How Overreacting to Leadership Failures Can Stifle Church Growth

The problem is that this almost entirely ensures that the next leader, or leadership group, will not be able to do the one thing they most need to do, which is to lead.

I understand and totally support appropriate layers of accountability, particularly in areas related to finances. At Meck, we have a congregationally approved annual budget, congregationally voted on trustees who are church members and who are elected annually to set my salary, and an annual outside audit—the results of which are made immediately known to said trustees. Internally, we have numerous checks and balances in regard to expenditures, including secondary approval for amounts over a set limit.  

This is all well and good and, in my mind, necessary.  

But that is different from accountability that becomes a euphemism for control, or for accountability that is designed to prevent a past mistake from happening again in such a way that it stifles the leadership gift. Such responses are reactionary and often hurt the church despite its attempts to move forward.

So how do you react to an individual or group of individuals who abuse a good church structure that liberates the leadership gift? Once they are removed, what then? Isn’t that the time to layer on additional layers of policies?

A policy governs decisions and directs procedures independent of a situation. In many ways, this is considered to be the strength of a policy. Yet as Philip Howard has observed, the one indispensable ingredient for the success of any human endeavor is the use of judgment. Policies are inherently limited because there can never be enough rules to cover every conceivable circumstance. A few years ago, the federal government bought hammers with a specification that was 33 pages long. Howard asks, “Why not just trust the person to go out and buy hammers?”

Exactly.

Policies can become an end to themselves. Rather than the policies serving the organization, the organization begins to serve the policies. “How things are done,” writes Howard, “has become far more important than what is done…. Process now has become an end in itself.”

This does not mean certain policies are not required to serve as guidelines, and even as protections. Yet unhindered, policies can multiply to the point of organizational asphyxiation. George Barna once wrote: “Suppose your church had an opportunity to implement a ministry that had a high potential for positive impact, but needed to get started immediately. Could your church spring into action within hours or, at the most, a few days?” 

Hopefully, the answer is yes. 

It takes trust for this structure to operate, but as Plato argued, good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will always find a way around the law.

So the answer to whatever may have happened to your church isn’t always a new set of policies or a rigidly binding structure that would frustrate any leader.

The answer is to hire the right people to begin with. In other words, hire someone you can trust to buy hammers.

James Emery White

Sources
James Emery White, Rethinking the Church.
Philip K. Howard, The Death of Common Sense.
George Barna, User Friendly Churches.
Photo Courtesy: ©Grace Community Church Facebook
Published Date: January 13, 2025 

James Emery White is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, NC, and a former professor of theology and culture at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he also served as their fourth president. His latest book, Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age, is now available on Amazon or from your favorite bookseller. To enjoy a free subscription to the Church & Culture blog, visit churchandculture.org where you can view past blogs in our archive, read the latest church and culture news from around the world, and listen to the Church & Culture Podcast. Follow Dr. White on X, Facebook, and Instagram at @JamesEmeryWhite.