{"id":2190,"date":"2011-01-12T04:00:44","date_gmt":"2011-01-12T09:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.churchvolunteerdaily.com\/daily\/leading-volunteers\/3-tips-for-dealing-with-difficult-people\/"},"modified":"2011-01-12T04:00:44","modified_gmt":"2011-01-12T09:00:44","slug":"3-tips-for-dealing-with-difficult-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/3-tips-for-dealing-with-difficult-people\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Tips for Dealing with Difficult People"},"content":{"rendered":"

I know you don\u2019t have difficult church volunteers, right?\u00a0 So just skip today\u2019s article if you\u2019ve never had to deal with a challenging personality.<\/span><\/h3>\n

The reality is, we\u2019ve all served alongside people with personalities that, well, let\u2019s just say\u2014aren\u2019t too pleasant. Sometimes it\u2019s tempting to think how wonderful ministry would be if we didn\u2019t have to deal with difficult teams, dysfunctional committees, irritating co-workers, or anyone who has a different opinion, or way of doing things. But that wouldn\u2019t really be ministry, would it?<\/p>\n

Ministry leadership is the ability to function with all members of the body of Christ, in such a manner that God is glorified and people are served.<\/strong> Even Jesus had to endure difficult and challenging people. Is it possible that God places difficult people in our lives to grow <\/em>us? To make us more loving<\/em>? More forgiving<\/em>?<\/p>\n

When Jesus was on the cross, he prayed to God saying, \u201cForgive them for they know not what they do.\u201d <\/em>I believe this is sound advice for us as well.<\/p>\n

When dealing with difficult people, we need to model Jesus\u2019 example:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Pray for them<\/strong>. Jesus could have used his last moments to pray for the un-difficult people in his life. His mother and father. His followers. The sick and the poor. Instead, he prays for the ones who gave him the most difficulty. Prayer is the first step when dealing with challenging people. It prepares our heart and attitude for reconciliation.<\/li>\n
  2. Forgive them<\/strong>. Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek\u2014because he was the master cheek-turner. This principle has influenced world civil rights leaders and movements from Mahatma Gandhi, to Martin Luther, to Desmond Tutu. The first pastor I served with in ministry helped me learn that if I didn\u2019t forgive those who hurt or disappointed me, I\u2019d never be able to minister to them\u2014or minister with<\/em> them. Forgiveness sets the stage for working together to do kingdom work.<\/li>\n
  3. Train them.<\/strong> I called a church the other day and a volunteer receptionist sounded rather put out at my request to be connected to the pastor\u2019s office. (A difficult person, I\u2019m thinking!) In her frustration, she finally confessed that she didn\u2019t know how\u2014no one had trained her on the phone system. In addition to skill training for their service, are you training your volunteers, staff, and team members on \u201cspeaking the truth in love\u201d, conflict management, hospitality, and perhaps, even basic communication skills? Develop people by training them to be successful.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Our church, and our world, is filled with \u2018difficult people\u201d\u2014including us! Practicing Jesus-style leadership can help us move forward in developing people, and growing ourselves and our ministries.<\/p>\n

    [text_ad]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I know you don\u2019t have difficult church volunteers, right?\u00a0 So just skip today\u2019s article if you\u2019ve never had to deal with a challenging personality. The reality is, we\u2019ve all served alongside people with personalities that, well, let\u2019s just say\u2014aren\u2019t too pleasant. Sometimes it\u2019s tempting to think how wonderful ministry would be if we didn\u2019t have to deal with difficult teams, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[112,184,276,253,246,105,106],"class_list":["post-2190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lead","tag-church-volunteer","tag-church-volunteers","tag-equipping-church-volunteers","tag-equipping-ministry-2","tag-vacation-bible-school-2","tag-volunteer","tag-volunteers-blog"],"yoast_head":"\n3 Tips for Dealing with Difficult People - Group Children's Ministry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I know you don\u2019t have difficult church volunteers, right?\u00a0 So just skip today\u2019s article if you\u2019ve never had to deal with a challenging personality. 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