Some of the most successful companies in the world are extremely picky about whom they hire. We understand this. Google wouldn’t be what it is if it weren’t for the incredible intentionality to create its culture, from the time it was very small. The same is true for Nike, Starbucks or Buffer (which I wrote about the other day).
And yet, somehow, when it comes to talking about churches, it’s really difficult for us to admit that it matters a great deal whom we hire.
If we want to reflect the nature of Jesus, we must be more picky about whom we hire.
To be clear, what I’m not talking about is only bringing in people with fancy degrees from expensive institutions, or posturing ourselves in a way that doesn’t allow us to look beyond past mistakes. But I am talking about a careful curation of God-honoring, God-gifted, God-reflecting people. If we don’t do this well in our churches, our churches will not reach their God-given potential.
I’ve written before about how difficult it is for pastors to to be a part of the hiring process (if only because they tend to feel overly hopeful about every candidate). I also wrote the other day about the culture of Buffer, and what it can teach us, as pastors, about creating a thriving culture for our churches.
I’ll share the list here, in case you missed the first post:
1. Always choose positivity and happiness.
2. Default to transparency.
3. Have a focus on self-improvement.
4. Be a “no ego” doer.
5. Listen first, then listen more.
6. Have a bias toward clarity.
7. Make time to reflect.
8. Live smarter, not harder.
9. Show gratitude.
The reason I share this list again, and the reason I’m writing this post in general, is that I want to share a few things that I think will help us get over the mentality that we can be haphazard or careless about who we hire in our churches—or that we have a burden to hire those who don’t fit within our mission and vision.
First of all, notice something about this list.
