Defining Reality
1. Help people grieve.
In a season of loss, if leaders run past the pain out of eagerness to get to vision then they are being tone-deaf. People are hurting and providing time and moments where the team can process what has happened and what they are grieving is a way to serve the team well.
2. Be honest about the context.
If leaders are not honest about their challenging context then they lose the most essential attribute of leadership – credibility. Being honest about the context may include helping people understand strong statements and the implications of those statements. Statements such as “We are now a start-up” or “Every one of our jobs has completely changed” are true in many contexts. To the level that an organization’s or church’s strategy has been altered is the level that people’s jobs have also been altered.
3. Remind people of the Lord’s character.
The Lord is faithful. He has always kept His people and He will keep us. As we complain and struggle, we must be like David in Psalm 142 and not like the Israelites who died in the desert because they questioned the Lord’s goodness.
Giving Hope
1. Jesus will build His Church.
The Lord always keeps His promises and the gates of Hades will not be able to overcome what the Lord is building. And we are part of His Church. Organizations will come and go but the Lord’s Church will endure.
2. Crisis is when the Church has historically advanced.
Not only does the Lord promise to keep us, but challenging times have historically provided Christians opportunities to serve people in the name of Jesus. Jesus has built His Church for these moments.
3. We will make the best use of everything.
Making the best use of everything means using the tools we have and taking advantage of the moments we have been given. It means playing offense and not playing defense. The phrase “best use of everything” comes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He wrote, “I believe that God can and will bring good out of evil, even out of the greatest evil. For that purpose, he needs (or desires) people who make the best use of everything.” While Bonhoeffer was in prison, he wrote theology, encouraging letters, and shared the gospel with guards. He took a very challenging time and “made the best use of everything.”
This article originally appeared here.
