Leaders see further down the road

 John Maxwell states that leaders see more than other people, see farther that others see and sees before others do. That is a very good description of a leader. As pastors we should see further than others see. Some have said that our visions should be so far out that they will not be accomplished during our time in the church. In my experience, I saw the need for the church I was serving to add a new fellowship hall to further its ministry opportunities. That addition was not completed before I left that church to accept a new ministry opportunity.

President Biden won the applause of many people when he announced he was canceling the student loan debt of nearly five million people. The Supreme Court struck down that order saying the president didn't have the power to do that without Congressional approval, Now, the Department of Education has announced it would withdraw its efforts to deliver its plans to forgive student loans. Among the reasons they cited for this decision was that they could not complete their plans before President Biden left office. While the president's motives may have been right, he failed to see that his plans would not be fulfilled.

This is not intended to be a political post. It is a post on a basic leadership principle. Leaders are those who can see further than others can see and see more than others can see. While the student loan forgiveness brought a lot of support for the Democrat party, it was clearly unconstitutional when it was first proposed. Ether the president did not see that, or he ignored it in an effort to earn the support of the students whose loans they hoped would be forgiven. Either way, it was a failure of leadership.

As pastors, we need to spend time thinking through any changes we want to make in our congregations or ministry. Without such thought we run the risk of unintended consequences. Early in my pastoral ministry I proposed eliminating a position in the church as unneeded. We lost a family because the person who held that position felt I was accusing her of stealing money from the church. The proposal itself and the way I handled it was a disaster. I never thought that of her, but the damage was done.

I should have shared my thoughts with the lay leaders of the church before I announced them to the church. They would probably have cautioned me of the perception my proposal would generate. Instead, I plunged ahead without seeking wise counsel, and created unnecessary problems for myself and the church.

Jesus cautioned against going to war without first considering if you have enough forces to guarantee victory. Pastors should never propose changes in the church without thinking through those changes. Are there possible unintended consequences connected to those changes? If so, you need to eliminate them before proceeding.