I am preparing to speak here and here during the next few weeks—and in my prep time I have discovered that I have a ton to say…so it has inspired this post. I have the privilege of getting to meet with lots of other pastors…and I love hearing about all that God is doing.
However, I hear my share of complaints; in fact, I would say that 85% of the complaints fall within one of the following…here we go:
#1 - “My People Won’t Get Behind The Vision.”
This, in my opinion is really simple—either you have the wrong people around you OR you don’t have a vision worth following.
Let me be clear about a few things…
- The vision has to be strong
- The people have to buy into your leadership
- Your key people must have a heart for Jesus & not be self seeking
- You MUST talk about the vision on a regular basis
- You MUST hold people accountable (staff and volunteers) when they compromise the vision
(By the way…that last one is where many pastors drop the ball, they are afraid of tough conversations and do not realize that God has called them to lead the church and not to make people happy!)
#2 - “We Don’t Have Enough Money!”
If I hear one more pastor say this I am going to throw up—ON THEM!
Money will ALWAYS be a challenge—ALWAYS! Big vision requires big dollars…and I would say that if your back has never been against the wall financially then your vision isn’t worth anything!
Here are some questions I always ask regarding this…
- Are you teaching on a regular basis about money? (Many will not because of fear—BE A MAN…teach the Bible!!!)
- Are you showing your people from Scripture how to live a life of financial freedom? (Most people are in debt and would actually LOVE to give…but they feel like they can’t! Show them in Scripture what God says about money!!!)
- Do you provide some sort of resource for the people who attend your church that will assist them with their debt driven desires?
- Are you willing to go for the ASK? To share vision and then challenge people to give?
One more thing—STOP USING MONEY AS AN EXCUSE AS TO WHY YOU ARE NOT GROWING!!! I remember just a few years ago not being able to sleep because we agreed to pay $750 a month to lease office space!!! BUT…we grew…and you can to!!!
#3 - “Some People Are Upset At…(Fill In The Blank.)”
If you are doing ministry according to God’s vision—people are GOING to get upset. Just look at Scripture…Moses upset people, David upset people—JESUS upset people…so don’t sweat it.
We have literally had people say that they will never come back to NewSpring because I have publicly said that I do not like cats! Seriously…
How do I feel about that? Well…I still hate cats!!!
If you begin to try to evaluate everything you do and say through the grid of whether or not it might upset someone…you will drive yourself CRAZY!!!
Be who God called you to be…and do what God has called you to do…and when people get upset, well, that’s life. Your job is NOT to please the crowd…it is to honor God and to make the name of Jesus famous…THAT IS OUR MISSION!
More about this tomorrow…