You only have 168 hours in a week to get things done. If you’re going to lead a turnaround church, you’ll need at least twice that many hours just to get things moving in the right direction! Well, a bit of an overstatement for the sake of illustration, but not by much!
The point is, if you’re going to lead that church off the plateau, or pull it out of that death spiral, you have to stop doing some things. If you don’t, you’re going to crash and burn—emotionally, spiritually and physically.
Stop…
1. Believing critics.
They don’t have your well-being in mind, so why listen to them?
2. Trying to please everyone.
You can’t. Plus, that’s not the job anyhow, so why bother?
3. Listening to fans.
They won’t tell you the hard truths you need to hear.
4. Skimping sermon prep.
Apart from the Bible, you don’t have anything worth saying.
5. Wondering if there’s hope for this church.
As long as Jesus is at work, there’s hope. The trick is to join him in his work instead of trying to get him to do yours.
6. Imitating rock star pastors.
Imitate Christ and be yourself. You’re the one Jesus gave to that church. He has his reasons.
7. Ignoring the numbers.
The only people who don’t like looking at the numbers are those who know they point to failure.
8. Avoiding conflict.
Church conflict is like rotting fruit—it won’t improve with age. Leaders wade in sooner rather than later.
9. Letting your skills rust.
God entrusted a stewardship to you, so make the most of it.
10. Wanting to be liked.
If you’re serving your own ego needs, you are an idolator.
So, if you’re doing any of these things, stop it!
