I know you don\u2019t have difficult volunteers at your church…right?<\/p>\n
The reality is, we’ve all experienced people with personalities that, well, let\u2019s just say\u2014aren’t too pleasant. Sometimes it\u2019s tempting to think how wonderful ministry would be if we didn’t have to deal with difficult teams, dysfunctional committees, irritating co-workers, or anyone who has a different opinion, or way of doing things.<\/p>\n
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. It can\u2019t happen with lone-ranger leaders, or one-man-bands.<\/p>\n
Even Jesus had to endure difficult and challenging people. In fact he was the master at it. John Ortberg, in his book, The Me I Want To Be<\/em>, reminds us of the challenges Jesus faced. \u201cThe Romans wanted to silence him; Herod wanted to kill him; Pilate washed his hands of him; religious leaders envied him; his family thought he had lost his mind; his townspeople wanted to stone him; Judas betrayed him; soldiers beat him; the crowds shouted for his crucifixion; and his own disciples ran out on him.\u201d<\/p>\n Is it possible that God places difficult people in our lives to grow <\/i>us? To make us more loving<\/i>? More forgiving<\/i>?<\/p>\n When Jesus was on the cross, he prayed to his father saying, \u201cforgive them for they know not what they do\u201d. I believe this is sound advice for us as well.<\/p>\n When dealing with difficult people, perhaps we need to model Jesus\u2019 example:<\/p>\n Our church, and our world, is filled with \u2018difficult people\u201d\u2014-us included. Practicing Jesus-centered leadership may help us move forward in developing people, growing ourselves and our ministries.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I know you don\u2019t have difficult volunteers at your church…right? The reality is, we’ve all experienced people with personalities that, well, let\u2019s just say\u2014aren’t too pleasant. Sometimes it\u2019s tempting to think how wonderful ministry would be if we didn’t have to deal with difficult teams, dysfunctional committees, irritating co-workers, or anyone who has a different opinion, or way of doing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":26413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[110,601,141],"class_list":["post-27370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lead","tag-church-leadership-tag","tag-difficult-people","tag-leadership"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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