Church Leadership

NEVER CONFUSE A MANAGER WITH A LEADER

I’ve never managed a thing in my life—my money, my underwear drawer, my missing socks, my toenails…nope, definitely NOT a manager…never have been.  Neither has my wife—she leads with vigor, intellect, and enthusiasm.  When I got promoted to Colonel they told me “do no harm,” “make no waves,” just manage the status quo.  SISSIES.  Managers maintain things.  As a pastor I have tons of things to maintain… structure, cleanliness, lawn care, overhead, etc., but that isn’t what God called me to do.  As leader, I am required to make and enforce change for the better.  Managers from the pulpit follow the policies of the church board and their contract, or the old hens in the congregation complain, “this is how we have always done it,” whereas leaders create policy.  For me, I follow the Scripture and God first and foremost AND SO DOES MY WIFE!  God’s policy, NOT mine!!!  Managers keep ritual and tradition, whereas leaders break it!  Managers in the corporate church focus on the bottom line, but to lead a church and any other industry I have been a part of, I focus on the horizon—which amazingly equates helping people get to Heaven and encourage everyone along the way.  Managers want to focus on doing things the right or cool trendy way, whereas my goal has always been focused on doing the right thing. 

If I “managed” my congregation, they will never grow spiritually.  If the pastor is a manager, the church is stuck, just treading water, guilt-paying your tithes and taking communion out of ritual—just managing the church calendar.  Managers rarely expand anything—they just follow so many manmade rituals and rules for comfort.

If I “managed” my house, Michelle and I would be stuck in mundane nothingness.  Quite frankly, I don’t think that pretty, immensely industrious, and brilliant lithe thing would dig me if I were boring—I sure am not handsome by any stretch of the imagination—remember, when ugly where cool shoes as it diverts the eyes.  Throughout my career in the military, my greatest disdain was for those generals who tried to manage me instead of lead me.  Leaders respect leaders, even though they may not always agree, at least we respected them for being stand-up leaders who were willing to take the risk in the face of adversity.  Like Joshua, for me and my house, we WILL serve the Lord.  Leadership.

Leaders don’t TOLERATE anything.  This word TOLERANCE is like a loaded gun in the hands of a child.  Remember, whatever you tolerate, you will never change.  Society lacks leadership because everyone is expected to tolerate anything and everything.  We have disrespected Jesus so much that people actually believe He tolerated and tolerates sin simply because we do.  Toleration is the graveyard of leaders and hell is their future eternity.

I think Orwell and interestingly Nietzsche really did a deep dive on our current virtue signaling psychosis, as well as within Christianity, in that if we are such cowards to bend the knee to sin, false politics, false theology from the pulpit, it all chips away at the foundation that God created in mankind.  Suddenly, as we see today, being cowardly is a virtue as society becomes more and more a slave to immorality.  Only the brave venture out alone and unafraid, whereas the cowards of the horde mentality rely so heavily on group think and find double speak to be some sort of irrational truth.  Politicians, theologians, and the media speak to tolerance as managers of our UN-free will, when God’s design was self will centered on Him and guidance for us in our lives.  Think about it.

Remember, the larger this progressive left liberal mob becomes in society as well as the church, they all become useful unintellectual idiots, the truth becomes a lie, and that very same lie becomes the political party and/or religion.  Tolerance is NEVER leadership.