I am currently re-reading a great book, EntreLeadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches by Dave Ramsey. Although this is a business book it contains a lot of principles that are transferrable into ministry. Reading it reminds me that being in bivocational ministry requires that one is an entrepreneurial leader and if you aren't entrepreneurial you probably won't do well as a bivocational pastor.
One point Ramsey makes is that "A leader who won't, or can't make decisions is never going to succeed and certainly will never become a full-fledged EntreLeader." He further states that an "'Indecisive leader' is an oxymoron. Your business, your family, your team, and your future is paralyzed when you are. You put all you dream about in jeopardy when you are indecisive." I would add to that list your church as well. When a pastor, whether bivocational or fully-funded, is indecisive and cannot make decisions, the church is severely limited in what it can accomplish.
I will admit that I can be slow to make decisions sometimes. The same things that causes indecisions in others can often cause me to be indecisive at times. Ramsey identifies fear as the ultimate cause of indecision. We are fearful we will make the wrong decision, and we are fearful of the possible outcome of that decision. Some of those fears may be well-founded and potential negative outcomes should be considered, but they cannot be allowed to drive our decisions. When we allow ourselves to be controlled by fear we will never make the decisions we need to make that will allow our churches to move forward.
A second thing that prevents some leaders from making decisions is another fear, the fear of criticism. Pastors are often people-pleasers. We don't enjoy criticism, but if we are going to lead we have to accept the fact that criticism is inherent with leadership. In fact, I would add that if no one ever criticizes you it probably means you aren't leading. People are going to criticize you no matter what you decide to do. Leaders cannot allow the fear of criticism keep them from making the necessary decisions they need to make.
Third, we sometimes are slow to make decisions because we think we need more information. Sometimes we do, but often we are victims of "paralysis analysis." We don't want to make a tough decision so we claim we need more information. No matter how much information we gather, we still want more until the right time for the decision has passed. This often causes us to miss opportunities because we refused to make a decision in a timely manner while claiming we didn't have enough information to make the decision.
Does all this mean that we should make decisions too quickly? Absolutely not! One of the reasons I can be slow in making decisions is because in the past I've too often taken the approach of ready-fire-aim and been burnt. I've made decisions too quickly that have hurt our family and organizations I've led. It's made me a little gun-shy! I now try to make big decisions in a timely manner with the best information I have at the time. This gives me the best chance of making the best decisions while limiting the negative effects of a bad decision.
This is entrepreneurial thinking. It is taking risks in a responsible way. It is setting ourselves and our churches up to win while minimizing the downsides of a wrong decision. It also recognizes that refusing to make decisions automatically sets us up to fail.
To me, this approach in inherent in bivocational ministry. The very nature of bivocational ministry involves responsible risk-taking. By the nature of our ministries, bivocational ministers have to be EntreLeaders if we are to be successful. We won't survive long in this ministry if we are unable to make the tough decisions.
If you haven't yet read this book, I highly encourage you to do so. I have found it very helpful in many of the aspects of my life and ministry.
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