Nothing is EVER their fault. It’s either the person confronting just doesn’t understand…or, they are very quick to either throw someone under the bus or simply blame circumstances. There often are unforeseen circumstances that happen; however, when a person NEVER accepts responsibility and is always seeking to blame someone or something else then the problem is not with circumstances but rather with their character.
#3 - The “Yeah, Whatever” Person - This person simply does not care about the confrontation, most often because they perceive themselves to be smarter than the one confronting them and/or they are simply working a job and do not actually care about the responsibility they have been given stewardship over. I hate to say this…but this person is impossible to lead because while you can hire head knowledge you cannot hire heart!!! A “yeah, whatever” person cannot be allowed to continue to lead something that everyone else agrees is important, especially in church world!