Ways to Discourage Your Leaders

“Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.” (Hebrews 13:17)

More and more good men are leaving the ministry. Their reasons may include a lack of commitment, a serious sin in their lives, a feeling of inadequacy, the pressure of public responsibilities, erratic and long hours or some other issue. But often the main reason is discouragement cause by church members; something which Hebrews 13:17 says should not occur. How do we discourage our elders?

• Listen to the Word being taught, but don’t obey the teaching.
• Show irritation when an important point in the pastor’s message lengthens the pastor’s sermon five or ten minutes beyond its usual length.
• Start a gossip chain.
• Always expect other members to do the work that needs to be done.
• Consistently show up to the church services five or ten minutes late.
• Be mildly negative about most leadership decisions.
• Support your elders on staff so little that they cannot adequately support their families.
• Start a church project but let it die by your lack of perseverance.
• Regularly fall asleep during teaching sessions.
• Look on your pastor as a “hired-hand” rather than as the shepherd over your soul.
• Leave it to your elders to do the home and hospital visitation.
• Start a squabble within the membership.
• Fear men rather than God.
• Talk frequently about the weaknesses of the church.
• Never let your leaders know that you are praying for them and their family.
• Complain to others about your leaders.
• When the leadership calls attention to important financial needs, keep your billfold tightly closed.
• Refuse to sing new melodies, choruses, and hymns in worship.
• Always pressing a desire to go back to “what it used to be like” in the church. Those days were likely not as good as you remember.
• Resent or resist relationships with new people who come into the fellowship.
• Automatically assume your leaders’ motives are questionable.
• Fail to realize that your pastor must keep some things in confidence and thus cannot explain fully some things – to your satisfaction.
• Assume that there is only one way to do things – your way!
• Disapprove verbally of the new elders because they do things a little differently than the current or past leadership.