If It's a Job, Who's My Boss?

Before we begin, you need to know that the following philosophy might get you fired.

Ministers without a pastor are an enigma to most lay leadership in the church. They act strangely, and make funny noises during worship. They dress oddly and seem to misunderstand the concept of “Office Hours.” This is to say, lay leadership and church staff seem to not get along when the pastor leaves his office. For whatever reason, the staff appears to the lay leadership as being loose cannons and in need of restraint by the church body in order to not tear down the sacred cow that the church has worshiped for so long. The general consensus among most church members is that these staff members are not of the caliber necessary to administrate and lead a church, which is short-hand for, “We think they might make us do something we are uncomfortable doing.”

Maybe this is only true in the limited number of churches in my research pool, but I don’t think so.

As a staff member of the church or as a lay leader of the church, we are among the leaders of the church, not the premiere executive of all decision making. The pastor did not hold such a title either, yet there is a great deal of respect given to the office, and so it should be. But the work of staff and church leadership should not be hindered by the lack of the pastor; especially not hindered by each other. Anyone who finds themselves in a leadership position during the interim time between pastors must be the executive of their own program. All leaders must understand that they will be held responsible for the job that is done during these months or years without a pastor. Part of that executive responsibility is the necessity to coordinate your actions with other programs to ensure that the church is moving forward, and that forward means the same thing to everyone involved. Cooperation of the Saints is a fundamental truth found in the scriptures. There are several of these fundamental truths that can be the foundation of ministry to the Lost as well as the saints while a pastor is not with you.

When in doubt, consult the Word. When the word is not specific about the way a program should be run, don’t worry yourself about what you do, simply bring Him glory in all that you do. However, when the word is specific about an agenda of the new church, or when the scriptures are clear about a philosophy for the believer there must be no more doubt. With all your heart you must champion these elements of Christian life. This will get messy and some people will not like it, but when all is said and done, you must be able to come before your Heavenly Father and receive blessing for the job you have done.

¹¹Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. ¹² We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. ¹³For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ¹⁴For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; ¹⁵and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 2 Corinthians 5:11-15 (ESV)