Church revitalization seems more the rage as time goes on, partly because the topic has received more airplay than in previous decades. More and more churches need a turnaround, and the reality is that with inaction, there is a reaction, which is thousands of churches closing their doors each year. It can feel personal when people leave the church, and sometimes it is personally directed at the leader.
What should you do if you find yourself in a position where a key leader has left the church and laid the blame at your feet? You can flee, fight, or reconfigure your leadership. What would you choose?
Flee to a New Place.
Many who leave the church do so hoping to get away from the turmoil in the place where they used to find rest. However, they soon find peace will only come if they have addressed the underlying cause of the fallout.
The church should be a place where disagreements are resolved using biblical principles found throughout Scripture. But worldly ways have seeped into the church, and disputes are handled much like they are in the marketplace, which leaves all sides embittered. Opportunities to resolve the conflict through conversation, confession and Christ-love are missed. The church must grieve God in how it has acted.
Instead of fleeing, what if those who disagrees could set aside personal feelings and lean into the God-calling on their lives? Could God show up in a time of repentance and retreat from worldly ways? I imagine so, and through the tough, heart-filled conversations, Christ-centered love could begin to repair the broken relationship to keep the person in the church or at least enable them to leave the church with a more open heart to its leadership team.
Fleeing may not be the answer, but falling on one’s knees in open repentance to God for their part in the disagreement enables healing to begin in one’s heart.
Fight for Position in the Face of Pushback.
A long-term church member said to a pastor, “I was here before you came, and I will be here long after you leave.” The sentiments directed at the pastor were apparent and immediate. God, in that instance, was relegated to the passenger seat while the member drove the spiritual direction of the church.
The power plays between members and pastors are played countless times in churches weekly, with spiritually deadly consequences. The local church has two clear leadership models: lay-led and staff-led leadership. When these two leadership ideas clash, the church becomes bruised and battered. Who wins? No one.
The power in the church does not lie in the pastor or the layperson but in Christ. The Word of God has more power in a chapter of the Bible than a leader has in one sentence of a conversation. Why? Because God is the one in control of the local church. If the power equation is out of sync with biblical principles, then the pastor and church members must find a way back from their power grab and recenter their spirits back on why the church exists in the first place.
The church is to glorify God, and that includes words as much as actions and deeds. Through prayer, biblical direction, and obedience to God, the relationship between the pastor and lay leader can be restored if both sides surrender their will for God’s will.
Reconfigure Your Leadership.
In every walk of life, there are times of disagreement. In the workplace, you can leave work and go home. On the other hand, you can go to work from home. But in the spiritual realm, it affects every aspect of your life. The relationship between a person and God is sacred. When members of the same church or denomination clash over their interpretation of Scripture and guidance, they banish God and harm their witness as a church to the general population. We see this played out on social media daily, where Christians attack each other and harm those watching on from their devices. God is calling the local church and its leaders to reconfigure their preferences for a leadership continuum that challenges the status quo and elevates humility above personalities.
As the church revitalizer faces forces against their leadership calling, they must either elevate the problem or their leadership. The desire of any leader should be to lower the conflict by honoring the calling in their life, supporting others, and developing a team of lay leaders who have an outward focus to reach the lost with the gospel of Christ. The goal of a leader should not be to win an argument but to win souls. It will take a leadership configuration, a mind shift, especially, to see that every disagreement is not a fight and that faith in the system is as essential as faith in following God.
Instead of leaving a church hurt, individuals can find a way forward that enhances their spiritual growth and enables a closer relationship with God.