You’ve only got 168 hours in a week to get things done. If you’re going to lead a turnaround church, you’ll need at least twice that many hours, just to get things moving in the right direction! Well, a bit of an overstatement for the sake of illustration – but not by much!

The point is, if you’re going to lead that church off the plateau, or pull it out of that death spiral, you’ve got to stop doing some things. If you don’t, you’re going to crash and burn – emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

1: Believing the critics

They don’t have your wellbeing in mind, so why listen to them?

2: Trying to please everyone

You can’t. Plus, that’s not the job anyhow, so why bother?

3: Listening to the fans

They won’t tell you the hard truths you need to hear.

4: Skimping sermon prep

Apart from the Bible, you don’t have anything worth saying.

5: Wondering if there’s hope for this church

As long as Jesus is at work, there’s hope. The trick is to join him in his work instead of trying to get him to do yours.

6: Imitating rock star pastors

Imitate Christ and be yourself ‘cuz you’re the one Jesus gave to that church. He has his reasons.

7: Ignoring the numbers

The only people who don’t like looking at the numbers are those who know they point to failure

8: Avoiding conflict

Church conflict is like rotting fruit – it won’t improve with age. Leaders wade in sooner rather than later.

9: Letting your skills rust

God entrusted a stewardship to you, so make the most of it.

10: Wanting to be liked

If you’re serving your own ego needs, you’re an idolator.

So – if you’re doing any of these things, stop it!