By Eric Rojas
I’m in the process right now of setting up the annual learning trip for our church’s leadership team. We plop down in a city for a few days and discuss the best practices of several churches.
This year, I had two churches that I had relationships with and lined them up right away. However, as I’ve been looking for a third church to meet with, I have run into three churches in a row that have had a senior leader resign in recent years due to a moral failure — again, all in one city!
Leaders blow it sometimes, don’t we?
Hopefully it’s not a moral failure, but it might be. It could be a major dropped ball. It could be a harmful word spoken. It could be a word that should have been spoken that wasn’t. It could be a selfish decision that hurt your family, team or co-workers. We all blow it. It’s not a matter of if, but when.
So, for those of us that have blown it at some point (If you don’t think that’s you, that’s another blog post topic), here are four reminders.
1) You are not a failure. The evil one would love you to think that, but don’t believe the lie. Our mistakes don’t define us. We need to learn from the past and grow from it, but then we need to move on. Philippians 3 tells us to press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize which Jesus Christ is calling us to!
2) You are not alone. It can feel like the spotlight is on us and we’re all alone when we blow it, can’t it? It might even be true that some people once close to us may become distant. Realize and recognize that God won’t ever leave you. Psalm 37 tells us that the Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fail, for the Lord holds them by the hand.
3) You are forgiven. I should say that you are forgiven by God upon your confession. 1 John tells us that when we confess, God is faithful to forgive and cleanse us. It’s true that some people may be slow to forgive or never forgive. That’s unfortunate, but sometimes it’s just part of life. You can’t do anything about that. You can do something about forgiving yourself, just as Christ forgave you.
4) You are not the only one. Proverbs 24 says that the godly might trip up seven times, but they will get back up again. And so will you. Many great leaders have experienced the same thing. Michael Jordan didn’t initially make his high school basketball team. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve blown it as a team leader, a coach and a parent.
Realize that all leaders have been there. The strong ones get back up and carry on. That’s what you are going to do!
Many more reminders can help us. What reminders would you add to this list?
Eric Rojas loves his role as the executive pastor of Christ Community Church in St. Charles, IL, where he oversees a staff of 120 and serves alongside Senior Pastor Jim Nicodem. He has been on staff at CCC since 2000.
During his 20+ years of ministry, Rojas has served in churches as a youth pastor, adult ministries pastor, small groups pastor, associate pastor, worship pastor and men’s pastor. He is a contributing author for Group Publishing’s Men’s Ministry in the 21st Century and has written for various magazines and websites.
Rojas also serves the church-at-large through consulting and seminar presenting.
He has been married to his wife, Rachel, for 22 years. They have 3 children — Luke, 21; Adam, 19; and Chloe, 17. A man of faith, Rojas believes that next year is the year the Cubs will finally win the World Series.
