(I promised to end at 50 lessons, but these ideas just keep insisting on horning their way onto the list.)

One of the worst policies ever to afflict our judicial system is the one that grants leniency to first-offenders. This was his first time to beat his wife, so he gets sent home with only a warning. Pity the poor wife! The kid who broke into the candy store gets assigned to his parents’ care and threatened with jail in the future because, after all, he’s never been in trouble before. He congratulates himself on a successful prank.

What are we doing! We might as well hand out “get out of jail free” cards. Everyone gets one free pass, no matter what we do (almost), because, “This is his first time in trouble.”

I want to scream when I read that line buried in the newspaper account of some law-breaker, “Hey! Now is the time to get across to him the enormity of what he has done.”

No wonder we have such a problem with crime in America today. We’re practically encouraging young law-breakers.

If we hope to teach them the error of their ways, it’s far better to deal swiftly and strongly with first-offenders.

Now, take that same principle and apply it at work, whether “work” for you means the church or a business office or a crew at the plant. If you are the person in charge and a member of your team breaks a “law”–he or she goes against an accepted practice put there for the welfare of the group–if you intend to maintain your leadership role, you must deal with it quickly.

First, get the facts.

Nothing damages your position as the leader quicker than for you to overreact because you did not have all the information. Over 45 years of ministry, I can recall numerous situations in which someone reported a member of my staff who had stepped over the line of propriety and done something horribly wrong, only to find out when talking to other people the first report was erroneous and overstated.

Calmly call the individual in and ask for his story on what happened. Don’t interrupt, other than to keep him on track. Make no decisions then, but assure him you’ll be getting back to him. Then, talk to the other people with information on the subject. Face to face is better than by phone; the phone is better than e-mail.

Second, have the courage to confront.

A strange phenomenon I’ve noticed among pastors, even successful men with huge congregations and large staffs, is that they hate to call someone on the carpet for wrong-doing. “I guess I’m just a pushover, an old softie,” one said to me recently. “I let them get by with too much.”

In doing so, the pastor is failing the offending staff member who needs more guidance and accountability than he’s receiving. He’s failing the church which expects him to lead his team. Most of all, he’s failing the Lord who made him the shepherd of that flock and expects him to deal with straying sheep.

How do you confront someone you love and admire about a wrong they have pulled off? Lovingly, kindly, and most of all, promptly. You must deal with it quickly.

Third, think the matter through before you have the faceoff.

Nothing helps me think a subject through better than praying about it. In my early morning walks, I will discuss a situation with the Heavenly Father–and by that, I mean, I’ll talk it out with the Lord as though we were sitting across the table from each other–asking for Him to give me wisdom and lead me to decide correctly and act faithfully. In most cases, the matter quickly comes into focus and I know what I need to do.

Remember that it’s possible to be resolute, firm, and steadfast without losing your temper or acting less than Christlike.

Elsewhere, in one of the earlier leadership lessons, I made the point that a leader should know when to be firm and when to be soft. I used as an illustration the times when you are training new employees and they make mistakes, a situation calling for a gentle but firm hand. But in this lesson, we’re not talking about a staffer making a mistake. We’re talking about an obvious act of rebellion, a direct violation of the principles your organization lives by and which everyone knows full well.

You are the pastor of the church. You’re having a tough time trying to lead your congregation at the moment because a small group in the church wants you out. And this morning, you learn that your student minister has aligned himself with that unhappy bunch. You investigate and find that he has become their inside source of information, a “mole,” so to speak, and that he is undercutting you on every hand.

After getting the facts, and learning that the reports are true, you want to make certain you have the support of your key church leadership. If you do not, worst things than a rebellious staffer are in store for you and the church. If you do have their support, then act.

Each church has its own methodology for such actions. Follow closely your constitution and by-laws, as well as personnel policies your church has adopted. Usually, that means to consult with the personnel committee. But you must be resolute on this matter. That staffer must be terminated. And today, now. No two-week notices are given in such instances. Someone accompanies him to his office and watches as he cleans out his desk.

“But he’ll be unhappy.” He sure will, but that’s his problem. We’d rather he be unhappy than for the church to be ruptured.

“But he has a family to support.” He should have thought of that before he decided to join a mutiny against the shepherd God brought to this church.

“What will the congregation think?” Meet with church leadership (you’ve already consulted with the key leadership early on) and inform them as to what happened. Do that after the decision has been made and the staffer has been told. Again, be gentle and firm.

Recognize that some are going to be unhappy about it. Even the poorest ministerial staffer will have his friends and supporters. But your job–this may come as a complete shock to many members–is not to make the congregation happy. Your task is to make it healthy and to make the Lord happy. And part of that means acting quickly to put down matters that would divide the church. Church unity is a wonderful thing, but it’s not as rare as you might think. If the church is to have a strong voice for righteousness in the community, one of the requirements is that it be unified with everyone on the same page.

One of the key assignments of a pastor and the deacons is to protect the unity of the church.

Paul told the leaders of the church at Ephesus, “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.”

Two kinds of enemies to the church are listed here: outsiders and insiders. Surprisingly, the latter are more dangerous because God’s people are so sweet and unsuspecting (read: ‘naive and gullible’) that the damage is often done before they recognize the enemy in their midst and get the courage to stand up and deal with him.

Paul tells the leaders, “Therefore, be on the alert.” (Acts 20:29-31)

After all, church leader, if you are not going to protect the flock, you are no shepherd.

This is simply a call for you to live up to your name.