Silencing the "Nay-Sayers"!

The church selects Leaders on the basis of character, competence, and a Biblical profile for leadership.

Each church must break the cycle of appointing men as leaders based merely on their willingness to serve and availability.  Since the Scriptures specify that leaders have certain specific character traits, it is important to select leaders that meet the biblical criteria.  With a leadership development process in place, a collection of trained, qualified, equipped, and willing leaders will be available for selection.

This paragraph is from the 14 Effectiveness Criteria applied in the IgniteUS Leadership Development Process. Research has shown that the second leading cause of decline in the evangelical church is “Control Issues”.

This is defined as a group of people, with or without portfolio, that exercise veto power of any and all ministry initiatives. Any attempt to prevent the exercise of their collective will results in some sort of ‘punishment’. That action ranges from firing a pastor to withholding financial support.

The existence of this kind of ‘power block’ in a local church is the responsibility of the Pastor. He may or may not be the causal factor for their existence.  However, he is responsible to effectively transform this scenario so that the Word of God under the direction of the Holy Spirit is the controlling factor in ministry.

Accomplishing the removal of such factors requires much prayer, wisdom and what I call Emotional Intelligence. Here is a helpful profile that I often share with Pastors. Assume 100 people. 20 support everything no matter what. 20 oppose everything no matter what. The 60 in the middle are watching which way the wind is blowing.

Of the 20 who oppose there are usually only 5-6 that are vocal, the others hide behind those who speak but they will never stand alone for anything. Of the 5-6 only 2 or 3 are willing to stand and declare their position. Almost always they lack solid exegetical biblical rationale for what they propose. They are not “for” ministry, they are simply opposed.

Here is a time tested and extremely effective means of exposing their screed. When they speak, graciously thank them for expressing the perspective they have. Then, ask them to provide sound biblical support for what they are proposing. Require them to shoe from Scripture why and how what they propose is supported by the Word of God. Give them a week or two, whatever is reasonable to prepare their case (they rarely have one). When there is no biblical basis for their resistance they have effectively shown themselves to be merely ‘Nay-Sayers’. That group of 20 that are for everything and the majority of the 60 will now support a sound biblical direction for a ministry initiative. Some of the 20 who formerly opposed will also join this group. The 2 or 3 ‘spokespersons’ will be neutralized and silenced, or, they will depart. Either way, you have provided gracious biblical leadership and ministry is the better for your leadership.

Call me if you would like to discuss this process further. God’s best as you LEAD! (803 776 5282)