Secrets of Success 3B: What to Do When Leadership Fails

We have all got stories of ministers and Christian leaders who have failed. I have had pastors lie about me, a director of a Bible College physically assault me and lock my son in a room, and I have had a worship leader raise his fists at me and tell me he hates me. What a life! And I know that many other Christians have similar stories.

Today, I want to help you handle the failure of a leader and still walk into success, because none of the leaders I know who have failed have made me fail. Failure can be contagious, but we can immunize ourselves from it.

The first thing we have to understand at a heart level – when a leader fails around you, God is not looking at that leader’s actions to decide if you are going to be promoted, HE IS LOOKING AT YOUR RESPONSE TO THE FAILURE. Jesus told the Pharisees to pay their taxes to Caesar – He was not saying Caesar was perfect. Even though leaders may not be perfect, we still have to pay our dues of honour. We need to learn how to respond without rebellion and without dishonour.

When you are asked by a leader to do something wrong, there is a right response and a right attitude.

When you are abused and insulted by a leader, there is a right response and a right attitude.

When leadership oversteps the mark, there is a right response and a right attitude.

Physically attacking authority is never the right response, hostility is never the right response, gossip, slander and causing strife is never the right response. So, what is the right response?

• Go to a higher authority. If your boss at work is overstepping the line, go to your boss’s boss. If your pastor asks you to do something wrong, go to your pastor’s pastor. It’s not gossip if you are following the hierarchy! The highest authority is God, so definitely praying about the situation is never wrong!
• Peaceful retreat. If you were David, and Saul was literally throwing spears at you to kill you, most of you would start a blog, tell all your friends, make a YouTube video, David did none of those things – he did not tell anyone what Saul was doing, he didn’t raise an army to take him down – even though David was 100% in the right, he just left peacefully. Most people cannot leave churches peacefully when the pastor is right and they are wrong, but someone who can leave peacefully when they are right and the pastor is wrong – they are wise, mature Christians. David was later promoted by the Lord because he did not take advantage of Saul’s failure.