The life of a church leader is definitely full of lots of Ups and Downs.
Disasters, followed by great news, followed by heart-break, followed by a moment with God, followed by somebody sharing a win…
There’s nothing quite like leading a church, is there? (Can I get an AMEN?)
Here at Faith Teams, we genuinely care about church leaders. We understand the crazy life you live, and how easy it is for our minds to get filled up with all kinds of things. But we also understand that there are some things that are so important that they have to stay “front-of-mind” for us.
So in this post, we wanted to give you:
6 Things to REMEMBER as a Church Leader.
1. Focus on Progress, not Perfection
If you’re a church leader, you’re probably the type of person who wants things to be done right.
Nothing wrong with that.
But we have to guard ourselves mentally against the expectation of perfection. The enemy will use our drive for excellence against us. He will cause us to be consumed with noticing flaws, failures, and short-comings.
Excellence should be one of our Core Values, but the goal for ourselves, our leaders and teams is PROGRESS, not Perfection.
Notice Progress. Celebrate Progress. Talk about Progress. Reward Progress.
When you do, you’ll continue to see Progress.
2. You have to Rest and Re-Charge
Since church leadership is a simple 30 or 40-hour/week job and it isn’t really very stressful, you should be fine with a vacation once every couple years. You’re good. No Problem.
Seriously, leading a church takes so much out of you. You’re constantly pouring out, giving to others, spending your energy, and building up people.
This is simple. If you don’t recharge, you won’t be what you need to be.
The temptation is to believe that you can just keep powering through, never take a break, and keep producing. But as a leader, you have to be smarter than that. You can’t get deceived like that. This is a tactic of the enemy to cause you to be less effective long-term.
God rested in the phase of creation. Jesus Christ rested during the time of His ministry here on Earth. Are we really better than those examples? Of course not.
Here’s the challenge to you: Mark times on your calendar where you and your spouse can get away. At the minimum, you need this every 3 months. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. Just be intentional about Rest and Recharging.
Super Pro Tip: Ask and empower your spouse to holding you accountable to this habit. : )
3. You can’t let yourself become Isolated.
Isolation is a favorite “sneak-attack” of the enemy, especially in the lives of church leaders. If he can get you into a place of isolation, he can do so much more damage to you and your ministry.
The reason we call it a “sneak-attack” is because most of us know this concept, but if we aren’t intentional, we will “DRIFT” into a place where we aren’t doing life WITH people.
Of course, the scary part as a church leader is TRUST. We’ve all been hurt or betrayed by somebody, and it’s a legitimate concern. But, just because we’ve been hurt before doesn’t mean we shouldn’t trust again. God intends for us (yes, even us as church leaders) to have close connections and relationships with people that we can lean on, open up to, share our struggles with, and pray with about personal issues.
This is not only for you as an individual, but as you open yourself up to those relationships, you’re also setting the example for your spouse and kids to do the same.
Here’s the challenge to you: Take a look and see where you are personally. Are you investing in personal relationships? Are you allowing God to develop your Inner-circle? Are you a little fearful, and hiding from relationships. If this area needs work, pray for strength to be able to take steps in this area. And, pray for God’s direction and discernment as you take those steps, that He would bring the right people, and give you courage to be vulnerable with the right “select” people.
4. Building a Team around you is the best thing you can do.
You may already have a strong team around you, or maybe you’re leading a smaller church, church plant, or beginning a new department.
No matter what situation you’re in, Building a Team around you is the BEST plan.
The temptation is to do everything on your own, but building a strong team will allow you to grow your church and expand your ministry long-term.
Yes, the tasks have to get done – I get it. But, doing tasks will eat up all your time, and you’ll be left standing in the same place 4 months from now if you don’t build a TEAM around you.
- Spend time with PEOPLE
- Lots of coffee meetings to talk
- Share your vision
- Dream together
- Listen to their ideas
- Watch for God to show you people who are “right”
- Notice Loyalty over almost everything else
> > > For more on this one, check out this article on Building up Leaders.
5. Your Family is way more important than your ministry. (It’s not even close)
One of the biggest “pot-holes” church leaders hit is their family relationships.
This point isn’t meant to make any of us feel bad, but to genuinely challenge us all to keep our families at the TOP of our priority list.
We want to. We intend to. But as a church leader, it’s so easy to let other things slip to the front of the line.
- So many things to be done.
- So many people that need attention and help.
- So many tasks to complete.
- So many sermons or lessons to prepare for.
- So many meetings to plan and attend.
- So many lunches.
- So many upset people.
- So many conflicts that you need to step in and help with.
- So many teams that need to be inspired.
- So many, So many, So many….
And as important and URGENT as all of these things seem, NONE of them are anywhere Close to as important as the relationship you should have with your family.
The trap we can get caught in is that our families are SO Understanding!
Family – Faith Teams Church Software
- They love us.
- They believe in us.
- They’re patient with us.
- They understand that church leadership isn’t a 40-hour/week gig.
- They give us a pass when we’re late for supper.
- They even understand when we aren’t fully “present” once in a while.
- They’re so understanding, and if we’re not watchful, we’ll let things get out of balance, and our families will end up getting the scraps instead of the best of us.
There’s a sacrifice that goes with the territory of being a church leader, but it doesn’t have to be out-of-control. It IS possible to keep our families first.
Take a look at your schedule, and challenge yourself on this if you need to. Make sure there’s a shut-down time. Make sure there are date nights, fun days, water parks, walks, hikes, suppers at the table and conversations. And pray that God will help you be THERE when you are.
6. Leading a church is Hard. You need Supernatural help.
Being in the church management software space, we get to connect with so many incredible leaders.
So many Pastors, Worship Leaders, Children’s Ministry Directors, and Church Administrators… So many church leaders who are doing an AMAZING job. We are constantly encouraged by the stories of great churches everywhere.
And you guys are so creative! Just this week, we heard from a church using the guest follow-up and church texting features in our software in ways that we’ve never even thought of.
You guys are Awesome, and you’re so capable of doing great things in the kingdom of God.
But, no matter how good you are – Leading a church is hard at times.
Things can get heavy, and we can even find ourselves in places where we don’t know what to do, or how something is going to work out.
Please Remember: God’s with you. His Strength is enough. His Mercy is enough. And even when it seems heavy, He can show up in a Supernatural way and provide exactly what you need.
Don’t forget to DEPEND on HIM. We need His Power working for us. We have to have FAITH in God to open doors, close doors, bring answers, reveal truths, give us discernment, and a whole lot more.
Lean on Him. Trust in HIS Supernatural Strength, and He’ll be faithful to you and your family.
