Leading a church is difficult. It’s made even more difficult when everyone on the team is not on the same page. If you’re smart, you do your best to make sure all discussions and debates happen behind closed doors with the appropriate leaders and that everyone understands why you’re making certain decisions and the strategy behind it. Once a decision is made, it’s your job to own it, whether you agree with it or not. Not owning it is the fastest way to destroy a team.
I haven’t always got this right, but I learned really quickly that in order to be united as a church I had to stand behind the pastor’s decisions.
That means sometimes I have to support decisions that I don’t like.
It means sometimes I may not like how those decisions impact my volunteers and church.
And it means sometimes I have to come off as the bad guy even though it’s not my fault.
It would be a lot easier for me to just pass the blame onto the pastor, or the board, or whoever is responsible for making the decisions. It would make me look better, and I could avoid any backlash or confrontation. But it also would destroy the unity in the church.
Part of my job is to protect my pastor and my church. If I’m not willing to deal with difficult issues and own the decision that was made, I’m not doing my job.
The same goes for you. It doesn’t matter if you’re on a church staff or if you’re a volunteer. You need to own the decisions the leadership makes in your church. If you can’t do that, you need to find a new church to attend.
If you’re a lead pastor reading this and you have someone on your team who refuses to own decisions and is always throwing you under the bus, you need to confront them. If you don’t, they’re going to keep you stressed out. Ask them to straighten up, and if they don’t, ask them to leave. It’s that important.
Have you ever had to deal with this issue? How did you handle it? Let us know by leaving a comment below. If you found this post helpful, would you do me a favor and share it with another pastor or church leader? Let’s work together to strengthen small town pastors around the world.
