Over the last month my wife and I have been talking about board members. Please understand, this is not about the board members that I have in our church. I could not ask for a more helpful, supportive group of people. They genuinely love me and my family and I consider all of them dear friends and co workers in the ministry God has given us. Throughout my ministry this has not always been the case. I have served as a board member and have had to work with numerous boards over the course of ministry.
I have noticed that most Board members fall into one of 2 categories. Those who see their primary role to encourage and support and those who have an agenda. I have the privilege of working with a board who all fall into the first category. The organizations we were talking about fell into the second category. People had gotten onto the board with an agenda to change some things. The things that they were seeking to change were not broken. In fact, the things that they were seeking to change were functioning very well. The problem was these people did not have accurate information, insight or understanding. They were functioning from a perspective of pride and power not service.
As my wife and I were talking, we were discussing the impact on these organizations if the board did not change directions. We discussed how it would impact other leaders within the organization. My wife with the wisdom of a Kindergarten teacher (25 years) said, “I teach my 5 year olds that they have to clean up their own mess.” Her solution was to make the board clean up its own mess.
It got me to thinking about ministry. Since I have pastored in the same place for 22+ years, most of the messes that I clean up are ones I created. I realize that many of you are in situations that you have to clean up messes or problems that were created by someone else. I realize you cannot have someone else clean up their mess, but it might be encouraging to remember that it is not your mess. It might be a good reminder to your Board that some of the struggles you face are not your own creation. You are simply assigned with the task of cleaning up someone’s mess.
THOT: When a janitor has the awful task of cleaning up after someone’s mess, we don’t criticize the janitor. We are understanding because he is simply doing a very unpleasant job. Maybe you could take encouragement in the fact that you are simply the janitor. It’s not your mess! And if you are like me and you created the mess, then my wife’s advice applies to you. “We clean up our own messes in Kindergarten.”
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