Whether you are the pastor of the church, a teacher in a classroom, the coach of a team, or the CEO of the company, you are responsible for the attitude in your organization. You control the thermostat, you establish the atmosphere.

In the home, it’s the mom who does this better than anyone else. At church, the pastor is the mom.

By “mood” or “atmosphere,” we’re not talking about a flimsy, shallow, upbeat rah-rah pep talk which well-meaning but foolish would-be leaders sometimes attempt. Team members see through that in a heartbeat.

In the days and weeks before the Enron scandal broke and the giant company was discovered to be insolvent and its leadership arrested, CEO Kenneth Lay is reported to have been pumping up the employees with great words on what great shape the company was in financially. He urged them to buy more stock in the company. At the same time, according to the reports (this is not something I know personally), he was divesting himself of his stock.

As with everything else in life, great words without corresponding actions fall to the ground without achieving anything of significance. Empty words undermine the work being done and destroy the morale of the team.

The Bible says of the Prophet Samuel, that the Lord was with him and “let none of his words fall to the ground.” (I Samuel 3:19)

For the pastor of a church, setting a great mood basically comes down to two things. The working conditions–the pay, job expectations, work space, conditions, everything–for the church employees and staffers should be as good as is possible to create. Nothing helps the morale of an organization like a good paycheck and excellent working conditions.

The other thing is the pastor’s words. In staff meetings, in private conversations, and in public worship services, his words set the tone for the church. If he is kind and positive, affirming and godly, the people around him are encouraged to do their best, believing that they are part of an organization that is obedient to the Lord, blessed by Him, and really going somewhere.

Above all, the pastor must not lie or fudge on the truth. If a program was a failure, if some idea of his fell flat, don’t make it out to be the next thing to the Second Coming.

The numbers reported must be accurate. There is no place for what I heard one pastor refer to as “creative counting” in the Kingdom. Tell the truth.

Tell the truth and speak faith. Encourage people. Anyone can discourage them and heap guilt on them. The enemy specializes in this work. Let the Lord’s shepherds bless the sheep and believe in them.

Waylon Bailey, my neighbor just to the north of Lake Pontchartrain and the long-time pastor of Covington’s First Baptist Church, says there are two kinds of pastors: those who go into the ministry whole and those who go into the ministry to get whole. That insight explains a lot of things that used to puzzle me about preachers.

Preachers who are broken and have never been fixed, perhaps who were abused as children or neglected or mistaught along the way, but who afterwards met the Lord and were genuinely saved, nevertheless still have a lot of growing to do in order to be whole. In the meantime, until they do grow strong, heal and mature, the leadership they provide their church and staff can be wretched.

Some ministers work out of unresolved guilt and are forever badgering their people, harping on rules and regulations as the standard of showing themselves approved. Some carry undealt-with anger and poison every relationship they enter. Those who still struggle with great sin issues in their personal lives, who carry secrets they would not confide to their closest friend, become monstrous leaders who will veer either to the ditch of lawlessness on the one hand or the other ditch of legalism on the other. All of these miss the road–the straight and narrow–altogether. (Note to the legalists among us: I am well aware the word in the KJV is “strait” and narrow, but let me use it the other way just this once.)

Count yourself blessed if your pastor is whole with good mental health. Pray for those churches being led by preachers carrying open wounds of guilt, anger, resentment, or outright sin. Pray for their lay leaders to rise up and become true friends to their pastors, true protectors of the flock, and true disciples of Christ by holding the pastor accountable for his behavior.

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.” (Proverbs 27:6) Sometimes the most loving thing you can do for a church is to confront the pastor who is slowly snuffing out the life in the congregation by his unhealthy ways.

To set a healthy atmosphere in the church office, let the pastor affirm his staff both privately and in public. Nothing relaxes a staff like a pastor with a great sense of humor. He shares a great story he just read or tells one that just happened to him, particularly if he was the butt of it. He does not micro-manage his staff but frees each one up to do their work, then becomes their most appreciative audience.

A pastor called me one day recently and told of the financial hardships one of his staff members was enduring. “Do you know of any financial resources for them?” I told him I did, and the next day handed that assistant minister a sizeable check. I had written on the tear-off portion, “This is from the Lord.” He was puzzled as to how I knew about their need. Rather than having him think me clairvoyant, I admitted, “I’m not going to tell you how I found out, but you sure do have a fine pastor.” He smiled and agreed.

A couple of days later, that staff member’s wife was in a group riding with me to a meeting. I overheard her telling a friend what a wonderful pastor they have. Later, when I asked if they plan to stay in our city after they graduate from the seminary, she said, “We hope to. We love the city and are crazy about our church.”

In the worship service, the pastor establishes an upbeat mood by his prayers, his welcome and promotions, and of course, by his sermon most of all. For some ministers, this all comes naturally. For others, they have to work at it and must plan even their off-handed comments to make certain they reflect faith and affirmation.

The simple fact is anyone can stand in the pulpit and berate the congregation. That’s the easiest thing in the world to do. And with any church, there is enough unfaithfulness and laziness in the pew, a pastor will have no trouble finding just cause and ample ammunition. But it’s almost never the right thing to do. All it does is reinforce the negative response.

I suggest to pastors that they begin the service with a strong statement of Scripture, just a verse or two. It should be memorized and not read. Watch him as he strides to the pulpit. The congregation is expecting him to lead in prayer. Instead, he looks out at the congregation, smiles, and intones confidently, “This is the day the Lord hath made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!” Then he prays.

Or, how about this one. The pastor looks out at the congregation and calls, “The Lord God is a sun and a shield! The Lord gives grace and glory! No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly!” (Psalm 84:11)

Or this one. “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee–so that we may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper and I will not be afraid!'” (Hebrews 13:5-6)

Psalm 18 has so many great statements of faith and trust. I like to begin a service with this affirmation: “I will call upon the Lord who is greatly to be praised! So shall I be saved from my enemies! The Lord liveth! And blessed be the Rock, and let the God of my salvation be exalted!” 18:3,46)

This one may be the best one of all. “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ! For it is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)

Pastor, call your people to believe in the Lord. Remind them of the promises of God. Set the standard.

Remember that the Gospel is good news. When they exit through the front doors, have them believing they have heard good news today.

Jesus looked out at His disciples who were a frustrating mixture of faith and doubt, of faithfulness and waywardness. And He said, “You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth.”

You and I could have made a strong argument with him. “Lord, these people are anything but salt and light! They are ignorant, they are fickle, they are shallow.” And we would have been right.

But the Lord saw them–as He sees us–through eyes of faith. He sees what we are in Him and what we shall become and what the Holy Spirit is going to empower us to do. And He is so excited, He can hardly contain Himself. In fact, He bubbles over, “The works that I do, you will do greater!”

Let the pastor have this kind of faith.