shepheridingNote to self: Leading my ministry works best when leading myself and leading my family are in harmony.

Leading in ministry is much more than being the face and mouthpiece on the platform. It’s the minutia that really matters. These little details can make or break our ministries. For many in ministry, spending time with people and really caring for their needs comes naturally. However, you don’t have to be in the local church long to realize that this thing is a machine. It’s full of moving parts and expectations (some verbalized and others not), and it never shuts down. If we are going to lead for the long haul, we must learn to focus on what really matters.

Integrity Really Matters.

If we lose our integrity, we will lose our ability to impact people…and ultimately our ministries. It’s a healthy practice to regularly ask ourselves, and have others ask us, the tough questions. Questions like: Why are we doing what we are doing?  What are our motives? Ministry is not a ‘punching the clock’ type of job and if we are not careful, we may find ourselves taking advantage of the freedom that exists. Don’t get me wrong.  When you need to spend time with your spouse and kids, do it and do it well. But when it’s time to work, work hard. Serve hard.

What we do matters and while we never quite feel like we are done, it’s a good feeling if we can lay our heads down at night knowing that we worked hard—under the leadership of the Holy Spirit—to reach people with the Gospel and bring them into our faith family. As our lead pastor, Jimmy Scroggins, likes to say, “A clear conscience makes for a soft pillow.” There is no room in ministry for cutting corners on our integrity’s dime. The end, if you will, doesn’t always justify the means.

People Really Matter.

Someone once joked that ministry would be a lot easier if it wasn’t for all the people.  We all get it. Apparently God allows certain people into our lives for our own sanctification. But we have to remember that people are our ministry.  There are people above us, below us, and beside us and we have to lead in each of these areas. 

Do the people above us know that we appreciate them and value the vision they have laid out? Do they know that we are team players and will do anything short of sin to make sure that we help move the ball down the field? 

Do the people who report to us know that we love and appreciate them as well? Have we made a conscious effort to reach out to them, to see if there is anything we can do to better serve them? People who serve on our teams, whether they are paid or volunteer, are not our property. They should feel greatly valued and respected. One of the things our team does is to call one volunteer each day just to check on him/her and say thanks. It only takes about three minutes, but it builds relational capital that’s difficult to quantify. A simple phone call, text message, or snail mail card goes a long way with most people. 

Sometimes we act like our jobs are harder than any other job in the world. And while our calling and ministry have their challenges, we can’t forget that most of the people in our churches work all week and then come to church to serve alongside us. We all need a little encouragement at times.

Details Really Matter.

This is the one that gets me! I’m a big picture kind of guy. I wish I was more of a nuts and bolts kind of guy, but that’s not how God wired me. I’m fairly certain that I wouldn’t make it without a terrific ministry assistant. She saves my bacon more that I care to share. When someone wants to make an appointment with me, I have to calendar it right then and there. If not, I will forget and potentially damage that relationship.

I remember how I used to wonder what my pastor and youth pastor did when people weren’t at church.  Did they work at a desk or did they just play ping pong or shoot baskets all day?  I had no idea how many demands there are on a pastor’s time before filling this role.

Each Sunday happens because a small army of people are doing everything they can to make sure every detail is addressed before people show up. The difficulty is in finding a way not to allow the details to keep you from people, or vice versa. Hoping that things will happen organically is not going to be good enough long term. We must be diligent about getting done what needs to be done when it needs to be done. And we can’t try to do everything by ourselves.  We have to recruit, train, and then turn people loose to serve. We have to trust that maybe, just maybe, there are people around us who might be equipped to do it even better than we can.  I know—shocking, right?

I’d love to hear from you. How do you lead yourself in your walk with Jesus, lead your family, and lead your ministry?  Let’s always remember that this is a calling. Let’s always choose to lead from our knees in a posture of prayer. And let’s always choose to trust Jesus to show us the next step as we attempt to impact this culture with the Gospel.