{"id":15186,"date":"2017-11-29T10:21:18","date_gmt":"2017-11-29T15:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/?p=15186"},"modified":"2017-11-29T14:39:12","modified_gmt":"2017-11-29T19:39:12","slug":"pastor-start-over-every-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/pastor-start-over-every-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastor: Start afresh every year"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Now, team, this is a football!”\u00a0 (Said to have been an opening statement from legendary coach Vince Lombardi after his team’s devastating loss the previous day.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Coach Dabo Sweeney\u00a0sits in the catbird seat.\u00a0 As his team, the Clemson University Tigers, sits atop the latest football poll–making them number one in the nation–they are preparing to face the tough Miami Hurricanes this weekend.\u00a0 Survive that, as they probably will, and Clemson will be set for the championship playoff, two games to decide the final ranking of the 2017 season.<\/p>\n

This morning on ESPN’s “Golic and Wingo,” Sweeney was asked how he gets players not long out of high school\u00a0ready to face these tough challenges.\u00a0 He said two things worth our consideration:<\/p>\n

“I start over every year.”\u00a0 “I try to get buy-in.”<\/em><\/p>\n

A college coach\u00a0trains his leadership\u00a0just the way he wants them.\u00a0 Finally, about the time they are functioning at peak level, they graduate.\u00a0\u00a0A new group of freshmen comes in and the coach\u00a0has to start over.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A coach does, however, have a sizeable cluster of sophomores and juniors who have heard all this before.\u00a0Presumably, they are already on board with the coach’s lessons and will need little prepping.<\/p>\n

But “I start over every year,” said Coach Sweeney.<\/p>\n

He doesn’t assume anything.\u00a0 He presumes nothing.<\/p>\n

At some point, after\u00a0working with\u00a0the athletes, fresh newcomers and seasoned veterans, Coach Sweeney “tries to get buy-in.”\u00a0 Which is to say, he asks each one to commit to this system, to do things the Clemson way, to trust their coaches, to run the plays they are given, to follow the regimen prescribed.\u00a0 Hold-outs, those reserving the right to pass judgment on every decision of the coach, are obstacles and of no help to any team.<\/p>\n

What does this ‘buy-in’ look like?\u00a0 No coach will be extending an altar call, asking people to “make a decision” or sign a commitment card.\u00a0 It’s stronger than that.<\/p>\n

The coach is looking for results.\u00a0 For effectiveness on the field and\u00a0proper behavior off it.\u00a0 That’s how he and his team of assistant coaches know whether they have gotten their message across and the players are on board.<\/p>\n

Getting buy-in.\u00a0 A big, big deal.<\/em><\/p>\n

“For this purpose I wrote to you,” said the Apostle to the church at Corinth, “that I might know the proof of you, whether you are obedient to all things” (2 Corinthians 2:9).<\/p>\n

A good coach knows in a few minutes whether the team has bought into his system.<\/p>\n

But how would “Starting Over and Buying In” work in the church?<\/strong><\/p>\n

How does one “start over” with a congregation every year? The pastor has been there a dozen years, perhaps.\u00a0 He knows his people.\u00a0 They understand how he operates.\u00a0 They’ve settled down into a comfortable co-existence.\u00a0 And they assume things about each other.<\/p>\n

There’s the problem, of course–assuming things about the congregation, assuming things about the pastor.<\/p>\n

–As with the college coach, the pastor has new people on his team every year.\u00a0 They have not heard his story, do not know his philosophy, have no understanding of “how things get done around here.”<\/p>\n

–And as with the coach, some of those who were on the team last year need to be shown again that “this way is the right way.”\u00a0\u00a0 They need to be won over again.\u00a0 (And not RUN over.\u00a0 They need no strong-arm tactics, no “my way or the highway.”)<\/p>\n

What we teach each new incoming class (and the rest of the church)…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Which all raises a question, pastor.\u00a0 Exactly what is your way?\u00a0 What is it you want all the new people to know and understand?\u00a0 What rock-solid principles do you want to keep before the veterans and seasoned workers?\u00a0 What exactly are you asking them to buy into?<\/p>\n

Every pastor has core values and beliefs and standards and “ways.”\u00a0 And we are not talking about gospel verities, kingdom values, or essential doctrines.\u00a0 We are not talking about “saved by grace” and “the integrity of Scripture.”\u00a0 Those should be eternal principles that do not vary from pastor to pastor.<\/p>\n

The pastor’s system is what the church got when he came as pastor.\u00a0 The pastor’s system is how he believes church should be done and how he plans to be leading the congregation.\u00a0 Sitting down and thinking through how he operates and how he wants things done can be a refreshing few hours for a pastor who has never given thought to this before.\u00a0 He might come up with things such as…<\/p>\n

–“We’re all going to be servants.\u00a0 There will be no big-shots in this church, not one person who sits behind the desk and issues orders.\u00a0 We are followers of the One who said ‘I am among you as One who serves.’\u00a0 So, look for every to be a laborer in the Lord’s vineyard.”\u00a0 He wants the staff ministers out of the office and into the community.<\/p>\n

–“We’re going to be accountable to one another.”\u00a0 No one gets a free pass.<\/p>\n

–“We believe in transparency.\u00a0 We do not make decisions in secret and have plans and procedures no one knows about.\u00a0 We will have periodic meetings in which the congregation can ask anything of any of us.\u00a0 Our Lord Jesus said, ‘Everything I had to say, I said in the open.\u00a0 You may ask anyone who heard me what I teach.'”\u00a0 (That’s the gist of John 18:20-21.)<\/p>\n

–“If you want a question answered, ask it.”\u00a0 We will have no\u00a0rumor mills in this church.\u00a0 We will strive to be open and honest in all\u00a0we do.<\/p>\n

–“No pastor likes surprises.\u00a0 So, staff members should always stay close to their leadership.”<\/p>\n

That’s the idea.\u00a0 I can think of fifty more “things” to add to this list, but that’s not the point.\u00a0 The point is for you the pastor to figure out the dozen or so most important principles by which you believe God’s church should be functioning.\u00a0 These you keep before the staff (ministerial staff, office staff, etc) and constantly teach and reinforce with the congregation.<\/p>\n

Why a dozen?\u00a0 Because any more and the list becomes cumbersome, unmanageable, hard to remember.\u00a0 If you can boil the list down further, that’s even better.<\/p>\n

In order to sell them to the workers, the wise pastor finds ways to illustrate them, and reminds the team of the list occasionally.\u00a0 He makes opportunities for the staff to discuss the points openly, and does not assume acquiescence because of their silence.\u00a0 Only faithfulness indicates buy-in to his program and his methodologies.<\/p>\n

And holdouts are not helping the program!<\/strong><\/p>\n

By holdouts in the church, we mean people who sit in judgement on everything the pastor does, criticize every decision he makes, and hold themselves up as some kind of super-spiritual inspectors whose job it is to keep the preacher honest.<\/p>\n

They think they’re being faithful, I expect.\u00a0 But they are an albatross around the pastor’s neck.<\/p>\n

Yes, there is indeed a function of godly people to “examine the Scriptures daily to see if these things are so” (Acts 17:11).\u00a0 But there is a limit to this.\u00a0 Once a pastor is found to be\u00a0faithful and his teachings in line with the Word, that he can be trusted with doctrine and people and finances, we should sit at his feet and learn all we can.\u00a0 We should get behind him and follow his leadership without second-guessing his every decision.<\/p>\n

No Monday-morning quarterbacking allowed either.\u00a0 Give him some slack–room to succeed and room to err–without the “alumni” threatening to withdraw funds from the program or fans cancelling their season tickets.<\/p>\n

Personally, I say to anyone who will listen,\u00a0my pastor is going to get all I can give him.\u00a0 I do this for Jesus’ sake.<\/p>\n

And what if you are the new pastor?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are new with this congregation, the\u00a0membership is like the incoming freshman class and completely in the dark on how you do things.\u00a0 The most foolish thing you could ever do, the most destructive to the church and least helpful to your ministry, would be to start issuing pronouncements on “how we’re going to be doing things around here from now on.”\u00a0 Do that and your ministry will go south quickly and may not survive the trip.<\/p>\n

You have to start fresh with your new congregation.\u00a0 They want to know who you are and how you do things.\u00a0 You must not assume the pastor search committee, as faithful as they were, took care of this for you.\u00a0 This is your job.\u00a0 So, you will be informing the church through sermons and conversations, in committees and deacons and in print, on core values (see above for examples) on “how I believe God wants His church to operate.”<\/p>\n

Your job is to win them over, pastor.<\/p>\n

They will show their buy-in by their response.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the Clemson coach for a great lesson.<\/p>\n

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“Now, team, this is a football!”\u00a0 (Said to have been an opening statement from legendary coach Vince Lombardi after his team’s devastating loss the previous day.) Coach Dabo Sweeney\u00a0sits in the catbird seat.\u00a0 As his team, the Clemson University Tigers, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15186"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15204,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15186\/revisions\/15204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}