Common Sense in York, PA

Church Leadership

Written in mid-1998. For the first time in more than eight years I find myself not in any official role in Christian Leadership and yet I find myself leading in many ways. It is an interesting feeling, one of relief from the responsibility and one of almost loss, not having many of the opportunities to minister that we once had. To give you an idea where I am coming from, I’ll give you some background. As you read you will find me sometimes refer to "I" meaning myself and "we" meaning my wife and I together. My wife and I have been active in the work of the church for all but about a very few years in our lives. The first two years of our marriage we did little, they were ones of seeking. The year after moving to Morton IL and the year after we moved back to York PA were also exceptions, we were in transition, but the others were one of more than involvement, most were years of commitment. We didn’t know any other way, we learned commitment to Christ and his work from our parents, neither of us really knew otherwise, and we have had a hard time with any other mode. I came from a Pentecostal background, Dee from a United Brethern. But our parents both knew Christ and knew a devotion to him that was passed on to us. Ironically, several of our siblings somehow missed this. They are at this time not actively following Christ.

My parents helped build two churches, physically and spiritually in the forties and fifties. One church was over twenty five miles from home, my dad spent night after night there laying blocks, wiring, plumbing and doing carpentry work to build the building. And during the several years prior we helped with setting the tent that served the congregation from April to November and in finding houses to meet in over the winter. For a while we met in a house that was under construction, the owner did not have the finances to continue work so the structure with few inside walls was a boon.

We followed the ministries of men like Oral Roberts and Clifton Erickson. We helped them set tents and men like Bob Steele, the head of Oral’s ground crew became one of my heroes. This man could set a tent, drive a truck, fix a crane and during the meetings was a man of God who prayed and God heard and answered his prayers. I knew him personally, I worked for him several times and there are few men who have walked the face of this earth that I respect more but there are two more that are certainly peers. One I would put with him was Bob Dewees, the associate to Oral. This fine man of God did most of the non-physical tasks to keep the meetings going, in addition to teaching and praying for the sick in the afternoon meetings. This man showed Godly humility, and was a powerful man of God. Oral would never have been successful without men of this caliber behind him and with him. Clifton Erickson had a tent about one eighth the size, he was not as well known, but if Oral was Peter, the miracle worker and proclaimer of the word, Clifton was the Apostle John, the man of strength and love. I grew up with this legacy.

Dee and I married in late 1967 and went to church on occasion for two years. In 1969 Dee’s mother got sick and to say thanks we visited a church that helped her. On the way home, actually coming up the hill to Fayetteville I looked over at her and asked, "You know what we need to do." She responded, "Yes, but I don’t know how." And thus began ten and one half years of travel to and from a church, fifty miles from our home, where we were fed and we were able to minister. We made three services almost every week. In fact our attendance was generally better than most who lived nearby. We often made most of a two week revival, missing one or two nights in the middle to catch up on whatever needed to be done, then getting back to the word. We were regular enough in attendance to fill positions like Sunday School Teacher, Sunday School Treasurer and Sound Technician. During that time we had our second and third child and took a graduate course in commitment. Even after the births of our children we were back at church within a week after the birth. It was difficult for me, with a demanding job and for Dee with three small children at home, and for a time she kept two of my brother in law’s children too. And the gas crisis in the 70’s didn’t make it any easier.

But as 1980 approached we knew that we must move, that God was calling us out, that the long mileage to church was taking its toll on us and we began to realize God was ready to relocate us. Our current pastor saw this and suggested we look for a church in York that had a Christian School, he had met the pastor at a ACE School meeting. We looked and didn’t find it initially because the directions were really bad. One day my wife took her niece to a dental appointment and returned by a street we rarely drove, Taxville Road. She passed a church that obviously had an ACE school because she saw the students in uniform waiting for the bus. We noted that with a few corrections to the directions, this was the church. But we did nothing because wanted God’s will. One Friday night we went past the church and looked at the service board, noted the time of the Sunday service and I told Dee, the next time it snows, we visit here.

We went to bed the next night, the last Saturday in 1979 with no snow in the forecast and woke Sunday morning to over four inches of the white fluffy stuff. Now this was generally not enough to keep us from church, we discussed it and decided that we would visit Taxville. Within a few weeks this became our home and we have only been back to the old church a few times to visit since. We know God protected us, had we visited the church only two months earlier when Dee found it we would have probably have backed out. We came just about six weeks after a pastoral change and missed the fireworks. By not being able to find the church, we were protected and we became the first new couple after the change. Had we come in during the change, we would probably have not stayed without some real revelation from God.

We at first did little in the church while they got to know us, for several months. Then someone asked Dee to teach Sunday School and a few weeks later I was asked to serve as a bouncer in a 10 to 12 year old class. I had little experience teaching. I generally handled the physical and electrical items to keep a church running. We agreed, Dee started teaching, I served a Sunday as bouncer and after I was there one week, for six weeks the regular teacher didn’t show up. The first Sunday Gary Mummert came into the room and asked if I was prepared to teach the lesson. I replied I did not have a quarterly to study, he responded that he would teach today, I would have a quarterly before I left. And I did. I taught till the teacher came back, she took over and I resumed my role as bouncer when she was there, teaching when she was not.

During the summer of 1980 we did a kid’s musical presentation, "Down by the Creek Bank" and Dee and I helped with the production. We made rocks, decorated the stage, pulled in some of our own equipment for sound and in general helped with whatever was needed. The night of the last rehearsal I sat on the floor in the church aisle, propped up against the front seat, so tired I could hardly move, and the song, "Is there anything I can do for you, dear Lord" kept bugging me. The pastor came in and asked me to take a new Sunday School Class. The decision had been made minutes earlier, "is there anything I can do?" This and another song have been somewhat of watchwords to me, the other is "I’m going on" which has the line, "So many lives depend on what I do" which is one thing that has made me go on at times when I see the path ahead is difficult. In the last six months it has been a stay to me, I cannot quit, back up or even flinch. I must face the enemy, eyeball to eyeball and I cannot give him quarter.

We spent 1980 through the end of 1983 in an intense teaching environment, four years in which we grew in the knowledge of the word. I am not sure there is any other time in our lives that we grew as much although the previous ten were like high school, preparing us for college, and they had. We didn’t call it mentoring then, but it was. We spent quality time with a man of God who had a teaching gift and we learned. We were personally close to him and that time was spent in both fellowship and guiding us. In 1984 I was transferred in my job and we did a tour of three years in Morton IL and returned to York in Early 1987. The pastor who had been there left in September 1987 and a younger man replaced him. We were appointed as elders in the early 90’s and served in various roles during that time, sound, video, counseling, and home group oversight. We were also in lead roles in the three conferences we held in local hotels. We did what was needed. The leadership of the church was composed of seven couples and the pastors, husband and wife. Statements were made in the church that these leaders were such that other pastors would desire to have it that good.

In the last year things happened, things changed and somehow the leadership was felt to not be hearing from God, was not with the pastors and did not have the vision of the church. In October they were dismissed. The leadership of the church passed to the pastor, the assistant pastor and two of the former Elders, serving in an interim role.

I somehow feel our years have given me some insight into things and I will present them here. There are sins that leadership commits, and those who stand with them often abet the enemy in deceiving them.

SINS OF LEADERS

THE SIN OF SAUL

One of the problems we often see in leadership is what I call the Sin of Saul. King Saul was anointed King by Samuel the prophet. He was found hiding from the position and responsibility. When he was little in his own eyes, when he saw himself as not worthy, God placed him in the position of leadership and honor.

But as time went on, he began to see himself as important.

When Samuel pronounced judgment Saul tried to restrain him and tore his garment. Samuel told him the kingdom would be ripped from his hand.

What was Saul’s sin? Was it making sacrifice on the altar? I think not and most others agree. It was the attitude and heart motivation of self importance that was the sin. Man looks on the outer appearance, God looks on the heart.

Ironically that was said of Saul when he was called to be king. Had Saul offered the sacrifice in ignorance, I doubt that God’s judgment would have been severe. And Saul’s reaction might just have been one of contrition.

How does this relate to our Church leadership today? With only a very few exceptions people do not go into the ministry because it pays well. There is only one man alive today that I would consider even suggesting this about. Most of the people who enter the ministry are well meaning and afraid of the position of trust that is being placed in their care.

Like Solomon in the early days they look to God for wisdom and look to those who are older and more experienced for advice and counsel. But it seems to be endemic that those in these positions "grow up" and find out how "wise" they are, how clearly they "hear from God" and how only they "hear and know." And as they move into this area, they begin to do what Rehoboam did when he rid himself of the old men who had advised his father and replaced them with young men who would tell him what he wanted to hear. The result of his actions was the tearing of ten tribes from his kingdom, the split of the kingdom and the final end of Israel as a nation.

IGNORING COUNSEL

Those in positions of leadership usually surround themselves with counselors, people who they trust and respect and are willing to have speak into their lives. They select these people with the best of intentions, to provide them with a sounding board to help them with decisions and to help them avoid pitfalls. Most leaders use these people when they are new, as they grow more experienced often they begin to see that they no longer need the counsel and they begin to ignore it.

Understand, no counselor is perfect, no counselor is always right, and no counselor should ever be miffed if his counsel is evaluated by the leader and is not followed. I have lived in the advisory position in both the church and business more than in the position of leader. I understand it well. This is the right and responsibility of the leader to decide and I can find no cases of serious error when the counsel is at least listened to and prayerfully considered. But I must also say here that rarely in this case is the leader’s original path taken either. Generally the original path and the counsel are merged to provide a path that often is much better than either of the suggested paths. Generally both have some myopia that does not exist when they are together. What I have seen is where the counsel is totally ignored, when the leader says, "This is my decision, I will make it." or "I am the pastor, I can do what I want to do," that serious damage is done. And when the leader, with forethought, does not seek counsel on something significant, problems occur. I have seen other cases where the leader bypasses those who have been his counsel and his support and goes "outside", seeking other counsel, in the counseling room we call this "opinion shopping." He seeks for someone who he can tell a portion of the story and manipulate to have them give him the advice he is seeking.

Rebuke is a strong word, rarely should someone in the role of counsellor be going to that point, unless the message has been ignored. But God says:

If a man is wise and he is rebuked in love, he will love the person who has issued the rebuke, because he will perceive it as protection.

And I believe God will protect the man or woman who genuinely seeks counsel and somehow the process or the hearing from God breaks down and a mistake is made. I believe He will mitigate the damage and make all things work out for good. See, God looks on the heart. But the one who places himself outside the realm of what God designed is open to what the devil can throw at him. Actually, we find the person placing his idea above what God wants, (idolatry) this may not be obvious but if a person is willing to ignore counsel that he has proclaimed to be God given, then he is ignoring Godly counsel and is in fact risking going against God’s will.

SIN OF IDOLATRY

The sin of idolatry comes into play often, the leader has someone or some thing that becomes more important than the ministry. This may be a person, an idea, a desire or a physical thing. I have seen idols that were physical, such as church buildings, pulpits, friends, relatives; programs like bus ministry, food kitchens, etc.; and ideas like the timing of the second return of Christ. Although all of these have importance, none of them are to be worshipped and made more important than serving God and keeping his commandments.

I have seen more than one program come to the front to the point that it has become a potential idol. Whether or not it did is a matter of interpretation of just what level it must be to become an idol. Mine is very simple, if it becomes so important that you will hurt people for the sake of it, it is getting close. When you say, "I don’t care ….. I still want to do it," you are heading into dangerous straits at full speed.

PRAYING WITH AN IDOL IN THE HEART

Usually the sin of idolatry manifests itself with the praying with an idol in the heart.

One decides what he wants, goes to God and asks for it, not with the humility of, "God this is what I want and if it will be your will, let me have it." This is not praying outside faith, and I do not suggest that praying for those things that God has promised, salvation, healing, provision (as opposed to plenty), etc. These things are to be asked for because God has promised. But to pray for guidance with that kind of attitude, "God I want to do this," is to take a step toward praying with the idol. And God will grant your request, no matter if it is good or not. But if you pray, "God I would like to do this, but if this is not in line with your will, your will is more important to me. Whatever the outcome, I will do your will," you have avoided this pitfall. I have seen many who have prayed with the idol who have gotten something they have not wanted. Those who pray for God’s will I believe are often directed by God and Godly desires have become so much a part of them that they DESIRE what is God’s will for them. They not only get God’s will in their life but also get their desires. But this only comes to those who will lay down their self, to find it in Him and be blessed.

There is a song, "I am Thine Oh Lord." One line in it says, "Let my will be lost in Thine." I do not believe this is the abolition of our will, but the setting our will to be in line with His.

GOD SPEAKS TO ME, WHY SHOULD I LOOK TO MAN?

Here is the beginning of the serious error. What is always cited here by the person as biblical authority of hearing directly from God is Saul’s statement that he feared the people. This is in fact a misappropriation of scripture because Saul lied in that statement. He could not see destroying the spoils. He ordered them kept. The people were a scapegoat for his actions. I doubt that a lie told in scripture is a valid reference ro follow. So should we look to man? Not for everything. But for confirmation, yes. The scripture says, "* out of the mouth of two or three witnesses let everything be established." We can take the arrogant attitude, "Only I hear from God, so I shouldn’t listen to anyone else, least they subvert me." We MUST take care of whom we listen to, but when we select Godly counselors we place ourselves in a position of protection. When we ignore the counsel, we shut ourselves off from Godly protection. It is interesting that this passage appears five times in scripture, two times it is used, once by Jesus and once by the Apostle Paul to set the tone for another precept.

I personally hear from God, but it is rare for me to take any definitive action with long range impact without seeking the counsel of those I trust. Rare is the time I have been misled, and those came when either I had an idol in my heart or I manipulated the counsel or counselor. Yes, I have done just what I tell you is wrong and I have repented for it. I trust God that he will help me avoid repeating the same error.

COOKIE CUTTER EFFECT

Many leaders in selecting those who surround them select people who smell, look, think and act like themselves. Even if they don’t initially, they are pushed toward that but the COOKIE CUTTER EFFECT. Like the cookie cutter, leaders often make the mistake of trying to stamp out the copies of themselves and make those around themselves more like themselves. I can show one ministry web page that has pictures of the men in leadership. They wear like suits, have like haircuts, they almost look alike. And eventually they think alike so much that they have the same myopia. Our uniqueness is stated eloquently in the scripture:

Paul also alludes to the uniqueness of function as well in his discussion of the members of the body and how they are all necessary. And he so forcefully talks of diversity.

And that diversity need not bring strife if there is present the Love of God because:

The phrase "seeketh not her own" is key here, if there true Christian love, our own idols become less important than our brother’s welfare.

Even the world understands this. Why should the church struggle with it. When the space shuttle was being designed it was obvious that to function it must have sophisticated computer controls for many of its critical functions. And they would often take action without the possibility of timely human reaction to detect a situation and override in time to correct an error. If the computer failed, there was little, of any chance of a mission that did not involve "the loss of the vehicle and its crew." It was decided to provide several computers, and they would vote on actions. I don't remember the exact algorithms but they insured that a single computer feeding bad results or the failure of any or even three of four computers would not cause a problem. But one flaw still existed. There is little possibility that two computers with the same program and the same input will result in different output, but this was covered. There is a much greater possibility that all four computers would initiate THE SAME WRONG ACTION or fail AT THE SAME TIME if there was faulty software, hardware or firmware. A single problem could cause a catastrophe. The input that causes a software failure or a bad output from one computer is likely to cause one on the other. A power fluctuation that causes one computer to would likely cause all like computes to fail. To prevent this from happening a fifth computer was added to the shuttle. The hardware and software for this computer were created by a different vendor than the main computers' hardware and the software. The two development groups were not permitted to share information and interact. There was little chance that they had the same flaw and would fail at exactly the same time. Had they left the groups interact, the likelihood of simultaneous failure increases. Two different computers; even if built to the same specifications are less likely to be impacted like hardware situations like power glitches, sensor failures or vibration AT THE SAME TIME. Over a period of time, both might be impacted the same number of times but simultaneous failure is unlikely.

Likewise, two advisors might each be wrong ten times over the next ten years but if they are not clones, they are unlikely to be wrong at the same time. And often if wrong, they see the flaw. But without the initial look by someone else, they do not. What goes for advisors goes also for leaders.

ERRORS BY THOSE WHO SUPPORT LEADERS

Just as the men held up the hands of Moses, there are those who will hold up the hands of the men of God today. Many of these are trustworthy, honest, Godly and care about the ministry, the leaders and the people. Their perspective is often such that they have a different view and can provide the counsel to avoid pitfalls. I have discussed how the leaders can nullify the counsel of these, now I will discuss how these can fall into traps that will make them less than effective and possibly even dangerous to the man of God, the ministry and the people.

GREAT MAN SYNDROME

The GREAT MAN SYNDROME is a situation that has manifested itself several times. Men that have fallen and been hurt, in the church, in politics and in business have often fallen because those who surround them say, "He is a great man, if he thinks this is a good thing, it is." And they have justified actions that have been devastating.

The world knows this is not the way, Henry Ford once chaired a meeting where an idea was presented and nobody could find anything wrong with it. He too favored it. But he saw a pitfall, for come reason everyone had seen the gloss, not the depth and he was concerned. To the chagrin of the presenter he tabled the decision for a week and gave an assignment to find something wrong with it. At the next meeting it was obvious the program would have failed and it was defeated. When something looks too good, it almost always is.

In 1961 President Kennedy sat with his advisors and decided our nation’s participation in the Bay of Pigs invasion. This must be one of the darkest days in American history and it brought us to a standoff and the brink of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. And history tells us that none of the advisors saw it coming, they were so blinded by the great man who had just bearded the Republican opponent that they felt he could do no wrong. Their blindness was made more complete by the COOKIE CUTTER EFFECT, the fact that they were all of the same background, ideas and training.

FEAR OF REJECTION, FEAR OF LOSS, FEAR OF BEING WRONG

Many of those who stand near the "Great Man" fear rejection. If they are too far from his desires, he may reject them. He may remove them from their position. The fear of loss of position and rejection often silences those who stand close to the great man. I believe the fall of Jim and Tammy Bakker was fueled primarily by this. The fear of loss of position; because of the finances and prestige they brought is more than the people with them could bear. Remember, many of these people had come up through the ranks with the Bakker’s, they had become affluent in the ministry. Although I do not consider it wrong to do so, there seems to be a hold that a ministry has on a person when this happens. If the person feels or fears that they will not be able to get another position with another ministry making the same money and with the equivalent prestige, there is pressure to "keep with the program." And the pressure of a necessary evil becomes an evil that grows more evil.

I cannot imagine the goings on that have been documented in some of the scandals going on in the fledging PTL, or with Jimmy Swaggert in his early days. In fact, I believe strongly they did not and could not have been. Those were the days that these people didn’t know if their next paycheck could possibly be held. In those days these men had such integrity that they would have gone without to pay their staff. And the staff would have gotten GOOD paychecks or no paycheck; not one made of rubber. But there is a statement in the world that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, and to the shame of the Body of Christ, all too often it is so here. The love of power, the pride of the exposure and the love of the masses turn many. Satan offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world. Often for us, it takes less.

The fear of being wrong impacts in the same manner except it leads the person to remain silent rather than speak out. After all, if you are wrong the aspect of rejection and loss are great.

Last week in a secular setting I had someone say to me, "Good Catch." I thought something was wrong with a program in a review meeting, but after study it was found I was wrong in what I asked about. Why would he say, "Good Catch?" Because a program had been altered that should not have been altered. This would be a major problem. But the program was not part of our project. It was there by mistake. I raised a flag for no reason. But look at the larger picture. What if a program that was part of our project had the same flaw? I had no way of knowing that the program should not be there, but my expertise said it was improperly altered. I am being paid to see problems, note them and fix them or pass them off to someone who can. I found a problem, I could not fix it, I passed it to my leader, he came back, not with derision, but a pat on the back. What did he buy with this? I will continue to look, to fix and to report, he does not shoot messengers and watchmen, he rewards them, not for message content but being faithful in their charter and vocation. If the world does this, should the church do less?

MISPLACED LOVE

The final reason for inaction is misplaced love. It may be respect, it may be love, it may be honor, but they are intertwined to the point that it may be impossible to determine. But it is real. Many times those in authority have given of themselves for those who support them, and those who follow have assigned a love, honor and respect to them. And this is right. But if that causes those who support to overlook problems when they occur, the result can be a disaster. What could have been corrected and resolved becomes a stumbling block that can no longer be overlooked.

WHAT IS THE TRANSGRESSION OF A LEADER?

Most people look at this subject and say the transgression of a leader is falling into sin and becoming a discredit to the body. I disagree. Although this is a transgression, there are many other transgressions that are just as serious. Any significant transgression of a leader will result in damage to the Body of Christ or its members. When I was supervising a programming group one of my people came to me with a situaiton he had created by making a mistake. He was genuinely sorry, it was not carelessness, just one of those things we sometimes miss. He sat at my desk and said, "I cost the company money." It was all of a couple hundred dollars, not really significant. I related that I have made some mistakes too and asked if he knew the difference between his mistakes and mine. He asked, "What?" I responded, "I have the opportunity to make bigger mistakes, mine usually cost the company more." He laughed and headed back to his desk with a renewed confidence that he could do better. The mistakes in business and in ministry impact lives. Some significant transgressions of leaders include the normal sins like idolatry, favoritism, spiritual blindness and pride. Generally these are in blind spots and what is worst, out of love, respect and fear of loss those who surround them to protect them fail. The hedge that God gave them is rent aside and the enemy has the opportunity to enter and destroy. Often the damage is done so silently by the thief in the night that nobody knows about it till the wounded die before help is offered.

Probably two of the most frequent transgressions of leaders can be seen when Peter decides to side with those who are trying to place the weight of circumcision on the new Gentile Christians. Paul rebukes him PUBLICALLY for siding with the circumcision faction. But there are three scriptures I consider relevant. First, Peter is siding to please the "in crowd." He is doing this to preserve "religious purity". And he is making a portion of the law more important and significantly more important than what Jesus said were the weighter matters of the law. Admittedly Jesus did not mention circumcision, but he compared the outer and inner matters, with the inner being more important, and he looked at the legal and the relational, and chose the relational as more important.

SATAN’S PRICE FOR LEADERS

I think of Satan’s way every time I think of an auction. When I go to an auction I try to offer as little as possible to buy what I want. But Satan’s auction is a slave auction because the result of taking his bid is slavery.

Satan has a price. He sets it at an auction. And he will raise the bid to see if you will take it. The objects on sale: your integrity, your worth, your ministry, and your soul. And he starts low, because he only has to be right ONCE. He has to only get you to take the bid once. He raised the bid for Jesus and was turned down, and he only retreated when he had nothing bigger to offer! He offered Jesus power, influence, and wealth. And Jesus turned down the highest bid.

But as usual, God has a higher way. He made an offer for each of us. The offer was like a sealed bid. You know how sealed bids are handled? When you want an object on sealed bids you offer as high as you can go, because you don’t want someone to take the item for a penny less. And God made the best offer for our lives that He could, He gave Jesus.

But to take God’s higher price we must be like the Marine Corps. They say Eternal Vigilance it the Price of Liberty. God’s liberty is only for those who have eternal vigilance. They will not take the offer at Satan’s slave auction. They stand ever ready to "fight, be brave against all evil." There is a song, that says that, "Never run or even lag behind." I have seen running as succumbing to the forces of Satan, but lagging behind is allowing someone else to take the heat of the battle alone, without help. And in a dog fight in the sky, in a foxhole on a dark night, and in the battle with our enemy, the one alone is the one who is vulnerable. And we can be left alone by those who "run or lag behind" or we can cause ourselves to be left alone by walking away from those who care about us.

Ralph Brandt Copyright 1998 not to be used without permission.

Copyright Ralph Brandt 2000, 2001. Not to be used without Permission

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Revised 1/20/2002 DRAAW is not a misspelling, it is an acronymn for Dee, Ralph, Angela, Annette and William.

Copyright 1995,6,7,8,9,2000, 2001, 2002 Ralph E. Brandt, York PA