Tuesday, May 06, 2014

Why Playing it Safe as a Pastor Is the Riskiest Move You’ll Make

Eric McKiddie:
The call to ministry is a call to confrontation and controversy. It’s impossible to read the Bible and come to another conclusion. Moses, Jeremiah, Jesus, Peter, Paul, and John each faced their share of conflict from within the community of God’s people, and from without. From above, they cheer us on in our own races, and we must press on for the joy of whatever cross we have been called to carry, following in our Savior’s track. 
With all the opposition we face in ministry, it’s tempting to play it safe. Evasive maneuvers often seem like the best course of action. Mitigate the risk, and live to minister another day. 
The irony is that while avoiding church conflict buys you time now, long-term—as I hope to show you—it guarantees failure. And anything that guarantees failure is the opposite of safe. It’s the ultimate risk, because you’re betting you will be the one-in-a-million pastor whose church problems go away all by themselves. 
If playing it safe isn’t safe in church anymore, then what is? Risk is. In ministry, risky is the new safe.
Read the rest.  

No comments: