Leadership on the Front Foot 2: Personal issues

After a delay, I continue to blog through Zac Veron’s Leadership on the Front Foot—a series that I began some time ago.

In his introduction, Zac explains that

I can be very black and white! I have strong views and I express them in a fairly matter-of-fact way. (p. 7)

I’ll try to review similarly! But my style probably errs towards precision and details. This is a roundabout way of saying sorry to Zac for where I’ve not dotted an ‘i’ in my review.

Zac’s introduction also explains the division of his book’s leadership principles into four categories:

  1. Personal—regarding a leader’s godliness in ministry
  2. Operational—advice on day-to-day ministry concerns
  3. Tactical—what to do over the shorter term in ministry
  4. Strategic—long-term and directional ministry decisions.

The remainder of this blog series will address each section.

1. Be personally prepared

Zac presents four principles under the ‘Personal’ section. The first urges Christian ministers to be personally prepared.

Each principle is developed by the statement of a corresponding error to avoid. In this case, it spells out exactly what Zac means:

Error: Neglecting your own spiritual life and ministry development. (p. 15)

This is a great first point. Time for development so easily slips away. (I’m grateful to the people who suggested that I make reading a regular part of my weekly commitments.)

Given the importance of the topic, I longed for more than the two pages Zac has provided on this. In particular, I wanted more than one paragraph on how to avoid dryness in our spiritual lives as pastors.

Zac is also correct to say that theological college, rightly, focuses on teaching a minister how to handle the word of God correctly. So college does not (and arguably, it cannot, in its context) focus on teaching leadership and strategic planning skills. This is why we need to keep on developing our skills in this area after college or seminary!

To his list of areas in which to develop knowledge and skills (such as financial and legal matters, property management and governance and reporting), I would add IT, AV, time management, graphic design, industrial relations and property development. These are areas in which I have had to develop skills or gain an awareness of as a Senior Pastor.

I also suspect many of these skills are better learned via courses and personal coaching rather than via the conferences that chapter 1’s application guide commends to ministers.

2. Be clear about what needs to be done, and keep doing it

The second principle urges pastors to be clear about what needs doing, and to keep doing it. This excellent chapter urges us not to lose our resolve for a godly and considered change of direction under pressure. You don’t have to keep on doing all the ‘done things’ your predecessor did, or the things expected by your congregation! Zac’s call is a call for the courage of leadership convictions.

I think it might be helpful to make clear that this inflexibility is better applied to matters of principle than to matters of method. There can be more than one way to skin a cat! Being stubborn over an operational method that is gaining absolutely no traction when the same result could be achieved by another method might be silly and needlessly alienating. But inflexibility over a priority adopted for strategic reasons—especially when you can demonstrate the scriptural foundations—is to be commended.

3. Maintain your marriage and watch out for the bonding that takes place when people of the opposite sex share a ministry

Zac’s third principle urges marriage maintenance and the avoidance of sexual relations with someone you are not married to. This is obvious. But it needs to be said, and said again! Zac’s “10 ministry commandments” for ministering to children and people of the opposite sex provide some excellent safeguards that are worth discussing with your pastoral staff and key lay leaders.

I think the critical insight here is that adultery in ministry does not occur simply because raw sexual urges overwhelm pastors. Rather it’s because of the emotional bond that can easily develop among people who share a ministry: it’s this bond that can open the door to sexual sin.

(As a corollary, I have found it easy to err on the side of being overly distant from female pastoral staff and staff wives. However, they still need to be cared for, and a senior pastor has some responsibility to oversee that. Perhaps you could catch up with them in groups, or together with your wife, or by speaking to them in public places—for example, over morning tea after church—from time to time.)

4. A spouse doubles or halves the minister’s effectiveness

The last principle in the first section states that a spouse doubles or halves the minister’s effectiveness. This is a good example of Zac’s dogmatism. Zac makes a wise observation of how things often work—in line with the Proverbs he cites. Obviously it’s best if a pastor’s wife shares her husband’s beliefs and passion for ministry, and also has the character and resilience that would suit a public ministry lifestyle. However, more could be said in this section. It’s just as well that Hosea did not follow Zac’s principle, for his wife’s unsuitability was part of his enacted prophecy (see Hosea 1 and 3!)

More broadly, the Scriptures reveal that God’s strength and grace are often displayed in our weaknesses (e.g. 2 Cor 12:7-10). In addition, think of BB Warfield’s devoted care for his invalid wife—care that restricted his ministry in many ways, and yet adorned the doctrine he preached and defended. (It also perhaps gave him time to write that he otherwise may never have enjoyed.)

And so a spouse’s temperament and interests are important in considering the shape of a person’s ministry. In some cases, it may mean a different course is wiser. But you must never despair and think that your wife’s infirmity or reluctance automatically halves your ministry effectiveness. You might never know this side of heaven how God will turn your weakness towards his glory.

23 thoughts on “Leadership on the Front Foot 2: Personal issues

  1. Yikes – I can’t believe that talk of a spouse being a ‘halver’ or a ‘doubler’ is still current. What a thing to burden spouses with – what a way to manipulate them.

  2. <i>I can’t believe that talk of a spouse being a ‘halver’ or a ‘doubler’ is still current.</i>

    But what if the talk of ‘doubling’ and ‘halving’ is true, in broad general terms? If I were able to claim (and I do) that Fiona doubles my ministry effectiveness, then let the reader judge whether (a) it’s true (b) Fiona or anyone feels manipulated by me having said it.

    Let me go out on a limb, Michael, and say that your wife ‘doubles’ your ministry too, and that if you said it she would not feel manipulated but happy that you had noticed.

  3. Ah, Gordo, I live for the day when I find us in happy agreement. Perhaps we need a thread about creation ‘science’? grin

    Well, we’ve actually had the discussion and Mrs J would not like it at all!

    Does the marriage serve the ministry? Is the wife’s worth to be judged in this way? Does this talk merely encourage husbandly careerism? You wouldn’t want to be rated a halver, now, would you ladies – so you’d better not complain when your husband neglects you…

    GC, we’ve seen that go painfully wrong far too many times.

    Thanks Sandy for mentioning the wonderful example of BB Warfield.

  4. Just imagine Mrs ‘X’. She’s viewed as a halver or even worse a ‘one percenter’. Every morning she gets up and thinks, ‘Oh dear, I’m the cause of Mr ‘X’s one percent ministry today’.  What reason does she have for living?

  5. Remember that Zac requests that his readers don’t just give up on the essence of what he is saying because you find his style abrasive (p7)!

    And he’s aware this particular principle will upset some readers (p35).

    This may be one case where I should have stated his error to avoid, which might have clarified what he meant by his provocative principle – namely marrying a person unsuited for the pressures of ministry.

    He is primarily talking to those not yet married about being thoughtful if you intend to be in ministry about what sort of spouse would be suited. He is also talking about those whom might be especially subject to the pressures of ministry which can cause resentment.

    But he also mentions those whose heart is just not in ministry at all, or whose own career takes priority over all else.

    I still remain uncomfortable with the bluntness of Zac’s generalisation, and stand by what I said. However I hope the extra info might fill out a little his thinking.

    It is certainly not aimed at making a wife feel guilty, for example, because she got sick.

  6. Don’t let him off the hook, now Sandy! grin

    If you are gonna be blunt, then you ought to be able to live with a blunt response, right?

    In which case:

    I think Zac got this one badly wrong, no matter what his good intentions.

  7. <i>Perhaps we need a thread about creation ‘science’?</i>

    That would be good, although I think I’ve changed my mind. wink

    Let me first protect myself by noting that Fiona is more likely to dislike the doubling/having slogan than I have given her credit for.

    But let me also introduce some Bible to the discussion, by arguing that the stereotyping of Proverbs 31 is true. That woman really knows what she is doing. We should be like her, or at least those of the female persuasion should give it a shot.

    Those who feel guilty for not being like her shouldn’t feel guilty, but they should ask themselves what it would take to become like that (and this could include the miracle of God’s grace—let’s be honest here about how far away from the ideal each one of us is)

  8. I think talk of ministry ‘halving’ or ‘doubling’ can be better applied to internet use.

  9. I would have thought that it’s helpful to be prompted think about whether our choices and actions benefit the gospel or work against it. That’s not to say that every action must fall into one of those categories and that there are no other possibilities or outcomes. Should the point be taken literally? No. Can it be a devise? Yes.

  10. Isn’t Paul’s very point in 1Corinthians 7 – when he encourages (those who can bear it) some to remain single – that all wives are reducers of ministry?

    Or have I misunderstood something?

  11. I reckon this is one of the most dubious parts of the book.  Extraordinarily unhelpful

    I mean – seriously, should we divorce our wives because we reckon their halving our ministry?  It’s hardly the attitude to our wives that Paul encourages in Eph 5.

    This type of thinking encourages us to view our wives as burdensome millstones around our necks, rather then gifts from God who we are called to love and serve. 

    It encourages us to look enviously at other wives, wishing they were like Wife X.  Or to look at other men’s wives with contempt – “Thank God my wife isn’t like HER!”.

    By all means – we should be thinking about how best to serve God, as husbands, wives and couples.  But lets do it by encouraging, serving, and loving our wives, not by setting them up in ugly competition to serve our own ends.

  12. BTW – I was just about to email someone at Sola to ask when this review would happen – I’ve been waiting for it for ages!

  13. @Mike: Sandy’s abridged review will appear in the December issue of The Briefing, which we are working on now.

    There will be another five blog posts up on Sola Panel in the next couple of weeks though!

  14. Thank you Sandy for your points of clarification which,in my view,were necessary. I consider that some of the responses have been an overreaction to an obvious and commonsense suggestion to choose a partner for ministry with great care. An unwise decision can lead to great problems in an ongoing ministry and even lead to a necessary decision to leave ministry.This has happened in the past and no doubt will continue in the future.

  15. It’s of courseing true that spouses impact on each other, including in the area of ministry.

    But surely the most significant and direct impact is not on our effectiveness, but on our character.  “How will married life with this person make me more or less like Jesus?” is surely the question we want people to be reflecting on whether or not they are contemplating full-time ministry.

  16. Thankyou Mark – I think that’s helpful.  I’m still not convinced we should be encouraging our young men and women to be picking spouses based on how effective they will make their ministry.

    Instead, it’s much more helpful to think through how married life will make them love and serve Jesus better.

    For the vast majority of people already in ministry, it’s not a case of picking a husband or wife – they are already married.  It’s a case of how, in that relationship, they can best serve God and each other.

  17. I haven’t read Zac’s piece but I doubt that he would be suggesting that you guys should divorce ‘uneffective’ wives. And hopefully we should all be concerned with encouraging our spouses, present and future, to love Jesus more and more and that should be our primary aim in marriage.

    I do think it’s fair, though, for men considering paid ministry to also think about whether the woman they are thinking of marrying would want to go into ministry and could handle the demands that it will entail. To not do so would be unloving and unrealistic. As to how effective their shared ministry would be, our personal and marital godliness is our responsibility and the rest is up to God.

  18. While it is essential that Christians are united in their marriages (whether they go into full time paid ministry or not), I came away from p.35 thinking that Zac’s comments were careless, arrogant and rather sexist.

    I also question whether this principle was necessary as I have rarely met a young minister who was not married. Perhaps a principle on maintaining a happy, unified, fun marriage in full time paid ministry would have been more helpful.

  19. Thanks Ian! I appreciate the encouragement.

    As for doubling Gordo’s commenting, I think there is probably enough of his already! I’m more inclined to think that now you will all realise where his best ideas come from!!

  20. Fiona is right in that Zac is speaking to young ministers in how to choose a marriage partner.

    However, even in this situation, I just don’t think it’s helpful.  It dangerously distorts the relationship between a husband and a wife, and the relationship between paid ministry and vocational ministry. 

    It’s the tail wagging the dog.  The wife does not play second fiddle to the husband.  Nor does marriage play second fiddle to vocational ministry.  Anything that suggests this has gotton things the wrong way around.

    However, I will stand with Gordon, Fiona, and Warren in saying that if considering vocational ministry, a couple should be talking about it before marriage.  and each spouses gifts, abilities, character and opportunities should play a part in how they minister to each other and the world.

    Let me further suggest that we need to stop thinking leaving vocational ministry is a bad thing – especially when the person is doing so out of care for their family.  We should celebrate and thank God when this happens, as it is right and good.  God first.  Marriage second.  Vocational ministry third.

  21. <i>Hey Fiona—great to have you commenting on Sola Panel.</i>

    Oh! Is that my Fiona!? I thought it was another Fiona Cheng!

    Just joshing.

    Hello Fifi.

  22. When considering the ‘demands of ministry’, I have a suspicion that in some (maybe many) cases the ‘demands’ are actually the product of the minister’s ambition. So practically I fear the outworking of such advice might be ‘look for someone who shares your desire to acheive certain goals’. I can imagine the situation where a prospective spouse loves jesus, loves ministry, seeks to serve but just doesn’t want the whole world in the same way the other half does. Is this ‘halving’? No, just sensible.

    Furthermore, what about the unforseen circumstances which come up post wedding cermony? If a value is placed on the amount of ministry done (which is exactly what the original comment alludes to), then an inappropriate bitterness soon sits at the kitchen table when family circumstances change, or when the spouse is not as ‘high capacity’ as first suspected. There is no way of knowing for sure how things will go beofre you are married (our christian values of chaste living ensure this) and the promise of faithfulness no matter what is the higher value, rather than the amount of ministry you can do.

    Yes marriages have a task to serve God as they serve others as a family, but it’s an issue of directing the marriage in this direction rather than having some kind of quantitative goal.

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