There they go again, like lightning right past me as I'm driving down the freeway. My mind quickly turns to the idea, I hope there is a highway patrol that catches them. It is a situation that I have felt a hundred times and only seen come to fruition once or maybe twice. As I'm driving the speed limit and obeying the rules I have no power or control to make others do the same. Therefore I am looking for a higher authority to take care of the rule breaker. I desire for that authority to exact punishment upon the rule breaker or the trouble maker. In my human mind a deserved punishment is retribution. And what is convicting is that my retribution becomes more important than anything else.
In church it seems there is so much talk about grace that when something goes wrong (and it will) the wrongdoers are never found guilty. They are never held accountable. They make a mess of the church and then are able to slink back into the fold without as much as even a word. In fact I have seen where members of a church stir up trouble, create havoc for the leadership and staff and those that were innocent in the entire mess are the ones who take the fall. Leaders resign, staff are fired. This happens in the world too, where leaders or most-likely mid-managers will end up taking a fall for someone else's mistake. The action of trying to resolve a situation actually takes precedence over trying to figure out what the truth is in that situation. The world stands guilty of this and so does the church. It seem too many times that peace (read: absence of conflict) becomes the powerbroker for church leaders, rather than truth. As a friend of mine in ministry says, "When you are fixated on keeping the peace, you lose your mission." God did not call us to a life where conflict doesn't exist. Nor did He call us to find the easiest way possible to follow Him. God desires for us to keep his mission and deal with conflicts in healthy ways, pointing people to scripture, to God, to one another, and to reconciliation.
Leaders should never allow their retribution overcome their love and direction from God.
Leaders should never allow a false idea of love, mercy, and grace to overcome the need for accountability and spiritual direction.
Church leaders such as elders, staff, deacons, board members, committee leaders, have a large task in front of them. If the church chooses leaders, they must choose wisely. Those leaders must also depend upon prayer, God's wisdom, and God's word.
It is a difficult calling, but one God has entrusted to many.
Allow God to lead first!
In church it seems there is so much talk about grace that when something goes wrong (and it will) the wrongdoers are never found guilty. They are never held accountable. They make a mess of the church and then are able to slink back into the fold without as much as even a word. In fact I have seen where members of a church stir up trouble, create havoc for the leadership and staff and those that were innocent in the entire mess are the ones who take the fall. Leaders resign, staff are fired. This happens in the world too, where leaders or most-likely mid-managers will end up taking a fall for someone else's mistake. The action of trying to resolve a situation actually takes precedence over trying to figure out what the truth is in that situation. The world stands guilty of this and so does the church. It seem too many times that peace (read: absence of conflict) becomes the powerbroker for church leaders, rather than truth. As a friend of mine in ministry says, "When you are fixated on keeping the peace, you lose your mission." God did not call us to a life where conflict doesn't exist. Nor did He call us to find the easiest way possible to follow Him. God desires for us to keep his mission and deal with conflicts in healthy ways, pointing people to scripture, to God, to one another, and to reconciliation.
Leaders should never allow their retribution overcome their love and direction from God.
Leaders should never allow a false idea of love, mercy, and grace to overcome the need for accountability and spiritual direction.
Church leaders such as elders, staff, deacons, board members, committee leaders, have a large task in front of them. If the church chooses leaders, they must choose wisely. Those leaders must also depend upon prayer, God's wisdom, and God's word.
It is a difficult calling, but one God has entrusted to many.
Allow God to lead first!
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