"And yet, sometimes, one of the best ways to grow your ministry is to let the right people leave.
It might kill you to entertain the thought of people leaving (it still kills a part of me). But hang on. Sometimes losing people in your church or organization is a bad thing. Surprisingly, other times it's not. Knowing the difference is critical to effective leadership. Like you, it bothers me every time someone leaves. And it should bother you. Only sociopaths don't care when people leave. You can end up with people-pleasing as your main goal. You will lead in a way that you hope is going to prevent the greatest number of people from leaving. That's a terrible strategy.
Never let the fear of losing a few override your desire to help many." -- Carey Nieuwhof
What Carey is omitting is this teaching is also straight from the Purpose Driven Church. Rick Warren calls it blessed subtraction. This is the notion that anyone who does not fully support your "vision" for the church can be shown the door of the sheep pen. There are slaughtered sheep dotting the Christian landscape today because the man in charge with shepherding them instead kicked them out. The only thing worse than being sociopathic is being dishonest about it. You cannot say in one breath that people leaving should bother you and then present the case for why it is good when people leave. That is disingenuous at best. Notice here that people-pleasing is a terrible leadership strategy. This is a recurring theme among the leadership gurus and conference speakers within the Purpose Driven Industrial Complex. It is always couched in these self-serving false pious terms. Never let trying to please a few stop you from helping many. NONSENSE. Preach the Gospel and tend to the sheep. Nieuwhof now goes into his six scenarios when someone leaves:
"1. When one of your best people walks out the door - There are usually only a few scenarios I can think of where you should panic when you're losing people. We'll start there. It's never a good thing when one of your best people walks out the door. By great person, I mean someone who's on board with the mission and vision. They give. They invite friends. They serve. They're healthy people who love God and love others. In other words, they're simply good people. So always be looking to see if great people are walking out the door. If they are, do some soul-searching, and try to figure out where you may have gone off mission." -- Carey Nieuwhof
Ugh, off mission. Putting that aside, take a look at how pastors are being taught to evaluate the sheep of the Lord. Apparently the foot of the cross is uneven to the purpose driven mind. Pastors are being taught that people are "great" if they do not disagree with your "vision", give money, serve in ministry, and invite other people to come to church. In contrast we will see Nieuwhof considers other people "toxic" if they have the temerity to disagree, even if that disagreement is biblical. Think about how insidious this is beloved. Individual greatness evaluated by pastors all based on metrics having to do with the church instead of the person or even God. You can have someone who is living a healthy Christian life but recognizes that the purpose driven slop that is being served up to the congregation is nothing more than rotten meat. Once they bring it up, they move from great to toxic and are deemed worthy of blessed subtraction. Remember, the hireling does not care about the sheep. He continues:
'2. When There's a Vision Shift - The most grey scenario you'll face as a leader is probably when there's a vision shift. Vision shifts usually happen when a new leader comes in and changes the direction of the church. It also happens when an existing leader pursues a new direction. During a vision shift, a variety of things can change--the music changes, the programming changes, the preaching changes or the whole DNA of the church shifts. When a vision shift happens, it's inevitable that some people will leave. In the midst of the shuffle, ask yourself this clarifying question when you see someone leaving: "Is this the kind of person we can build the future of the church on?"' -- Carey Nieuwhof
I must have missed that great epistle where Paul taught about the tumultuous doctrine of "vision shifting." That is because there is no such thing in the bible. Vision casting is also part of the Purpose Driven Church. Warren teaches that pastors are not shepherds anymore but rather they are vison casting CEOs. Mega-heretic and Warren adherent, Andy Stanley is on record as saying that we should not even use the term shepherd anymore. This is not a vision shift beloved. It is a shift from pastoral oversight to hireling oversight. What escapes the Rick Warren's of the world is that God has already provided the vision. It is the Gospel of His only Son and it alone has the power to save people according to Romans. Not your grandiose and narcissistic vision casting. Not you light shows and smoke machines. Do you know what happens when your vision is the Gospel? It never changes! A new pastor comes in and he can pick up the Gospel right where the last guy left off. The music can change, the programming can change, and the pastor can change. None of it would matter as long as the Gospel doesn't change. Realize here that Nieuwhof is talking about those who realize that their church is being infiltrated and overrun with false teachings. If my church used to sing How Great Thou Art and now was singing Jesus Culture and Hillsong all the time -- I would complain too. Look at the sociopathic question he is teaching pastors to ask! Is the person who is leaving my sheep pen the kind of person we can build the future of the church on? Are you serious Carey? I feel bad for the many pastors who will stand before the Lord and answer for every soul they deemed not worthy of building "their" church on. How utterly disgusting but expected from a teacher of hirelings, who as we remember, do not actually care about the sheep. Onto Number Three:
"3. When Someone Who Doesn't Care About the Mission Leaves. You always have people in your church or organization who care more about themselves than they care about the mission. Losing them is not a reason to panic. After all, people who are off mission will never help you realize THE mission. Often you'll run into people who think they're the mission. Don't try to hang onto them. Don't focus more on who you want to keep than who you want to reach. You'll die trying." -- Carey Nieuwhof
