Introduction
We have been discussing shifts that need to take place for churches to move forward in the next year and beyond. In our first article, we discussed eight different paradigm shifts which are important for churches to practice. Last week we mentioned the shift from “looking in” to a culture that is “looking out.” Today we will highlight another shift that churches need to make—a shift from a stakeholder mentality to a teammate mentality. As I mentioned previously, I have recently heard the term “stakeholder” more than I would care to admit. I find it unfortunate that churches and church members have begun to describe those people in the church who have committed time, effort, and money to the growth of the church as “stakeholders.” The result is that these individuals are thought to deserve more “sway and say” in the direction and future of the church. Churches that will thrive need to develop a Biblically driven hatred for these types of terms. The only stakeholder in the church should be Jesus Christ; the church is His, He is the Head, and He can do with it what He wants! It is both inaccurate and unhealthy to view certain members in the church as those who have more of a vested interest in a church than others. I believe that this mentality needs to die, and it needs to die quickly. If it does not, churches that hold this mentality will die.
A Look Back
Someone said that “history repeats itself.” We should not be surprised then, to find similar issues and struggles to the one we are addressing today in the early church. The book of James was written to address some of these very same issues. As James wrote his epistle, the early church struggled with this exact same issue of a stakeholder mentality. Consider James 2:1-4: My brothers and sisters, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and is dressed in bright clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes also comes in, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the bright clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? Later in this chapter, in verse 9, James writes: But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as violators. The words of Scripture could not be clearer—we commit sin when we practice favoritism! The same can be said of the “stakeholder” terminology. When we show favoritism by raising someone up in the body because of their investment in the ministry, whether it be financial as we see in the book of James or an investment of time or involvement, we violate God’s law and we divide the church! When I was pastoring, I regularly told our people “the ministry is not about one man!” This was my attempt to help them see that the ministry did not revolve around me as a pastor, but every member needed to be involved. The same concept applies to this discussion—the ministry is not about one or a few key people. Yes, we need those key people and are thankful for their involvement, but their investment, even if it is greater than the investment of others, does not entitle them to control the church. God has tasked pastors to guide and lead the church according to Scripture and God’s leading. The “stakeholder” mentality simply does not fit within God’s plan!
A further problem with this mentality is wrapped up in this question: “who determines who is a stakeholder?” I have seen individuals who have been at a church half the amount of time as others praise themselves as stakeholders over others. I have seen people who have been “church hoppers” finally commit to a ministry for an ample amount of time, yet because of their involvement over that relatively brief time, they believe they ought to have more “sway and say” than those who have spent their entire lives in the church. What determines when or how one becomes a stakeholder? At times, I have wanted to ask the question: “what makes you a ‘stakeholder’ and not that person—they have been here much longer than you!”
A Sad Reality
One further issue this stakeholder mentality raises pertains to the stakeholders themselves. Once you give someone that title or role as a stakeholder, you can never take it back. They will forever view themselves as stakeholders and with this comes an attitude of superiority. They begin to think they deserve things their way and they often pout, throw temper tantrums, or destroy others when they do not get their way. In dividing the body between those who are stakeholders and those who are not, we essentially pit the body against itself between those who want their own way and those who follow leadership. Ultimately only one side will win! Oftentimes it is the stakeholders who win out in end. They will strive with leadership until the leadership cannot survive any longer and determine to leave, or as in my own personal ministry experience, they force out the leadership. These types of issues all stem from a failure to value unity in the body. Bad things happen when churches raise some members over others and cater to their desires and wishes!
Final Thoughts
When we think about the nature of the church as a body, the church is not about partiality and favoritism, it is about unity and teamwork. When one joins a church, he or she becomes part of that team—God’s team in that specific town. An individual is no more a part of the team because they have been there for thirty years or have held every position designated by the constitution. Rather, Scripture describes every member as useful and valuable to the edification of the whole. To diminish the impact of one is to cause harm to the entire body. Churches that will thrive in the coming months will make a conscious shift from the stakeholder mentality to a teammate mentality. Rather than raising up the “key people” from the rest, churches that make this paradigm shift will view all members as part of the team, and the health of the body as an entire community will be the chief concern, not the desires of a few powerful people. All members of a church are on the same team and ought to have the same mission—to glorify Christ by pursuing Christlikeness and fulfilling Christ’s mission for His church. This shift in church culture is essential for churches that are to survive and grow in the coming days!
Questions to ask of your church:
1) Do you have people in your church who always seem to “get their way?” How did this come about and how do others act around them?
2) How do the “stakeholders” act if they do not get their way? Do they throw temper tantrums? Perhaps they “do not get mad, they get even?”
3) Oftentimes so-called “stakeholders” respond in incredibly ungodly ways when things do not go as they desire. If you see this fleshed out in your church, ask yourself, do you really want people who act like that leading your church? The sad truth is that sometimes the most ungodly of people have the most spiritual positions in churches.
4) Does your pastor have to deal with such people in your church? Determine to give him your support and increase your prayers for and encouragements to him!
