Another issues that often surfaces in the church that causes Fractured Fellowship is position seeking. At times those who desire leadership positions in the church, which is neither wrong nor bad, resort to ladder climbing tactics as if the church has a corporate ladder to climb and only the strong survive and advance. Two words of counsel in this area;
A man’s gift makes room for him, And brings him before great men.
Proverbs 18:16
Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips.
Proverbs 27:2
Ladder climbing, positioning and posturing in the church is wrong. Desiring to be used by God is right and good and the Lord calls and equips us all for His own will and purposes. The gifts He gives will open the right doors, in His time, and self promotion is unnecessary and even harmful in the body of Christ largely because building ones self up usually involves tearing someone else down. Yet it happens, even in the body of Christ, maybe even to you. So what now? Someone has used you as a rung on the church leadership and has left you discouraged and wounded. Do you fracture fellowship and look for another church? This is a huge decision and requires much prayer and seeking of wisdom as church families are often more intimate than blood families and when that is taken away disillusionment and despair can often dominate thoughts and emotions.
Let me first address this through a series of questions you can ask yourself and the first is most important; Is this God’s will? I believe that the congregant is just as called to a church as the pastor and while their roles in making the church operate may be different, they are both necessary and important. It takes fingers, hands, arms knees and toes to make the body function properly and each of us has a role in a local church. So when the aspiring church leader or co-worker has inflicted wounds that there seems to be no relief from and the consideration is made to move on and find another church him the first and most important consideration is what God wants. God asks us to do the hard thing sometimes, He asks us to stick it out when we feel like bailing out. How do you know if God is calling you to move on?
Ask yourself if you finished what He called you to do in the first place. Is the task complete, the vision fulfilled, the mission accomplished? This is important to ask because church ladder climbers and position seekers cannot be allowed to thwart the will of God in your life by getting you to bail out on your calling. They are always going to be there and changing churches won’t change that. I have had numerous people over the years who on their first, and usually only, Sunday they came to the church offer to preach for me should I be gone or need a week off. My answer is always; Thank you for the offer but I have a group of trusted and faithful men already who I look to for that. This usually offends them that on our first meeting I do not count them to among that group, but that is on them not me. Before moving on from your church home make sure that the ministry you were called to is not going to be hurt because of it and that God has released you from what you committed to do for Him.
Excerpt from “Dancing With the Scars” now available on Amazon.
