-
Chand is not training a few preachers to stand in a pulpit; he
ispreparing a generation of men and women to shake up this
nation.
Bishop Eddie L. Long,Lithonia, Georgia
Samuel Chand is pioneering the church into tomorrow.Bill
McCartney,
Promise Keepers, Denver, Colorado
In the words of my late father, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,
DrChand is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.
Hehas a dynamic way of hitting you with the truth and yet easing
yourpain at the same time.
Bernice A. King,Atlanta, Georgia
Chands keen insights and vast leadership exposure have
preparedhim well for forecasting and setting leadership
directions.
Dr. John C. Maxwell,The Injoy Group
A compelling, modern-day prophet, Chand leads and ministers
outof the integrity of his heart.
Crawford W. Loritts Jr.,Campus Crusade for Christ, USA
He models the reality of a marketplace gospel. I recommend
hisinsights as invaluable.
Paul L. Walker,Church of God, Cleveland, Tennessee
What Other Leaders Are Saying
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I believe in what he has to say, and I am sure you will be
blessed andchallenged by it.
Gerald Brooks,Grace Outreach Center, Plano, Texas
A unique call of God to motivate and prepare leaders for the
twenty-first century.
Kenneth C. Ulmer,Faithful Central Bible Church, Inglewood,
California
Articulate and witty, giving fresh thought and new perspective.
Heis futuristic in his approach, confronting current paradigms and
chal-lenging his readers.
La Fayette Scales,Rhema Christian Center, Columbus, Ohio
This book will awaken your Spirit and challenge your
intellect.Wiley Jackson, Jr.,
Word in Action Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia
Samuel Chand is one of the brightest lights on the horizon of
thechurch today.
Jay Hayford,Van Nuys, California
He epitomizes the aphorism: Leadership begins with vision,
andvision is a holy discontent with things as they are.
Ray Bakke,International Urban Associates, Seattle,
Washington
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Dr. Chands assignment in life is clearly to develop the church
inunprecedented ways into what God has destined it to be at such a
timeas this.
Cynthia L. Hale,Ray of Hope Christian Church, Decatur,
Georgia
Dr. Chand is an emerging voice in the arena of church
leadershipdevelopment. He challenges the church to be relevant and
effective tothe times. His voice is refreshing and thought
provoking.
Tony Morris, Senior Leader,New Covenant Christian Center,
Seattle, Washington
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Copyright 2003 Dr. Samuel R. Chand
Printed in the United States of America
Published by:Mall Publishing Company
641 Homewood AvenueHighland Park, Illinois 60035
Toll Free: 1-877-203-2453E-mail: [email protected]
www.mallpublishing.biz
Cover Design by Andrew Ostrowski
Book Design by Marlon B. Villadiego
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
ortransmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic,
or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by
anyinformation storage or retrieval system,without the
permission
in writing from the publisher.
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are fromthe
King James Version (KJV) of the Holy Bible.
ISBN 0-9741022-7-X
For licensing / copyright information, for additional copiesor
for use in specialized settings contact:
Dr. Samuel R. Chand
950 Eagles Landing Parkway, Suite 295Stockbridge, GA 30281
www.samchand.com
-
T a b l e o f C o n t e n t sCHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
APPENDIX
WHOS HOLDING YOUR LADDER?
WHAT KIND OF PERSON IS HOLDING YOUR LADDER?
FIVE CORE QUALITIES OF LADDER HOLDERS
HOW DO WE RECRUIT VOLUNTEERS?
ARE WE MANAGING LADDERS?
CAN WE TURN LADDER HOLDERS INTO LADDER CLIMBERS?
ARE WE LOOKING UP THE LADDER?
HOW DID JESUS CHOOSE LADDER HOLDERS?
WHOSE LADDER ARE YOU HOLDING?
TEACHING THIS MATERIAL
1
15
25
45
61
81
101
109
115
123
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Who's Ladder 092903.qxd 9/30/2003 1:47 PM Page ix
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1W h o s H o l d i n g Yo u rL a d d e r ?I stared out the
window while I waited for someone
to call me into the sanctuary. I was a featured speakerat a
conference at Evangel Church in Queens, NewYork. As I meditated on
the points I wanted to cover,something in the street below diverted
my attention.
A man stood on a ladder painting-not that uncom-mon a sight. I
smiled, remembering my student days inBible college. I had spent my
summers doing that kindof work. Yet I couldn't take my eyes off the
man. For
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several minutes I watched his graceful motions as hemoved his
brush across the surface.
"I wonder who's holding the ladder for him?" Iasked aloud. I
couldn't see all the way to the streetlevel.
As I stood in pastor Robert Johansson's study, Ikept thinking of
that question. Someone had to be down
there bracing the painter's ladderalthough I couldn't see him.
Myimpression was made while Istared down from about eightfloors
above street level. As Iwatched the man paint the exteri-or wall, I
noticed he could coveronly a limited area. He stretchedas far as he
could to the left andthen to the right and even reachedabove his
head. As I observed him,it occurred to me that he was onlygoing to
the height that he was
comfortable in climbing or reaching. What would allow him to go
higher? I asked myself.
I could see that he stood on an extension ladder, so hecould go
higher-and he would have to if he wanted tofinish the job. If the
ladder reached the top of the build-ing, he still needed one thing.
He had to have someoneon the street level to hold his ladder steady
while heworked.
By himself, the painter couldn't go any farther. Hehad stretched
and reached and done everything hecould by himself. He had to have
help.
Page 2 Whos Holding Your Ladder?
C H A P T E R 1
Whether inmanagement or
systems, the effectiveness of a
leader depends onthe person or
persons who holdthe ladder; those
who are insupport roles.
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As I watched his graceful strokes I thought aboutthat action in
leadership terms. It struck me that,whether in management or
systems, the effectiveness ofa leader depends on the person or
persons who hold theladder-those who are in support roles.
Then another thought struck me: Those who holdthe ladders are as
important as the leaders themselves.
My mind wouldn't let go of that image. As I staredout that
window in Queens, I kept thinking, no leadergets to the top without
those down below who hold theladder. I craned my neck trying to see
the street level,but I never could see who held that ladder.
Then I smiled as my mind shifted to the symbolismof leadership,
success, and peoplein enabling roles. Those who faith-fully support
from the bottom areoften unseen. That doesn't dimin-ish their
importance or the needfor them. It does mean that eventhough their
ministries or theirpositions are every bit as important as the
painter onthe top, sometimes they do their work unnoticed.Sometimes
God may be the only one who knows who'sholding the ladder.
I took the idea even further. I began to think of theladder as
the symbol of the dream-the vision of theleader-and, of course,
that makes the painter thevisionary. Once the visionaries start up
their ladders,ministry can be large, and far-reaching, or narrow,
andconfined. The visionaries could have all the trainingpossible,
the most expensive equipment, years of
Page 3Whos Holding Your Ladder?
W H O S H O L D I N G Y O U R L A D D E R ?
Sometimes Godmay be the onlyone who knows
who's holding theladder.
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experience and knowledge about painting, and couldhave all the
expertise and be extremely passionateabout what they're doing, but
that's not the decidingfactor. The ladder holder determines the
height of theladder climber. "That's it!" I cried out. "Those who
holdthe ladder control the ascent of the visionaries."
LADDERS AND LEADERSHIP
Long after I left the conference in Queens, I contin-ued to
dwell on that idea. I considered how that concept
applies to leadership in businessor in the church. Immediately,
Iremembered three examples (orparadigms as we like to call
themtoday). I first heard them deliv-ered as part of a powerful
messageby pastor Gerald Brooks fromGrace Outreach Center in
Plano,Texas. In a large conference Iattended, he pointed out
that
there are three ways in which we do ministry. The first is to do
everything ourselves. That's how a
number of leaders try to function, especially when
thecongregation is small. Eventually the realization hits:That's
too much work.
The second is to hire it out. Some churches pay oth-ers to take
over part or all of the load. Thats too muchmoney.
The third is to develop others. Some leaders teachpeople how to
do the tasks. Thats too much time.
Page 4 Whos Holding Your Ladder?
C H A P T E R O N E
The ladder holderdetermines the
height of the ladderclimber.
Those who hold theladder control the
ascent of thevisionaries.
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Pastor Brooks pointed out that he had given usthree paradigms
and all of them had drawbacks. "Whatis the wise thing to do?" he
asked.
Obviously, the answer is the third option-to devel-op others.
However, too many church leaders get sobusy painting at the top of
theirown ladders, they don't realizehow much help they need.
Theydon't realize the importance ofdeveloping ladder holders
untilthey're sixty feet above groundand start to look down.
Becausethey didn't teach others to hold theladders for them, a few
visionarieshave fallen. Others have burnedout from overwork and
trying to doeverything themselves. Some havesimply quit trying.
"It's just toohard," they say, "and too lonely."
When I used the term develop-ing others, I carefully chose
thatword instead of training. There isa vast difference between
training people and develop-ing them. Training focuses on tasks;
developing focuseson the person. Training is uni-directional;
developing isomni-directional. We train people to become
reception-ists. When we're finished, they're good receptionists
andthey do their tasks well. We have not developed them sothat they
are ready to move into other positions.
God never intended for the local church to be a one-person
organization. That takes us back to the concept
Page 5Whos Holding Your Ladder?
W H O S H O L D I N G Y O U R L A D D E R ?
Three ways inwhich we do
ministry:The first is to doeverything our-
selves. That's toomuch work.
The second is tohire it out. Thatstoo much money.
The third one is todevelop others.
Thats too muchtime.
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of developing leaders. If we don't develop and equip oth-ers,
we're never going to have the kind of ladder holderswe
need-especially when we want to climb to the high-est rungs.
Perhaps the best way to show how this works is toconsider the
contrast between projects and people. Weleaders need ladder holders
the most when we make thejump from activities to working with
individuals.Projects involve policies, programs, buildings, ideas,
orsystems. Those are fairly stable and easily understood.We can
usually control the variables.
When we move beyond projects, not only have wemade a major leap,
but we also have to change our way
of thinking. We can't treat peoplethe way we treat ideas or
activi-ties. Obviously, most people areegocentric and more
concernedabout themselves than with oth-ers. That is, they don't
naturallycare about serving God or others.That's something they
have tolearn in their growth process.Realizing that fact about
human
nature forces us constantly to scramble for newanswers. We need
to help those we develop to:
understand their purpose, grasp why their roles are important,
cope with disappointment as well as
with success, ignite their passion, be inspired to reach
their fullest potential.
Page 6 Whos Holding Your Ladder?
C H A P T E R O N E
There is a vastdifference betweentraining people and
developing them.Training focuses on
tasks; developingfocuses on the
person.
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Some leaders feel as if they're progressing becauseaction is
going on. They point to the commotion andnoise level around them.
In reality, they may be goingbackward. Having many activitiesisn't
always advancing. The proofcomes when the tumult ceases.That's when
people realize theaction has been taking them back-ward.
For example, this happenswhen leaders move from projectsto
people. Because they're not setup or taught to deal with people,
they end up going backto the projects. That is, they end up
managing ratherthan leading. We lead people, but we manage
things.
Sometimes trying to move from projects to peopleends in messy
scandals, deep-seated anger, and seriousrecriminations. Many things
are happening-even goodthings-but they don't extend the kingdom of
God orenable Christians to grow.
Too many of those who call themselves leaders areactually good
at projects. They can visualize what needsto be done. They are
aware that unless the watersmiraculously part, they'll need to
build a bridge to takethem across the Jordan River. They're often
consciousof the need to get to the other side of the river
whileeveryone else is enjoying the water. They grasp theproblems
involved in making a structure strong enoughor wide enough. Too
often, however, they don't knowhow to get it done because they
don't know how to workwell with people. They're aware only that
they need a
Page 7Whos Holding Your Ladder?
W H O S H O L D I N G Y O U R L A D D E R ?
We leaders needladder holders the
most when wemake the jump
from activities toworking withindividuals.
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bridge built, and they can't understand why everyonedoesn't
volunteer and pitch in to accomplish the task.They are project
leaders.
If they don't have excellent people skills, they focuson
managing others-putting individuals into jobs toget the task
completed. They have little concern for thetalents or interests of
those who are doing the task."Just get it done," is the first
sentence in their vocabu-lary.
This shows a crucial difference in leadership.Project leaders
see the need, andwe admire their concern to getthings finished.
They're not veryconcerned about who does what, so
long as they get the bridge built and the ark of thecovenant and
all the priestly equipment get carriedsafely across the Jordan.
In short, dealing with projects is easier; dealingwith people is
more difficult.
By the time the project leaders set up camp on theeast side of
the Jordan, someone begins to realize thatdoing projects and
building bridges aren't what reallycounts. They need bridges, of
course, but they realizethat the priorities are wrong. In the end,
God's kingdommatures and stretches through people being
edified,appreciated, and developed. In God's eyes, people countmore
than bridges, elevators, escalators, or ladders. Allprojects need
people-but they need the right kind.They especially need the
committed, talented workersto build the bridge correctly.
Page 8 Whos Holding Your Ladder?
C H A P T E R O N E
We lead people, butwe manage things.
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THE RIGHT LADDER HOLDERS
For days after I left Pastor Johansson's church, Ithought about
the ladder holders. I've been aroundthousands of leaders both in
themarketplace and in ministry. I'vecome to one foundational
under-standing: The most importantdecision leaders make-no
matterwhether it's to build a bridgeacross the Jordan or erecting
ladders to scale the wallsof enemy strongholds-is to select the
right helpers. Ifthey don't have the right people holding the
ladder, theproject will fail.
In the church, we need to choose leaders who areinvolved,
active, and already showing their commit-ment to Jesus Christ by
their involvement. In business,we need the same kind of dedication.
When we look atthe qualities we seek, however, before anything
else, weneed to start with integrity.
Does that sound obvious? It may not be. I have afriend who
became pastor of a church where they had aboard of fifteen elders.
Annually, the congregationelected five elders who served three
years. That sound-ed fine, but the problem my friend faced was the
elec-tion of those five elders each year.
He felt frustrated because most of the elders didn'tattend
Sunday school and yet they made decisionsabout the educational
programs. Several of them didn'ttithe, and yet they were the people
who made decisionsabout church finances. Three of them attended
church
Page 9Whos Holding Your Ladder?
W H O S H O L D I N G Y O U R L A D D E R ?
Dealing withprojects is easier;
dealing with peopleis more difficult.
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about once a month and spent more Sundays on the golfcourse than
at worship, and yet they made the decisionsabout evangelism and
outreach.
"Why did you elect him?" the pastor asked about oneelder.
"To honor him. He's been in this church all his lifeand his
daddy was an elder."
"He is one of the best businessmen in the city andpeople respect
his decisions," said another. "He can helpus make good
decisions."
"If we make him an elder," was another response,"maybe he'll get
active as a leader."
"Get him active as a leader," my friend countered,"and then make
him an elder."
It took my pastor-friend two more years of thechurch electing
elders for him to get across the need for
integrity. It took another twoyears before he had a church
boardthat functioned with vision andcommitment. By the end of
thefifth year of his ministry, he hadpeople in leadership who
faithfullyworshiped every week and whogave at least ten percent of
their
income. Some taught Sunday school, sang in the choir,or
participated in study groups. All of them had proventhemselves in
some form of ministry before they becameelders. In short, they were
people of integrity.
Why is this quality so crucial? The answer is thatultimately,
the fulfillment of the vision depends on thepeople who support the
ladder of the visionary leader.
Page 10 Whos Holding Your Ladder?
C H A P T E R O N E
In God's eyes,people count more
than bridges,elevators,
escalators, orladders.
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Here's an example of how this works. I can changethe light bulb
in the ceiling in my living room. That'snot a big problem because
all I need is a six-footstepladder. I can stand on whatever rung I
need toreach the fixture. I don't need anyone to hold my
ladder.
What happens if the bulbs on the outside that illu-minate my
driveway need changing (they are two sto-ries up from the ground)?
I can't change them frominside the house or by leaning down from
the roof. Theonly way to get the bulbs changed is to use a
twenty-footladder.
To stand twenty feet above the ground on a piece ofwood eighteen
inches by six is scary enough. What hap-pens if the ladder begins
to sway? What happens if I getup there and reach just an inch too
far to the left? Yes,I need someone to hold my ladder.
A situation like that actually happened to me. Oneevening we had
invited friendsover to celebrate the birthday ofour daughter,
Rachel. She hadturned eighteen. My wife Brendahad worked hard
getting the houseready for guests. Earlier in theweek she had given
me a few out-door chores to do, and one of them was to change
thefloodlights. I had forgotten to do that task.
Fifteen minutes before our first guests were due, Iwent to snap
on the outside lights and they didn't comeon. Then I remembered: I
had forgotten to put in a newbulb.
"I'll get it done," I yelled as I raced into the garage,
Page 11Whos Holding Your Ladder?
W H O S H O L D I N G Y O U R L A D D E R ?
The most important decisionleaders make is to
select the righthelpers.
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grabbed a bulb, and pulled out my fold-up, handydandy, Home
Depot ladder. I set it up next to the
garage. Then I turned around andlooked at the distance from
theground. Until that moment, I had-n't realized how high the light
wasfrom the ground. I was experi-enced in climbing up and
downladders, so I shrugged. Just onebulb-no big deal-and I
startedclimbing. About two-thirds of the
way up, I felt the ladder begin to wobble-just a little-but
enough that I knew it wasn't safe to keep going.
"Rachel! Come and help," I called. "I need you tohold the ladder
for me."
My daughter came outside and stared at me, notsure what she was
supposed to do. She leaned forwardwith an arm on each side. I
smiled at her naivet.
"No, you have to hold this so that when I get up tothe top the
ladder doesn't wobble and cause me to fall."
I came down and asked her to stand in front of theladder. "Now
you curl your toes at the bottom." Ishowed her how.
"These are my new shoes!""What do you want?" I asked and
laughed. "Do you
want scratched shoes or a father with a broken leg?" She wanted
to run in and change shoes first, but it
was almost time for guests. Impatiently I said, "No.Right now I
don't care about your shoes. Just hold theladder."
She held the ladder just as I had shown her. When
Page 12 Whos Holding Your Ladder?
C H A P T E R O N E
Ultimately, thefulfillment of thevision depends on
the people whosupport the ladder
of the visionaryleader.
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I reached the top, however, the old bulb broke as I
wasunscrewing it, and the metal section stayed in the out-let. I
had to climb down the ladder, hurry inside thehouse, turn off the
breaker, and grab pliers to unscrewthe metal residue.
When I went back up, Rachel faithfully held the lad-der. (She
didn't scuff her shoes.)As I came down, I realized theimportance of
what she had done.To my daughter, holding the lad-der had seemed
like such a mean-ingless chore. To me, it was a safe-ty issue. I
would not have been able to change that lightif she or someone had
not held my ladder.
As I put away my equipment, I thought, that's theway it works in
the church and in the business world.The higher we need to go, the
more important ladderholders become. It was one of those great
moments ofinsight to me. I've always valued people, but in
thatinstant, I realized the absolute necessity of
seeking,recruiting, and training individuals to hold ladders ordo
any other leadership function.
Since that day in Queens, the message of holdingladders has
become increasingly significant to me. As Itravel around the
country, I sometimes ask, "Who isholding your ladder?" I'm
convinced that all successfulpainters who are able to reach high on
the building doso because of those below who are steadying them
whilethey work and fulfill their vision.
Those who insist on doing everything themselvescan still
paint-but not very high and not very
Page 13Whos Holding Your Ladder?
W H O S H O L D I N G Y O U R L A D D E R ?
The higher we needto go, the more
important ladderholders become.
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-
effectively. And because they insist on doing it them-selves,
it's not very safe or sensible.
C H A P T E R O N E
Page 14 Whos Holding Your Ladder?
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"I'm a nobody.""I don't make any difference. No one even
misses
me when I'm absent.""I just answer the telephone in our office
and do
a little word processing. Anybody can do what I do.""I'm not a
preacher or a singer, so I'm just one of
the lesser lights in our church."Those are typical of the kind
of responses I've
heard from individuals-the support people-those
2W h a t K i n d O f P e r s o n I s H o l d i n g Yo u rL a d d
e r ?Who's Ladder 092903.qxd 9/30/2003 1:47 PM Page 15
-
who are just as important in their own supportingroles as the
stars of the show.
I want to be clear about identifying ladder holders. They are
the foundation of any
organization. They are the ones who allow leaders to
reach their highest potential. They have the ladder held so
securely that
the leaders don't have to fret orconstantly worry if they'll
fall.
In the previous chapter I asked, "Who is holdingyour ladder?"
Now I ask, what kind of person is hold-ing your ladder? Let's look
more closely at those weaccept, enlist, recruit, or hire to hold
our ladders.
The most obvious point is we can't just throwanybody into the
job.
To give an idea of the importance of this role, I'lluse myself
as an example. Iweigh about 155 pounds and I'mfive feet eight, so
I'm not a heavyperson. Let's say you decide toclimb a ladder that
reachestwenty feet. I might be able tohold your ladder if the
ground istotally level. What happenswhen you decide to ascend a
forty-foot ladder? You don't want just anybody downat the
bottom.
At conferences, I often illustrate this. I look forone of the
largest men in the audience and then askhim to come up to the
platform and stand next to me.
Page 16 Whos Holding Your Ladder?
C H A P T E R T W O
Ladder holders arethe foundation ofany organization.They are the
oneswho allow leaders
to reach theirhighest potential.
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I make certain he towers over me by at least six inch-es and
weighs fifty or more pounds more than I do.
As the man stands next to me, the differencesbetween us are too
obvious to comment on. "If youwere climbing a forty-foot ladder,
whom would youchoose to hold that ladder?" I ask the
audience.Obviously, they always choose the other man.
"Look at me! I'm a great ladder holder," I say."You don't know
this, but I have a PhD in ladderholding. I love holding ladders.
There's nothing I feelbetter about than doing just that. It gives
me suchdeep joy and inner satisfaction. Besides that, I havelearned
beautiful techniques. Why, I can hold anyladder with two fingers
and use only one foot. WhenI hold a ladder, I am so graceful, it
looks as if I'm pos-ing for a sculptor. Besides, I've held many
ladders inmy life. I have also held ladders in Kenya, India,
andAustralia, so I'm an international ladder holder. Allright, a
few ladders did shake a little, but so far noone has fallen-I mean,
not yet."
I point to the man next to me. "You don't knowanything about him
and you haven't questioned himabout his experience. Yet just
looking at us, you'drather have him hold your ladder when you have
toclimb forty feet high. Why would you choose this less-experienced
person over me?"
"He's taller.""He's stronger.""He's bigger than you."I don't
blame the audience. If I had a choice, I'd
want someone who is heavier and stronger than I am
Page 17Whos Holding Your Ladder?
W H AT K I N D O F P E R S O N I S H O L D I N G Y O U R L A D D
E R ?
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to be at the bottom of my ladder. The principle works in any
form of leadership.
Leaders call for the bigger man because their livesare on the
line. The higher the climb, the strongerthe person they want at the
bottom. That just makescommon sense.
I also discovered that the audience didn't careabout my
education, and theydidn't want to know that I couldpose gracefully
while I did myjob. They wanted physicalstrength-assurance they
wouldbe safe when they reached thirty
feet, forty, fifty, and even sixty. "We want someone strong
enough to hold the lad-
der so we can feel safe," someone usually yells out.
NEGATIVE QUALITIES
We don't always want to pick the person who islargest. It
depends on the task. Strength is impor-tant, but often we have
other qualities we need. Oneway to see this is to focus on the
qualities we don'twant.
What does this say to us who are in leadershiproles?
We need to pick the right people to do the job wewant done.
Here are the kinds of people we don't want tohold our
ladders.
1. We don't want those who need constant
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We need to pick theright people to dothe job we want
done.
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reminding. When I know I'm going to have to make afifty-foot
climb, what kind of person do I choose? Aswe think about the tasks
in our church or businessthat need doing, whom will we ask?
It's stressful and frustrating if we have to say tosomeone on
Sunday morning, "Don't forget. Youpromised to help me Tuesday
night." What a chore itis if we have to call that same person two
hoursbefore the scheduled time and say, "I just wanted toremind you
that we start at 7:30 tonight."
We have many people like that in our businessesand in our
churches. For instance, I'll tell you abouta man I'll call Hector.
He had the nicest smile of any-one I've ever seen. "Would you come
over Fridaynight and help?" I once asked. He agreed and prom-ised
that he wanted to do anything he could to helpme.
It didn't take me long to realize that Hectorwould do
anything-that is, if I reminded himenough times. This is slightly
exaggerated, but itseemed that by Tuesday, I'dhave to call and
remind himwhat I wanted him to do. OnWednesday, I'd have to tell
himwhat time I wanted him at thechurch. Thursday, I'd have tocall
again just to make sure hehadn't forgotten and planned to do
something else.
This doesn't apply only to Hector, because he hasbrothers and
sisters-and the church and the mar-ketplace is filled with them. If
I make all the
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I want to makesure that my ladderholder understandswhat I'm
trying to
accomplish.
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arrangements and then explain in simple detail,they'll do what I
want. Some of them will come on theright day, but I can also expect
them to arrive atleast fifteen minutes late.
Others want to help, but I have to explain everystep about how
to do the job. It's the same job Iexplained three weeks earlier and
will need to clari-fy again in another three weeks.
What do we say about people like Hector? "By the time I get
through telling him I might as
well do it myself," is the common reaction.Sometimes we're so
tired of those who need con-
stant reminding that we try to mount the steps byourselves
without any support. That's a mistake. Wehave focused so much on
the negative ladder holders,we forget there are other, dependable
individuals wecan call on.
2. We don't want those who behave casually.Here's a question
every business and church leaderneeds to ask: "Are the people I
hire or recruit inten-tional about their work?" If Elmer holds my
ladderwill he curl all his toes and hold the ladder with bothhands?
Or will he have one hand draped casuallyacross one of the rungs and
a cup of Starbucks coffeein the other? Will he sip his coffee and
carry on a con-versation with someone across the street while I'mup
there painting? I hope not. If Elmer is going tohold my ladder I
want his total attention.
I want to make sure that my ladder holder under-stands what I'm
trying to accomplish. Think of thevarious volunteer jobs in the
church, such as being
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an usher. For example, I finished a conference inAlbuquerque,
New Mexico, on Saturday night andhad planned to take the overnight
flight back toAtlanta. Because of bad weather in the east,
theflight was canceled and I could not get out until mid-day
Sunday. I picked a church near the hotel andwent inside.
Two ushers stood in the doorway chatting abouta gospel concert
one of them had attended. They bothheld bulletins in their hands. I
paused, stared atthem, but they were too involved to notice me. I
wait-ed a few seconds and asked, "May I have a bulletin?"
"Oh, sure," said one of them as he handed one tome and then took
a step backward so that I could getthrough. As soon as I passed,
the two men picked uptheir conversation. I wouldn't want either of
them tobe a ladder holder for me!
What about the people in the parking lot whodirect traffic? As
the lot gets full, are they alert tohelp people find space for
their cars? What about thefriendliness of our nursery workers? What
about theminister of music or choir director? Do they careabout
serving or only performing?
How about the church office? Is the receptionistanswering phones
intentionally or casually? That is,does the receptionist make each
caller feel special oract as if it's a minor intrusion on her time?
Are peo-ple promptly returning their voice-mail messages?
Haven't most of us walked into an office andwaited for several
minutes while the receptionistfinishes a personal call? I've even
had receptionists
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ignore me when I say, "Excuse me." Sometimes with-out ever
looking up at me the person behind the desksays sharply, "Just a
minute." On one occasion awoman was filing her nails and barked at
me, "Can'tyou see I'm busy?"
When I've spoken about such situations in confer-ences, one or
two business people walk up to me laterand refer to these negative
qualities. They say some-thing like, "That makes more sense for me
than any-thing else." They realize the importance of the
inten-tional focus of everyone in their organization.
3. We don't want resum builders. Who are theresum builders?
They're the kinds who, whilethey're holding my ladder, aren't
giving me theirtotal attention. They're looking around at other
things they'll do after they've fin-ished with me. I'm only a
tempo-rary job until the real job comesalong. They do the
work-barely-but that's not their realarea of interest. They're
looking
around for the brighter light, the shinier ladder, orthe taller
building. They're not committed to whatthey're doing now; they're
thinking of what theywant to do in their next position.
I want people to have their eyes on me while theyhold my ladder.
Too often, especially in the market-place, those who are supposed
to hold ladders areonly holding on enough to appear to be
working.They're working-but not on the ladder. They'repositioning
themselves for the next job.
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As leaders, we needto choose those who
are committed to us.
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This means that when we select ladder holders,as leaders, we
need to choose those who are commit-ted to us. If we're going to be
forty feet in the air, wedon't want someone who may wave as she
leaves usand moves on to hold a larger ladder down the streetwhile
we're still up in the air.
4. We don't want unhappy people. I've neverunderstood why
somebody would keep going to thesame church for thirty-eight years
and leave madevery Sunday. Most of us know individuals like thatin
our church. We also know them in the market-place. They're unhappy
when they come, and they'reangry when they leave. The music will be
too loudone week and not lively enough the next. The pastorprayed
too long or didn't preach enough gospel.
Think of a situation like this. Suppose Amos goesto the ABC
Barbeque on Friday night. He tellsPastor Green they have lousy
food, slow service, andhigh prices."
"That's terrible," Pastor Green says. The following week, Amos
says, "I ate at the ABC
Barbeque again Friday night. They still have lousyfood, slow
service, and high prices."
Every week Amos will complain about the restau-rant but he won't
stop going there. Doesn't someoneneed to say to him, "Go somewhere
else to eat"? I'veoften said to pastors, "Some of your members
couldget their healing if they just parked their car atsomebody
else's church."
We don't apply the same common sense to theperpetual grumblers
in our congregations. They've
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been unhappy for forty-three years. The chancesaren't very good
that they'll change.
5. We don't want people just to agree. When I wasa pastor, I
became aware of people who would agreewith all my plans and ideas.
"Oh, yes, yes, pastor,"she might say. "I'll help you on the
building plan. I'mthere to help you with a new and more focused
min-istry to women, and I'll support you as you push thatmen's
ministry." She also wants to help me with theyouth choir.
Then, as the visionary leader, I started thoseprojects. I
started climbing the ladder, calmly andanxiety free. After all, she
said she'd be there to sup-port me. I'd get up fifteen feet and
look down. Shewasn't there! I'd start to move upward, trying to
holdthings steady, and realize that the higher I climbedthe more
help I needed at the bottom. I didn't knowwhere she was, but if I
could find her, I'm sure theconversation would start like this:
"You promised to hold my ladder.""Yes, yes, of course, I'll help
you. I know you're
doing the right thing."
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If I'm climbing, I want to be sure that my sup-porters know what
I'm trying to do when I'm alone atthe top with my paint buckets,
brushes, and scrap-ers. Do those at the ground understand what I'm
try-ing to accomplish? Do they realize that I can't paintover
cracked paint because I must first chip away theold? Or do they get
impatient and yell, "Just put afresh coat over the old stuff"?
I also want to make this clear: Those who are
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gripping the ladder don't have to agree with my tac-tics or
methods. They do, however, need to under-stand where I want to go
even if they would havetaken a different route. They do have to
believe in myvision and agree with where I'm going.
But what if they don't have the vision? What ifthey don't have
any idea whereI'm going? How much will I beable to depend on them
and theircommitment to my vision?
For example, let's say I visitJoyful Tidings Church nextSunday
morning and they have100 people in the worship serv-ice. I wait
outside until churchservice is over. I hold a taperecorder in my
hand. As each
person steps forward I ask, "What's the vision of
thischurch?"
How many answers will I get? Could I count ontwenty people out
of the hundred to give me thesame answer? I don't mean a memorized
statementor something simplistic such as "Our vision is to
savesouls." The church may not have an evangelistic pro-gram and no
one has joined the church in two years,but is that still the
vision? Not likely.
What happens at Joyful Tidings Church when Iask? If they don't
know the vision, how can they be intune with the pastor? They may
love the pastor andnod appreciatively at the sermons every week.
Theymay enjoy the music program and feel inspired by
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Those who aregripping the ladderdon't have to agreewith my
tactics ormethods. They dohave to believe in
my vision andagree with where
I'm going.
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the worship. But that's still moving in the realm ofprojects.
The sermon is a project; the music is a proj-ect. What is the
vision?
Because I raised that issue myself several times,I started
asking myself a question. If I had to find aladder holder what core
qualities would I seek? Whatwould they have to have for me to
consider them asclass A, number one, top-notch, eagle, ladder
hold-ers?
I came up with five qualities I'd insist on. Thereare others I'd
like to see and that I would hope for.But these are the essentials
for ladder holders.
TThhee ffiirrsstt qquuaalliittyy iiss ssttrreennggtthh.. They
have to bestrong. By that, I mean they must be people who canhandle
instruction and criticism, with whom I canuse plain language and
not have to walk on eggshellsand fix things for them. That means
that if they needto be corrected in certain areas they can change
themwithout my having to worry about how much I'mgoing to hurt
their feelings.
I'm not referring to being crass, rude, arrogant,or obnoxious.
For example, let's focus on the personrunning the sound system.
Last Sunday morning thesound system reverberated at times and
caused meto shudder. At other times, the amplification was solow
that people strained to hear what I said.
I don't want excuses or lengthy explanation, andthis is more
important than whether the sound engi-neer slept well the night
before. This is ministry-service-to the body of Jesus Christ.
"The sound wasn't right," I need to be able to say
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and then add, "Do whatever you have to do to makeit happen.
People can't worship when they have toclamp their hands over their
ears."
I expect the sound engineer to know how to takecare of those
things. When I speak that way, I'm nottrying to hurt feelings; I'm
just conducting business.
In the church, however, we know that some mem-bers are so
fragile we can hardly correct them with-out their getting upset.
"I'm doing my best, youknow," they may say. "Why are you always
pickingon me? Why don't you like me? Why do you find faultwith
everything I do?"
We need strong ladder holders-those strongenough to take
criticism and who want to do better.
To use the ladder imageagain, I can't be sixty feet in theair
and have to yell down to rem-edy the mistakes my holder ismaking. I
need someone strongenough to do the task right andto be secure
enough that I canyell down instructions and know
the person will listen.Another way I explain this is to say,
"The greater
the need, the shorter the prayer." If I were drowningI wouldn't
say, "Oh God, The Everlasting Father ofAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
the Almighty One whowas, is, and ever shall be, hallowed be thy
name,seeth thou that I drownest? Throwest me a rope thatI may cling
to safely even as I am always safe in theold rugged cross."
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We need strongladder holders;
those strongenough to take
criticism and whowant to do better.
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No, I'm going to scream, "Help, God!" I won'tworry about whether
I addressed the entire Trinityor only Jesus. I won't be concerned
about whether Iconcluded with "In Jesus' Name Amen." I'm too
busytrying to stay alive!
Hence, the greater the need, the shorter theprayer. And when I'm
up there on a forty-foot ladderthe need is great. It's not an
option-I must have peo-ple holding the ladder who can handle
instructions intwo to three words and be able to do it quickly.
TThhee sseeccoonndd qquuaalliittyy iiss
aatttteennttiivveenneessss.. They need tobe able to pay attention,
be alert to what I'm sayingand absorb it quickly. I don't want to
give them thesame lessons repeatedly.
Can't we assume that if James and Martha havebeen ushering for
twenty-seven years, they ought toknow what they're supposed to do?
Those who cleanthe church ought to know where every wastebasketis.
Those who sing in the choir ought to know thetime they're supposed
to be there to rehearse onWednesday night and what time they're
expected tobe in their robes on Sunday morning.
We don't have to chase after attentive peoplerepeatedly. They
understand the first time.
TThhee tthhiirrdd qquuaalliittyy iiss ffaaiitthhffuullnneessss..
I'm not refer-ring to having faith in the Lord. That's assumed
ifthey're going to serve in the church. I'm talkingabout having
faith in me as their leader and beingcommitted to me.
I learned very early in my own ministry that ifthey aren't
faithful to me-if they aren't committed
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to the same vision I am-they'll abandon me. Theworst thing is
that they run away, not before I startand not when I explain what I
want. They nod, smile,and agree, but as soon as I'm fifteen feet
away, theyabandon me.
I need people who remain at the ladder no matterhow difficult
things become. As long as I'm up there,the faithful show me that I
can be assured they'redown below. They don't need my constantly
yellingdown, "You're doing a great job. You're wonderful."They're
steady and I know I can count on them.
TThhee ffoouurrtthh qquuaalliittyy iiss ffiirrmmnneessss.. By
that I meannot exploited by manipulative people. In everychurch and
in every corporation there are manipula-tive types. Al Qaeda
terrorists aren't new-only thename. Terrorism in the church is
nothing new, butit's usually cloaked in ecclesiastical language,
hiddenin the by-laws, or made to sound spiritual andappealing. The
ultimate goal of church terrorists iscontrol and destruction. That
sounds harsh, I'm sure,but that's what they're after.
They may speak in pious language such as, "TheHoly Spirit led
me," or say, "The Lord spoke to myheart." They may be extremely
self-deceived or justmean spirited. It doesn't matter which because
theend is the same. They want to destroy the presentplans and
operations. They do it in so many ways,but the one I've noticed
most often is what I callseductive manipulation.
An illustration may help-and it's an embarrass-ing one at that.
My first serious awareness of
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seductive manipulation came about when I was
atwenty-six-year-old assistant pastor of a church inOregon. A few
of the leaders began to call me aside.They flattered me and told me
how much theyadmired my ministry and loved my commitment.
"You know, we really enjoy it when you preach.When you're in the
pulpit we get something out ofthe service," they would say and
throw their armsaround me. "We wish you could preach every
Sundayand every Tuesday."
Until then I had never thought of such a thing. Ihad come to
assist the senior pastor.
"You feed us when you preach or teach. You'reanointed and you
understand. The pastor just does-n't speak to us. His messages are
all right, butthey're just not relevant to our needs."
This kind of conversation didn't happen just once,but over a
period of weeks. I was young, nave, andegocentric. Very stupidly, I
allowed them to manipu-late me by their constant ego stroking.
Instead ofbeing the faithful ladder holder I should have been
Istarted enjoying those conversations. At first, I lis-tened and
thanked them. When I walked away, I'dfeel really special and
anointed.
It wasn't long before I participated in the conver-sations.
"You're right. He just doesn't understand theneeds of people
today."
I still remember at a business meeting wherethere was a
particularly important item on the agen-da. Several of the
elders-the ones who had beenstroking my ego-had convinced me that
the plan the
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pastor wanted to put into action was unwise. Hespoke and
explained exactly what he wanted to seehappen.
"May I say something?" I asked. When the pastornodded, I stood
up. I strongly disagreed with every-thing he had said. Point by
point, I argued againstwhat he wanted done. My seductive
manipulatorshad done a good job on me.
I was wrong. I think I knew that thirty secondsafter I began to
speak. However, I didn't know howto back down and say, "I'm sorry."
My words carried,and we vetoed something the pastor was
committedto. I should have been his senior ladder holder and Ihad
not only waffled, but I had worked against him.I wasn't the firm
assistant he deserved.
God has a way of evening things out. The follow-ing year when I
was a pastor in Michigan, I reapedthe fruit of the bad seed I had
sown in Oregon. I wasthen the senior pastor and the same type of
seductivemanipulators moved in on my territory.
Through that sad experience, I learned threeimportant
lessons:
1. If we disagree with our leader we don't do sopublicly. We
need to discuss it with that person inprivate.
2. If we disagree, we ought to search our motivesbefore we
speak. We need to be sure that others don'tset us up. They won't
speak up themselves, but theywill find nave and trusting souls to
do the work forthem.
3. If we disagree, we should be sure we don't do it
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for personal gain. I didn't get it at the time, but
thosemanipulators had instilled a desire in me to becomethe senior
pastor. Because of them, I coveted a posi-tion that God had not
called me to.
As I've thought with much shame about mybehavior in Oregon, I
realized-too late-that my agenda wasnot that I disagreed and
wantedto express my viewpoint. Mysecret agenda was that I wantedto
look smarter, brighter, andbetter informed than the seniorpastor.
Those seductive manipu-lators were using me-just asSatan used Eve
in the Garden ofEden. And just like Eve, I wastoo nave to realize
what wasgoing on-until it was too late.
TThhee ffiinnaall qquuaalliittyy iiss llooyyaallttyy.. Ido not
mean they must agree all the time. Loyaltydoesn't mean repeating,
"Yes, yes, yes," no matterwhat the visionary says.
I have formulated three sentences that explainwhat I mean.
1. You may disagree with my head but not myheart.
2. You may disagree with how I do things but notwhy I do
things.
3. You may disagree with my methods but not mymotivations.
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1. If we disagreewith our leader we
don't do sopublicly.
2. If we disagree,we ought to searchour motives before
we speak3. If we disagree,we should be surewe don't do it
for
personal gain.
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PASTOR OR CEO
When I first went to Beulah Heights BibleCollege as president in
1989, Ididn't have a background inhuman resources. We had
sevenpeople on our staff at that time-four of them part time and
threefull time. (Fourteen years later,we had more than ninety
peopleon staff.) Over the years I'velearned a few lessons about
lad-der holders that might be helpfulto those who hire and
fire.
Although my experience hasbeen largely with personnel atBeulah
Heights Bible College,these principles carry through inpastoral
situations as well.Almost any week in the year, Ihave conversations
with pastorswho have problems with paidstaff. They have a difficult
jobtoday. On one hand, they arepastors-that means they'reshepherds
who care for thesheep. On the other hand, theyare the Chief
Executive Officers(CEOs) and the congregationholds them responsible
for the
smooth running business of the church.
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The five essentialqualities we seek:
1. Strength. They have tobe people who can handleinstruction and
criticism.
2. Attentiveness. Theyought to be alert to whatI'm saying and
absorb itquickly. I don't want togive them the same les-
sons repeatedly.3. Faithfulness. They
must have faith in me astheir leader and be
committed to me. If theyaren't faithful to me-ifthey aren't
committed tothe same vision I am-
they'll abandon me4. Firmness.
Manipulative peoplewon't be able to
exploit them. 5. Loyalty. They don't
always have to agree, but(1) They may disagree
with my head but not myheart. (2) They may
disagree with how I dothings but not why I do
things. (3) They maydisagree with my
methods but not mymotivations.
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The first thing I've learned is that even thoughthey are both
pastor and CEO, they can't be both atthe same time. I try to help
them understand the dif-ference between the two and when to give
priority toone and when to the other.
It may help if I explain it this way. Let's say I'mthe senior
minister at FirstSpiritual Church. To every paidstaff member, I am
the CEO firstand the pastor second. Thatmeans I must first do the
busi-ness of the church with them.When I have accomplished that,I
can function as their pastor. If I get the orderwrong, I am in
trouble and so is the organization.
To every church member, I am the pastor firstand the CEO second.
I must be able to reach out tothem as those who need to be
nurtured, strength-ened, encouraged, rebuked, and disciplined.
WhenI've performed my pastoral duties, I can function asthe CEO. If
I get this wrong, then it's back to thematter of putting projects
before people. If I see themembers only as the means to accomplish
what Iwant done, then I'll manipulate, threaten, coerce, orflatter
them into fulfilling my agenda.
When I function as CEO with paid employees, thefirst lesson we
learned is that we hire people forwhat they know; we fire them for
who they are.
We may hire the musician because she can makethe simplest music
sound like a concerto in everypiece she plays. We fire her because
she has a bad
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Even though theyare both pastor andCEO, they can't be
both at the sametime.
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attitude. We hire an office manager because he is acomputer whiz
and understands spreadsheets, profitand loss, government
regulations, and knows all thelatest software. We fire him because
he can't getalong with people.
What do we do when it's time to put someone onstaff? My
suggestion is that we need to re-think ourpolicy. We want competent
people, obviously. Butwhen we select ladder holders, we need to
spendmore time with who they are rather than what theyknow.
I can read their resums and I can talk to peoplethey've worked
for and with. That is important. But
I also know that troubles in thejob usually start over
personalityissues and not over competency.Once hired, they will
give me joyor grief. With few exceptions, thepeople I have fired I
have termi-
nated because of their attitudes. Rarely have I had toget rid of
someone for lack of ability to do the job.
This leads me to the second lesson I've learned:Hire slowly and
fire quickly.
It's better to have a vacancy than to have badhelp. Suppose the
doctor diagnoses you with cancer,says surgery is the only option,
and asks, "Whenwould you want it scheduled?"
I'm guessing you'll say, "As soon as possible."As a leader, a
good question to ask ourselves is
this, Why do I tolerate incompetent staff? Why do Iallow them to
infect the rest of the staff with their
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We hire people forwhat they know;we fire them for
who they are.
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bad attitude? Here is the way I like to say it: Don'trush hiring
decisions; don't delay firing decisions.
The third lesson I've learned is this: The besttime to fire
somebody is the firsttime it goes through your head.We tend to get
our roles confusedagain here. Instead of thinkingas a CEO and for
the good of theorganization, we tend to switchto our pastoral role
and figureout ways to excuse or overlookproblems serious enough
that we'd consider termi-nating them.
I've also learned that if the situation is seriousenough to fire
people and we don't, after that webegin to search for reasons to
keep them.
About the time I figured out this third lesson, Ispotted an
advertisement in USA Today 1 by RandallMurphy, the founder and
president of the AcclivusCorporation. I don't know much about
Acclivusexcept that their clients include major organizationssuch
as Dunn and Bradstreet, Exxon, Mobile, Dell,FedEx, Dr.
Pepper/Seven-Up and Roadway Express.The ad read: "When you are
assigned the task of tak-ing the hill-or the market-you are less
concernedabout who is for you and more concerned about whois with
you."
Those words impacted me and I read the sen-tence several times.
I've translated Murphy's state-ment into the business of the church
such as when acongregation starts a new building program.
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Hire slowly andfire quickly.
Don't rush hiringdecisions; don't
delay firingdecisions.
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Those who make pledges are for us; those whopay their pledges
are with us. We don't have to beinvolved with churches very long
before we recognizethat there is a large gap between those two
groups.
Just because people say, "I'm for you," that isn'tthe real
issue. The real issue is what happens intheir lives. Do they do
what they promise? Do theyfaithfully follow their words by their
actions?
THREE LEVELS OF LADDER HOLDERS
I've already mentioned the five things we have towatch for that
tell us who those ladder holders are.
From there, I started thinkingabout what happens with
ladderholders in a church.
I concluded that there arethree levels of ladder holders.
First, there are the followers.This word can refer to
everybodyin the congregation.
Second are the ministers.They feel God has called them,empowered
them, and giftedthem to serve in the church.When I use the word
minister, I
don't mean ordained ministers and pastors, althoughit may
include them-I refer to all of those who havea heart to serve
others.
Third are leaders. They minister through others.They don't have
only a sense of calling; they also
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The best time tofire somebody is
the first time it goesthrough yourhead If the
situation is seriousenough to fire peo-ple and we don't,
we begin to searchfor reasons to keep
them.
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have passion-and that passion is to see God workthrough others.
True leaders don't try to deceivethemselves into thinking they can
or even want to doeverything. They're willing to empower and
trustothers. Ministers do service primarily by themselves;leaders
do service through others.
Throughout my years of serving in the church, wehave ruined many
good ministers by shoving theminto leadership. Here's an exam-ple
of what I mean. Let's say thatJosh has a passion for doingprison
ministry. He's also giftedbecause he knows how to connectwith the
incarcerated. They lis-ten to him because they trusthim. On his own
and withoutanyone from the church behindhim, Josh goes to the local
jailevery Friday and Saturday. Hedoes this out of concern and
love.He carries Gospel portions withhim and teaches prisoners how
to read the NewTestament. He sings, he preaches, and he takes
timeto counsel with anyone who asks him to.
After two years, Josh has an amazing array ofresults, such as
several people believing in JesusChrist. Some of them have joined
the church.Everyone recognizes the value of Josh's ministry.
One day the pastor says, "We need to start anofficial prison
ministry through our church. Josh isalready doing it, so let's put
him in charge."
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Those who makepledges are for us;
those who pay theirpledges are with us.
We don't have tobe involved with
churches very longbefore we recognizethat there is a largegap
between those
two groups.
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"Every time we take prayer requests," an eldersays, "Josh asks
us to pray for the prison ministryand the prisoners."
"He regularly sends e-mails about the people whogot saved," says
a deacon.
"He's passionate about it," says one.The board agrees
unanimously.That decision may sound like a good idea, but in
the ten minutes they took tomake that official verdict,
theyruined Josh and his ministry.
Until then, Josh had been anexcellent minister for God. Hedid an
outstanding job as long ashe was the only one who did thework. He
has a tender heart andpeople instinctively trust him.
Yet his ministry has beenruined, because Josh has movedfrom
ministry to leadership. He'sno longer person-centered.
He'soverwhelmed with recruitingmusicians and evangelists.
He'sconstantly scheduling who willgo to which jail and at what
time. He must spend an immense amount of timeteaching those who
have volunteered for ministry.They need to understand appropriate
behavior andwhat they can and can't do for the prisoners. He hasto
explain, for instance, that they can't carry mail inor out for
those incarcerated. They can't give advice,
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There are threelevels of ladder
holders1. Followers. Thisword can refer toeverybody in the
congregation. 2. Ministers. Theyfeel God has calledthem,
empoweredthem, and gifted
them to serve.3. Leaders. Theyminister through
others.
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especially not legal advice. Several times he has hadto go to
the sheriff and apologize for mistakes hispeople make.
After four months, Josh realizes that he has tomanage and lead
people. He no longer has a min-istry. His passion starts to dry up.
The well-meaningchurch board has ruined him.He's pouring his
efforts intoholding the ladder for others andhe needs to be
climbing his ownladder.
This comes down to sayingthat even though someone likeJosh is
doing an exemplary min-istry, it doesn't mean he can function well
as a goodladder holder.
TRAINING LADDER HOLDERS
This leads me to emphasize that ladder holdersneed to be
trained. Very few ministers have qualifiedand trained ladder
holders. I've held conversationswith pastors of large churches all
over this country. Ipoint out the qualities I've already mentioned.
Theyneed people who are strong, attentive, faithful, firm,and
loyal.
Then I say, "Name your ladder holders. I'm notasking for
positions and titles such as deacons ortrustees. Think about those
five qualities I gave you."I pause and then say, "Tell me the names
of your lad-der holders."
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Ministers doservice primarily
by themselves;leaders do servicethrough others.
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No matter how many times I've done this, thehighest anybody has
been able to name is five. Thesize of the congregation doesn't seem
to matter,whether it's a church of 100 members or one withmore than
10,000.
When the pastors can't get beyond a few names,it tells me that
the church has done an excellent jobof raising followers but has
been abysmal aboutdoing leadership development.
At the beginning of this book, I mentioned thatdeveloping people
takes time, and time is one thing
we don't have in our busy lives. I also remind pastors that
their armor bearers or assistantsmay not necessarily be
ladder
holders. Just because somebody is an assistant pas-tor,
assistant choir director, vice president of the cor-poration, or
has an impressive title doesn't make himor her a trusted ladder
holder.
To make this clear, I try to get pastors to think ofsituations
when the church is filled with problemsand ask, "To whom would you
turn for help?"
They still stare at me in confusion, so here's anillustration
that has seemed to make clear what Imean.
"Let's say you are marooned on an island. Thebattery on your
cell phone is running low. You decideyou have just enough juice to
make one call. Let'salso say that you know that no member of your
fam-ily is available." Then I pause and ask, "Whom willyou
call?"
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Ladder holdersneed to be trained.
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They easily eliminate the ones they wouldn't call,and some of
them are promi-nent in the church. They final-ly realize that they
need to calla true ladder holder-a personwho is faithful and
someonewho is committed to them per-sonally. Those are the
individ-uals who will do whatever nec-essary to get them off
theisland.
If you were marooned onthat island, who is the ladder holder
you'd call?
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"When you areassigned the task oftaking the hill-orthe
market-you
are less concernedabout who is for
you and more con-cerned about who
is with you."
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"Who will hold my ladder?" That's a common wayfor us to get
help. We look around, cry out towhomever will come to our aid, and
welcome them,regardless of their abilities. We may not put it
thatway. Instead we announce, "We need two newSunday school
teachers. Who will serve for oneyear?" Or we plead for men to join
the choir.
That method works! People volunteer and we getresults. There's
just one serious problem-it's the
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wrong approach. My advice is simple. Stop asking for
volunteers.I'll explain the reason. When I was a pastor and asked
for volunteers,
the people who couldn't do the job always raisedtheir hands. I
appreciated their zeal, but they simplycouldn't do what I needed
done.
People who couldn't sing rushed to join the choir.People who had
forgotten how to smile volunteeredto usher. People who disliked
children raised theirhands to keep the nursery. People who couldn't
teachcommitted themselves to take a Sunday school class.
I also realized another problem. Within a shorttime, those who
volunteer so readily are just as ready
to un-volunteer. They seem tohear the Holy Spirit whisper "Isend
you" every time the pastorcalls for help. After a few weeks,they
also seem to hear the sameHoly Spirit whisper, "Your workhere is
finished." Not that theyaccomplished anything produc-
tive, but at least they leave. In reality, they should-n't have
volunteered in the first place.
The bigger problem occurs when those inept-but-well-meaning
helpers get into their position and thenwe have to ask, "How do you
get rid of them?"
That is the question; that is also the problem.How do we
un-volunteer a volunteer? There isn'tmuch chance that the bass in
the choir who can't hita C below middle C will ever learn. The
grumbling
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That is thequestion; that is
also the problem.How do we
un-volunteer avolunteer?
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nursery staff person won't suddenly love to changediapers.
Suppose we read the headline in tomorrow'snewspaper that says
the localpublic schools seek volunteers toteach English, science,
andmath. Would I want my childrento attend a school where
allinstructors are volunteers? The public wouldn'tstand for it. "We
want professionals teaching ourchildren," they would insist.
Why is it that we staff our Christian Educationdepartments, our
ushering committees, and ournurseries with volunteers? Could it be
that reading,writing, and arithmetic are a lot more importantthan
real issues of life such as preparing for heavenor personal
integrity? We keep doing what thechurch has been doing for the past
hundred years:we print notices in the bulletin, the newsletter,
thechurch's website: we need four teachers for the chil-dren's
department.
Surely there must be a better way.And there is!We need to view
volunteers as unpaid staff.I've come to the conclusion that the
most-quali-
fied people are waiting to be recruited. They don'trush to sign
up on the legal pad hanging on a bulletinboard. They don't call the
worship leader's cellphone. They're there, available, and they're
willingto serve if they're asked. We need to learn how torecruit
volunteers.
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We need to viewvolunteers asunpaid staff.
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THE BIBLE AND VOLUNTEERS
Have you ever wondered what the Bible saysabout
volunteerism?
From the time of the Old Testament all the wayup to John the
Baptist, followers generally chosetheir leader. People would hear a
great prophet, lis-ten to him, do whatever he told them, and become
hisdisciple.
Something changed, however, after John theBaptist. The next
leader on the world scene wasJesus. Followers didn't choose Jesus;
Jesus chose fol-
lowers. I wonder how many peo-ple think about that. Each of
theGospel accounts tells us howJesus went about his ministry.One of
His first acts was to
choose those He wanted to follow Him and they werethe ones He
trained. (See Mark 1:16-20 and Luke5:1-11.)
Sometimes people offered to follow Jesus and Heturned them down.
Here are two examples. "A cer-tain man said unto him, 'Lord, I will
follow theewhithersoever thou goest,' and Jesus said unto
him,'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; butthe Son
of Man hath not where to lay his head'"(Luke 12:57-58). Jesus said
no.
Another time, Jesus set a man free from demonsand afterward the
healed man wanted to go with theLord. Jesus said no. (See Mark
5:18-19.)
Jesus held a powerful vision of his ladder that
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Followers didn'tchoose Jesus; Jesus
chose followers.
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stretched from earth to heaven. He didn't want justanyone
supporting him. In fact, just before hisbetrayal, Jesus said to his
disciples: "You have notchosen me, but I have chosen you, and
ordained you,that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that
yourfruit should remain" (John 15:16a).
At no place in Jesus' ministry do we read that hestood up and
said, "I need helpers to do the work. Iwant fifty people to follow
me." Instead, Jesusrecruited volunteers who would hold that ladder
firmno matter how hard the forces of evil struck.
Instead of seeking people to volunteer, wise lead-ers follow the
Lord's example and seek out the gifted.As a pastor and as president
of a growing Bible col-lege, I know that I must have gifted people
in all thekey positions if we're going to be successful. Yes,
I'vemade mistakes, but I've made many good decisionstoo. I watch
for those who show that "extra some-thing"-call it a gift or a
unique quality-but thereare individuals who have that special spark
that setsthem apart. Those are the ones I want to develop.
In the New Testament, Paul writes several timesabout spiritual
gifts. Although he lists nine of themin 1 Corinthians 11, he
doesn't give the entire cata-logue of abilities. Obviously, there
are gifts he didn'tmention, but the point is the same. If we want
some-thing to happen, we rely on those who are talented,gifted, and
who can make it happen. We don't sitaround and hope they'll knock
on our doors. LikeJesus did, we go after them and say, "We want
you.We have a place for you."
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It's also interesting that those Jesus recruitedhad to decide if
they wanted to follow him, even afterthey were asked. In Luke
9:59-62, Jesus asked a manto follow Him. The man protested that he
had to gohome and bury his father. Jesus said, "Let the deadbury
their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdomof God" (v.60).
"And another also said, 'Lord, I will follow thee;but let me
first go bid them farewell, which are athome at my house.' And
Jesus said unto him, 'Noman, having put his hand to the plough, and
lookingback, is fit for the kingdom of God'" (verses 61-62).
It's also interesting that Paul exhorts theThessalonians, "And
we beseech you, brethren, toknow them which labour among you, and
are overyou in the Lord, and admonish you" (1 Thessalonians5:12).
The only time I hear anyone quote that verseis during ordination
services. That fits, of course, butit has a much wider
application.
In the first chapter of this book, I pointed outthree ways to do
the work of the church and the thirdis to develop others-to teach
them to do what theycan do. I also pointed out that it takes time
for thatto happen. It means working with those ladder hold-ers and
instructing them how to do an excellent job.Some may be best at
holding short ladders and oth-ers taller ones. Some may work best
alone and othersin groups. The principle still remains the same:
lead-ers need to develop others.
I know that in larger congregations it becomesdifficult for the
pastors to know everyone. By the
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time a church has ten thousand members, the seniorpastor
probably doesn't know more than 10 percentof them. It simply means
they have many laddersand many painters, and they need an even
largersupport force behind those painters.
True leaders develop their own followers-I'll saymore about that
in the next chapter. Wise leadersassimilate people by recognizing
their gifts and plac-ing them in the right role. Theyhave files on
who can do whatfunction. When we need chaper-ones to go with our
youth groupon a field trip, if we're smart, wedon't send out a call
and ask,"Who's going to help?" Justbecause they are parents doesn't
mean they wouldmake appropriate chaperones.
There may be those who don't have time or incli-nation to work
with the youth department everyweek. But if we know their
capabilities and call onthem two or three times a year when we have
specialevents going on, they're likely to say, "Yes, I
canhelp."
It's not a hopeless task to find out who is talent-ed. With
great computer programs available, whenwe do intake we can do a
gifts inventory, we can dothe passion inventory, or a calling
inventory.
When a new member says, "I love organizingshort-term projects,"
that's important for us to put onfile. When we get ready to put out
a new churchdirectory, for example, that's a short-term
project.
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Wise leaders assim-ilate people by rec-ognizing their gifts
and placing them inthe right role.
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That person can organize and make the operationrun smoothly.
That is the same person who won't beavailable for tasks that go on
every week throughoutthe year.
Here's an example. I spoke at a leadership confer-ence in Boston
at the New Covenant ChristianChurch where Bishop Gilbert Thompson,
a vision-
ary, is the senior pastor. BishopThompson sat in the front
rowwith an open laptop typing notesas fast as he could. He
didn'twant to miss any significantinformation. I remember
seeing
the smile on his face when I talked about not askingfor
volunteers.
Months later Bishop Thompson's assistant saidthat one
significant factor "has revolutionized ourministry. We don't ask
for volunteers any more-werecruit them."
Is it any wonder that New Covenant ChristianChurch has dozens of
high level ladders up?
IMPORTANT ISSUES,IMPORTANT RECRUITING
Think about volunteers this way. You are aleader. You're only
four feet off the ground, butyou're climbing the rungs. As you gaze
upward, youknow you're capable of reaching a height of at
leastsixty feet.
As you start to ascend, are you going to cry out,
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We need differentladder holders fordifferent levels of
ministry.
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"People of God, someone-anyone-come and holdthis ladder?" Not
likely. If you're a wise leader, youwill already have chosen (or
recruited) someone youtrust. You want to reach as high as your
ladder willgo and not worry whether the person at the bottom
isgoing to lose interest or walk away.
When we're training ladder holders, those learn-ers need clear
instruction. Church folk don't takehints and the best way to
understand this is to thinkabout church announcements.
As leaders, we can put all the information in thebulletin and
the newsletter. We can tell them indi-vidually in person, make
phone calls, send out e-mails, proclaim it from the pulpit, and
write anannouncement for the overhead or power point. Itdoesn't
matter what we do or how often we send outthe information, people
will still phone the churchoffice. "What time was that meeting? Was
it nine ornine-thirty? Was it Monday or Tuesday?"
When we're developing ladder holders, however,we train them the
right way. A good way to look atthis is from the book of Proverbs.
Although much ofthe instruction reads as if it's a father giving
adviceto a son, scholars have seen this differently. Theadvice and
instruction is intended for scholars intraining. The instructors
looked upon them as stu-dents or sons. These are instructions in
personalgrowth and leadership.
In the oft-quoted Proverbs 22:6, it reads: "Trainup a child in
the way he should go: and when he isold, he will not depart from
it." If we apply this (and
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I think this is the right way) to students or scholarsreceiving
instructions, it means that if we who areleaders train new people
properly-that is, when wedo it right and do it in the
beginning-we'll producethe right kind of results. It also means we
won't haveto take a lot of correctional action later. If a
treestarts growing right the first time, we don't have tospend all
kinds of time trying to straighten it out.When we're talking about
ladder holders, we knowthey must be properly trained and
developed.
BEFORE CLIMBING LADDERS
Joseph Campbell once said that one of the greattragedies in life
is to climb to the top of the ladderonly to find that our ladder is
leaning against thewrong wall. He meant that too many people
takewhat he called the prudent path in life and yet theymiss the
joy. He said they never discover their bliss.
How do we avoid that problem? How do we helpourselves and others
discover our bliss?
Before we start climbing we have to do threethings:
1. We need to decide where we want to go. Weneed to be sure of
our reason for being on the ladderin the first place. What tools do
we need to do the jobfor which we're climbing the ladder? What
tools willwe need when we get up there? One thing I learnedduring
my student days when I painted was that itwas just too tiring and
time consuming to go up anddown that ladder. I had to make sure I
had
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everything ready before I started up. 2. We need to be clear
about our vision. We need
to be able to tell our ladder holders why we're upthere and why
they're working hard. If we get reallyhigh and the ladder sways, we
had better be sure weknow why we're there. When wego through those
turbulenttimes-and we all do-we'd bet-ter be clear about our reason
forbeing so high off the ground. Wealso need to make it clear
tothose who support us so that they'll know whythey're doing their
jobs.
Leaders ask two questions. I mentioned this inmy book Futuring
2, but I think it's important to sayit again here.
Leaders ask what and why; followers ask howand when. Every
effective leader needs to under-stand this.
Leaders must first define the what-that whichthey want done.
Once they know that answer theyneed to be clear on why: Why are we
doing this?
In my book, Futuring 3, I gave this illustration.At Beulah
Heights Bible College we wanted to reachout and start a curriculum
for students for whomEnglish was not their first language. That was
awhat-the curriculum.
Why do we want to do that? We answer, becausethe mission of the
institution, even in its earliestdays was to reach unreached
groups. Why? There areincreasingly large numbers of people for
whom
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Leaders ask whatand why;
followers ask howand when.
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English is a second language and we need to reachthem. Why?
Because they represent another market.Why? Because the place of
missions has changed.There are more other-country born missionaries
in
America today than there aremissionaries from America inother
countries. Why? Becausethey don't have to get visas andthey have
natural built bridges,their credibility is in place, andtheir
language is in place.
3. We need to ask ourselves:what are we doing to
prepareourselves as better communica-tors?
During the summer breakswhen I was a student at BeulahHeights
Bible College, I earnedmy living as a painter. I'vealways said that
I did it to paymy bills not because it was my
idea of a higher calling. I remember many times I'd get tired of
moving up
and down. The first few days I'd forgotten a tool orrealized I
needed something else and would have togo back down to get it. That
was not only tiring, butit was inefficient.
Because I learned that lesson quite well, I teachit this way at
conferences. I'll often ask if there areany in the audience who
have done professionalpainting. Two or three people usually raise
their
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Before we startclimbing we have to
do three things:1. We need to
decide where wewant to go
2. We need to beclear about our
vision. 3. We need to askourselves: Whatare we doing to
prepare ourselvesas better
communicators?
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hands, so I ask them to join me."Pretend I'm going to paint the
second story of a
house," I say to them. "It's way up there, the paint ispeeling,
and it's in pretty bad shape. I'm gettingready to go up on a
forty-foot ladder. I don't want togo up and down repeatedly, so
tell me what I need inmy tool belt before I go up."
"You'll need a scraper and wire brush," one willsay.
"You'll need sandpaper and a hammer."One of them will mention a
nail setter because
there are always nails poking out. Someone willmention a
caulking gun.
"You'll need paint and a brush and at least onerag to wipe away
any smears you make," one of themwill say.
I smile because they have it exactly right. "Now,if you're
climbing a forty-foot ladder as a Sundayschool teacher. You want to
be an excellent Sundayschool teacher. What tools do you need to put
in yourtool belt?"
Then I ask, "Is there anybody here who's aSunday school teacher?
Come on up." After theycome up-and there are always a lot of them-I
ask,"Are you a good Sunday school teacher?"
Besides smiles and a few giggles, they answer,"Yes."
"Can you become a better Sunday schoolteacher?"
The answer is always, "Yes!" "For you to be a better Sunday
school teacher
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what all do you have to do?" Then I wait for them torespond.
They always start off with "I need to pray moreand I need to
read the Bible more."
Everyone nods and I say, "Yes, that's good, butwhat else do you
need to do?" Before the teachersrespond, people from the audience
yell out, "Readmore books."
I ask them to name a few books and they do.Then they start
adding things such as, a concor-dance, a Bible dictionary, a Bible
encyclopedia, anddifferent versions of the Bible.
We could ask the same questions for any positionin the church.
What I want them to think about isthis: What must I do if I'm going
to be a better, moreeffective communicator?
I also remind church leaders that whenever weget up to preach,
we need to remind ourselves thatwe have five generations facing
us.
How effective am I at reaching them? For us to bemore effective,
what are we putting in our tool kitson communication skills, story
telling skills, move-ment, hand gestures, body language, and
vocabu-lary? What are we reading that puts us in touch withthe now
generation?
It's also important to remind ourselves thateveryone is not a
leader. God doesn't call all of usthat way. Even though we know
that, some of us inleadership positions may be trying to fulfill
jobs thatwe're not suited for.
Maybe we need to become managers.
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Page 59Whos Holding Your Ladder?
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