Have you noticed that once people get into their groove, they’re resistant to change? It doesn’t matter what type of personality they have. Most people just like things to remain the same.
If we want to see more people coming into the kingdom and being equipped, we as pastors need to keep sharing the vision and talking about the things the Lord is doing. If we don’t, the church will resist change, and that creates a big challenge. Only knowing the “why” will build their buy-in and cause them to become more open to change.
As pastors, we are called to be spiritual parents. This is an important part of our role in the church because we all need people who love and care for us and believe the best for us. A spiritual father has the ability to come alongside others and see their situation from a higher perspective, to speak life and minister to them. Unfortunately, pastors can become so entrenched in what they’re doing they don’t realize they need to be spiritual parents.
Right now, one of my greatest joys is spending time with pastors, encouraging them, listening to them. We had our pastor’s breakfast recently, and about thirty from our community were present. Three stayed after to talk about the issues they’re facing, and I was able to encourage them. It helps to have someone who can make you laugh, see from a different perspective, and put some fuel in your joy tank so you can finish strong.
Today, I want to share with you four ways to overcome resistance to change in your church:
- Prayer. Prayer is where you settle your own life. It’s where you come to a place of knowing who you are, hearing the voice of God, and knowing the direction of where you’re taking the church, what you need to speak upon and all that type of stuff. You’re stewarding this church; you don’t own it. If you don’t hear the assignment from the Lord and why you’re doing it, you’re just coming up with good ideas. Good ideas are great, but you need God-ideas and His anointing upon them, and then you will be able to communicate it so people grab hold of it. Jesus spent much time alone in prayer. Wouldn’t you have loved to have snuck up on Him when He was praying to the Father and heard what He was talking about? He’d hear the assignment and then be able to know exactly what to do.
- Partnership. Partnership is more than just assigning a task to someone, then micromanaging it. That’s not real partnership. When you’re assigning something to someone in the church or your community, they need to have some ownership in it where you can celebrate together what the Lord is doing with some authority. For many pastors, that sparks insecurity because it’s hard to let go of things. But if you really want to see the church advance and penetrate your region and then the world, you’ve got to have partners with whom you develop trust and communication. When pastors keep things so close that nothing happens without their direct involvement, it’s an insecurity or lack of desire at play. That hurts the ministry.
You know, the disciples were upset when another group was going around baptizing and doing things in the name of Jesus. They rebuked them because they weren’t counted among the disciples. Jesus said, “Don’t stop them, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterwards speak evil of Me, for he who is not against us, he’s on our side.” Can you recognize what God is doing with someone of a different personality, different denomination, different leadership style within your church? If they’ve got fire in their bones, if you can harness that and point them in the right direction, you’re expanding the kingdom. - Priorities. Knowing your priorities as a leader is really important. You need to know what tasks are easy for you and difficult for you. You need to know your giftings. You need to know what you do that matters the most to other people. You need to know what you’d delegate away if you could. Then you can start looking for the people who can free you up to best attend to your priorities by empowering them and handing things off as they prove themselves faithful.
One of my leaders, Chris, came to us in his early 20s. We brought him in to work with maintenance, then our college and career group. He did a great job. When he got married, we shifted his priorities to the young married group. They worked together to develop classes and such. I added him to our preaching rotation. He’s a preacher with an evangelistic call on his life, which is a complement to me because I’m more of a teacher, and the two go hand-in-hand. He is committed to the house and to me, and even before we transitioned him to our primary leader, I could see the anointing growing on his life. I began having him close every service because of his gifting. And now he ministers most of the time! - Purpose. If you don’t know your purpose or you’re not secure in your purpose, you will deal with inner and external conflict. During our transition I had to realize that I’m still a minister, but I’m a child of God too. We still minister some or teach on Wednesday nights, but we’re like grandma and grandpa in the church, and people honor that. Chris always honors us, and we honor him and get up and pray or whatever is needed during services, and the people get to see us support him.
When you start supporting different ones doing the work of the Lord in the house, it brings security to people. I think a lot of ministers are afraid that if they’re not leading, they’re going to be pushed out. Maybe in some denominations it happens that way, but what I’m seeing more and more now is there’s an honoring to those who have plowed the ground, and they’re not pushed out. Man, their voice is strong. It takes on a whole different level of spiritual blessing, enablement, authority, blessing those who are taking the baton and running harder with it. I think we’re going to see more salvations and miracles with the ones who are taking the church reins now. We’re going to see a great move of God if we do this right.
Jesus prayed in John 17:20, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also might be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.” So if all the world hasn’t believed yet, could it be we’re not yet one? How do we become one? I believe that as you keep growing in the Lord and your ministry keeps advancing, you’ll suddenly realize it’s not about you but about those you’re raising up. Spiritual parenting has become my greatest joy, seeing what the Lord is doing through those I’ve mentored and sent out. I am fulfilled because of what I’m seeing in them. I know you will be too, Pastor.
Stay on track with the Lord. Function from rest, not from frustration. Pray and develop partnerships. Assess your priorities and delegate as needed. Remember your purpose and be secure in it. If you will stay faithful in your mission, accept your God-given mandate, and keep intentionally pouring into others, they will take what you have to offer and multiply it.
This blog was created using content from the webinar Spiritual Parenting – Overcoming Resistance to Change.
