Spiritual Gift of Administration

I attended the weekly church staff meeting today after having missed the majority of the meetings during the past 2 months.

As usual, there is lots going on. The main activities on the agenda today were this week's Holy Week services, particularly the Passover Seder on Thursday.

It's been pretty hectic, as there were originally plans for 120 to participate, but now about 180 are on the list. Lots of last minute changes have put extra pressure on the organizational team.

Someone made a comment about the lack of the gift of administration on the leadership team. Someone else added that the team needed someone with this gift as well as a prophetic gift. Someone else commented that the team needed a mix of the administratively gifted along with the more "spiritual gifts." Finally, somone commented that being spiritual and relying on the Holy Spirit doesn't have to entail planning everything at the last minute.

It was interesting to be back for this part of the discussion, especially the dichotomy between administration and more "spiritual" gifts. As one with administrative gifts, it's humorous and a little sad to see the situation. A lot of this seems like "no brainer" stuff, although that's probably because the administrative side makes things more black and white and definitely practical with feet on the ground.

We talked a little about the Open Doors arts outreach coming up in May. It's likely that I'll take some type of sabbatical from the work team after the Open Doors, in order to step back and get a little more perspective on the overall priorities of what I should be doing in this season of ministry. This may lead to a permanent resignation from this team after our summer in the U.S.

I used to enjoy going to these meetings when I started out on the work team in 2003. I still enjoy being with these people. Tuesdays used to help provide a rhythm to my week, as I would have that meetinv in the morning, lunch with the team, then a Mission Radicale staff meeting in the afternoon.

Things have changed since then. Now we have three young kds, instead of just one little baby. Tuesday morning now involves dropping our son at school before the meeting and trying to get help for my wife to pick him up for lunch. Francis, the President of Mission Radicale, has left Paris for a church-plant in Lisieux in Normandy, and I'm not involved with Mission Radicale on a regular basis.

Besides these factors, I find that I often leave these meetings more frustrated than energized. Part of it is because the team spends a lot of its time resolving crises the majority of which could have been preliminated with more forethought and communication. Part of it is that I consistently find myself in disagreement with the majority on certain issues. And part of it is a team leadership culture that I'm uncomfortable with.

I've worked on different teams through my ministry. I believe that ministry is usually more effective when working on a team. However, the corporate culture of a team is crucial. Certainly, there are times when for the short-term, one needs to stick with a team that one isn't comfortable with. But, in my opinion, one shouldn't stay with a team (or church, ministry, etc.) for the long-term where one isn't going in the same overall direction. There comes a point where, rather than trying to change an organization, it's better to agree to disagree and honorably separate.

There are other times where one might sense that God wants one to stay in a tough situation. If one does, then one needs to consciously decide to not criticize the leadership, even if there is disagreement. This may involve biting one's tongue.