When the Bible uses the word “comfort,” the Greek word (a form of “paraklesis”) is translated in two ways–sometimes as “comfort” and sometimes as “exhortation.”

There are two ways of encouraging a fellow. Sometimes a pat on the back does it; at other times it takes a kick in the seat. It’s a wise leader who knows which is required. It’s an even wiser leader who then knows how to administer just the right dose of the required treatment.

The coach on the sidelines walks over to two players who just muffed a play. This is his team and he knows these young men, so he is well aware what it takes to motivate each one to give his best. To one, he walks over and puts his arm around him. “Bobby, you can do better than that. Come on, man. I believe in you.” He walks over to the other one and yells, “Jason, what in sam hill do you think you’re doing? That was absolutely the sorriest thing I’ve ever seen on a football field! Now, get back in there and show me why I shouldn’t kick you off this team!”

Or something to that effect. Each coach has his own style.

I was checking out at the grocery store down the street and got in the slowest lane. When my turn came, I found out why. We had a trainee on the cash register and a veteran employee was showing her what to do. As the young woman, probably a teenager, rang up the first item, she held the key down too long and it registered that I was buying three of them. Now, the older lady was having to punch in the codes for reversing that action and clearing the printout. It was time-consuming.

I was working overtime not to be impatient, so I said, “Take your time. You’re new, aren’t you?” The teenager nodded, clearly embarrassed. The older woman said, “She’s doing fine. She just has too heavy a touch on that key. I did it myself when I was new.”

I said to the teenager, “You’re blessed to have such a patient teacher. Not everyone is that good with new employees.” She nodded in agreement, and the older woman smiled appreciatively.

I happen to have a little personal experience along that line.

As a recent college graduate, I’d taken a job in the production office of a cast iron pipe company. My boss explained what I was to do, and the young woman and man whose desks sat near mine came over periodically and helped also. One bit of instruction was mentioned only in passing, but it turned out to be crucial.

“See that little box. If the pipe is to be tar-coated, leave it empty. But if the customer wants it enamelined (and that’s how we spelled it), type in ‘EN’ there.”

Simple. Even a kid could do that. Except it was one of a hundred details I was learning all at the same time. And it slipped my mind.

Because of my failure to type in the “EN”, the foundry cast and the shipping department shipped a truckload of the wrong kind of pipe to the customer on the other side of the country. Because of my error, a trucker had to turn around in California and drive that entire load back to Alabama, and the company paid dearly.

My boss was incredible. “Joe,” he said, “that mistake was understandable. You’re new. Just don’t let it happen again.” And I never heard another word about it. As I say, incredible.

I have no doubt that had I repeated the error, the boss would not have been so forgiving the second time. He would have decided that the only way to get me to pay attention to that detail was by making a big issue of it, perhaps to the point of threatening me with the loss of my job. Thankfully, it wasn’t necessary.

An employee who keeps making the same mistake is either not keeping his mind on his job, does not care enough for the job, or is constitutionally unable to do what is being requested. In either case, this is when the boss gets tough. The employee has a duty to get it right and the boss has the right to expect it.

“I don’t like confrontation,” my pastor friend said. I had noticed that. He would allow his staff members and office force to turn in shoddy work rather than confront them. In so doing, he was failing everyone–himself because he deserved better, the employees because they needed a higher standard, the congregation because they expected excellence, and even the Lord Himself who deserves the best.

To the bosses who have trouble dealing with poor performance from an employee, I suggest they try not to handle this by themselves at first, but seek counsel. There is a good reason a person shies away from dealing with problem-causing co-workers, whatever the reason. Therefore, he should not try it until he has talked it out with someone more experienced who can help him find his way.

“I’m meeting with Roger this morning,” I told our school principal. “He’s killing our youth program and I’m going to have to terminate him.”

Roger was a seminary student who was working part-time as our church’s youth minister. He had taken a program with a hundred teens and run most of them off before I became aware of it. This had to be dealt with quickly.

The principal said, “May I make a suggestion?” I said, “I’d welcome one. I dread this.”

She said, “Ask him how he evaluates his work. He may fire himself.” I said, “Great idea.”

An hour later, with Roger comfortably seated in my office, I said, “My friend, how do you evaluate your work as our youth minister?” He said, “I’m not doing a good job. In fact, pastor, I think I’m in the wrong work. I need to resign and go into some other field.”

I looked serious but was inwardly elated. I said, “Really? You think you ought to resign? When?” I was not going to let him talk himself out of that; it’s what I wanted, too.

The difficulty, of course, is knowing when to comfort and when to exhort, when to pat and when to spank.

There’s no shortcut to that, but it’s the result of paying attention to the person, of knowing a little about human nature, of learning about management, and of listening to the inner leadings of the Holy Spirit.

Working with a team of ministers is like parenting a houseful of teenagers. Not for the weak of heart.