Leadership and Offences

Sage Broadcast

Leadership and Offences

Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! Matthew 18:7 NIV

Welcome to today's broadcast! It is another lovely topic. Since offences are common in the body of Christ, I thought it wise to broadcast a message on it. And being the Lord's leading, I have not hesitated. Come on board!

The biblical definition of offence is unlike what we find in the dictionary. From the Greek "skandalon", it literally refers to a trap stick, or a snare; something placed in the way to cause a person to trip over and fall. 

According to Thayer's definition, offence is "any impediment placed in the way and causing one to stumble or fall, (a stumbling block, occasion of stumbling)".

Figuratively it is used to refer to Jesus Christ, whose person and calling were so contrary to the expectation of the Jews concerning the Messiah that they rejected him, and by their stubbornness, evaded the grace of God for their salvation and eternal life.

In my own understanding, offence is any person or thing that causes you to fall away from following God or keeping your fellowship with him. It can also mean a person or thing that causes you to defect from following a leader. 

Remember, Jesus spoke harshly to Peter and said, "...thou art an offence unto me" (Matthew 18:23). He rebuked Peter for trying to influence him to defect from the Father's purpose for his life. 

 Offence isn't just about the temptation that comes at you to cause you to sin. It is about the person through whom the temptation comes. Offence isn't just about the wrong that you do to your brother or sister. It is about causing your brother or sister to completely forsake their first or initial love. Offence isn't just about leaving a church, it is about leaving Christ. This is how deep offence goes. 

If you leave Christ, you don't break your relationship to him, but you break your fellowship with him, and this is equally catastrophic for your eternal life. 

Look around you. There were people who started the Christian journey with you but they aren't in the faith any more. There are those who started very passionately but they aren't as passionate any more. What made them fall away? No doubt, it is offence. Therefore, we need to thoroughly diagnose offences in the body of Christ so as to reduce the falling away of God's holy lovers.

The Lord's concern for his church

One day in prayer, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, "Many people are leaving my church as much as many are being added". By this word I understood that church leaders ought to keep learning about how to close the back door of their churches.  

How do offences come?

Offences come predominantly by words. Words are sharper than double-edged swords. They cut deeper than machete. Your words will add many more people to the church or remove many more people from the church. Therefore, you need to master the art of communication as a church leader. 

Offences also result from indiscipline, especially on the part of church leaders. An indisciplined leader in the church is a temptation to other brothers and sisters in the church. They make Christ unclear to see. They instill doubt and mistrust for Jesus in the hearts of other Christians, especially immature ones. They will eventually do likewise, or else, quit following.

Moreover, disappointment or breech of trust causes offence. Christians are very vulnerable when it comes to issues of trust. Christians easily trust their neighbours, be it their pastor, spouse or friend. Our foundation is trust for Jesus, and we are very likely to translate our trust for Jesus to our church leaders, our brothers and sisters in the church, even our bosses and colleagues at work. People take undue advantage of our vulnerability to disappoint us. If such a breech of trust originates from a brother or sister in the church, especially a leader, it results in massive offences. 

Why do people leave leaders or churches?

People leave leaders or churches for various reasons, but chiefly, they leave because of conflict. So, we need to understand what conflict is.

What is conflict?

Conflict is the sense that one entity's primary goals or self-interests are being threatened by another entity. The entity here could be an individual or an organisation. So, as an individual or organisation, when you sense that your primary goals and self-interests are being threatened by another individual or organisation, you are said to have conflict. 

Conflict may be within a person, between two persons or between two organisations. People usually perceive conflict through the actions and behaviour of other people whom they deem to threaten their personal goals and self-interests. 

A critical look at conflict 

Conflict is not always a fight. When conflict is left unchecked, it escalates into a fight. 

A typical instance of conflict

An active member gets a job offer at a place where there's no branch of his church. Should he go for the job or should he not go for it? Both goals cannot be fulfilled at the same time. So what should he do?

When he goes for the job, he will have to leave his church either temporarily or permanently. And when he stays back, he will have to remain unemployed. This is a personal conflict. So conflict is not always a fight. It is when we leave conflict unresolved immediately, that it escalates into a fight. 

How to resolve conflict in the church

Church leaders must create an avenue for members to bare their hearts out in matters that concern their well-being whether privately (behind closed doors) or publicly (before the congregation).  

Church leaders must be quick to attend to matters disclosed by members. 

Church leaders must be very confidential about matters treated as private by members.

Church leaders must adopt dialogue as a means of hearing from parties in conflict. 

Church leaders must give equal opportunity of hearing to parties involved in conflict. The church must never tolerate prejudices, that is, judging before hearing. 

Church leaders must always consult with the Holy Spirit before judging matters of conflict in the church, as demonstrated by the apostles of the Lord. 

At all cost

At all cost refuse to be offended in God. Like Jesus, disallow any person - their speech, action or behaviour from influencing you to defect from God's purpose for your life. It is better to leave your church than to forsake Christ on account of someone's words, action or inaction. 

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