Have you gotten off track with your ministry? Have you started something that isn’t working out?
In 1870, Maria Shrode traveled by wagon train from East Texas to California with four stepchildren and four young children of her own. She kept a diary throughout most of their journey.
On Friday, June 17, she wrote: “Moved on across the creek. Took the wrong road and traveled about four miles out of our way. Found we were wrong, turned round and took the back track and came to the right road, but one of the teamsters turned a wagon over in turning around. But it did not do much damage except bursting a couple of flour barrels open, so we picked up the things and reloaded and traveled on. Camped in a live oak grove. Rained a little that night.” (See Ho for California!, edited by Sandra L. Myres, p. 260)
Church leaders are bound to take the wrong road from time to time, especially when we are venturing into new territory. This may be true in terms of the strategy we choose for carrying out our mission, the people we invite to join us along the way, or the way we manage relationships in our church. Every leader has stories of missteps and miscalculations.
The outcome of these misguided ventures depends more on how we manage ourselves in response to them than anything else. Success as a leader does not depend on being right 100% of the time (fortunately). We need the maturity to say to ourselves, and to others, I was wrong. I’m sorry. Let’s turn around. Let’s try this road instead. It takes a stronger sense of self to admit our mistakes than to charge ahead regardless.
It can be a tough call. Sometimes the right (and unknown) road can look like the wrong one—it might be better to soldier on. Other times we must cut our losses, and decide not to cry over spilt milk (or flour). Leadership is not about being right all the time but having the courage to make a decision and the wisdom to live it out the best we can, and to adjust course or backtrack when necessary.
Rev. Margaret Marcuson served as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Gardner, Massachusetts for thirteen years. She is the author of Leaders Who Last and can be found at http://margaretmarcuson.com.
