Grace Or Ruin

So, I got thinking about leadership, and in particular on this whole topic of moving when God moves. I know how much in my life, both in general and in faith, that I get it wrong. Leaders make me stand in amazement.

It's not that they never get it wrong. The Bible is replete with stories of great leadership who royally messed up and missed the move of God. And yet, it continues to bother me how we have moved away from being able to extend grace. There is no grace for those who have fallen; there is however, a rush to judgement and destruction.

Which, do we need to be reminded, is a job responsibility best left to God.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm hard enough on myself when I mess things up. At times, being a man of faith makes things "worse" because of the conviction of the Holy Spirit. A broken and contrite heart is what God cares about and looks for as a sign for wanting to make a course correction in our lives.

But all too often, we look at the mistakes and failures of our leadership and rather than offer them opportunity to make a course correction, we kick them off the course altogether. That may not be their ultimate fate.. grace will make its' appearance and restoration may be offered. For less extreme matters, eventually life and ministry moves on and continues to advance. Civil discourse over our disagreements has given way to corporate destruction. And by that, I'm not talking about the dissolution of corporations, but the "mob rule" mentality that seems to permeate so much of our culture and society to the point that it occurs within the church, not nearly as often, but certainly more than it should.

So, on this #seniorPastorMonday, pray that senior pastors would indeed, have an increased awareness of the voice of God and the prompting of the Holy Spirit as they lead and move. But more importantly, pray for a covering over their lives and ministries for when they miss the mark. May there be an extension of grace as matters arise and are resolved. Pray that the church culture would not be so quick to rush to judgement and worse, the propensity to bring to ruin leaders who fail or leaders we think deserve to fail.

May we be people of grace
As God has extended grace to His people.
Even to those who fail and with Him we disagree.
For we have all been that person to God.

- PNC