Monday Minute – Looking The Other Way

A couple years ago, I noticed that some things under our kitchen sink were wet. I assumed that something had spilled, wiped it up, and completely forgot about the problem. A few weeks later, I found the area was now saturated, and after a little investigation, realized that the pipe had been leaking for several weeks, ruining the entire inside of that and other cabinets.

Upon later reflection, I understood that I should have examined the problem further. If I had, I would have saved myself a huge hassle and headache.

While I can blame my lack of action on my actual ignorance and inability to fix much of anything, we often choose to ignore the signs that we may have a problem in our ministry. I believe this happens for a number of reasons:

1. Fear

More often than not, we don’t deal with issues based out of our fear of what someone might say or think. We begin to rationalize and eventually we compromise our values and standards.

As hard as it may be to hear this, this kind of fear is rooted in selfishness. It focuses on what might happen to us or our ministry. When our desire to be liked impedes our ability to lead, we need to reevaluate.

Leadership is never easy. Leadership in ministry is even harder. You work with people that you share your lives with. In many instances, you work with people who volunteer, and that often creates an environment in which you feel it difficult to confront someone.

2. Busyness

I usually try not to give advice in areas I struggle with (unless I am sharing through my struggle), but I must confess that I struggle with busyness. Personally, I am visionary, so I dream and start a number of things. As a result, much time and energy must be expended for my latest and greatest idea.

When we overwork, we neglect things, whether it be ministry, family, personal devotion or even sleep! In an effort to find a shortcut, we stop examining problems, which leads to greater headaches down the road.

3. Poor Perspective

Honestly, many people ignore problems because they either fail to recognize the magnitude of it, or it doesn’t directly impact them. Both of these show poor leadership.

A leader can’t micromanage, nor can they put out every little fire, but a good leader sees what problems are going to become bigger (remember the leaking pipe?), and deals with them quickly. They realize that morale matters and people want structure.

Here’s the bottom line, we do not have the luxury of ignoring things that need to be dealt with. Take some time today to do the things you’ve been putting off. Pray for courage, wisdom and strength to handle it rightly. In the end, you might just find out that you can stop the flood from ever taking place in the first place.

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