7 Attitudes That Limit Your Ministry.

Blaming the devil is the easiest thing to do.

Blaming your circumstances is equally as easy. I cannot count the times have I heard (and said) “This is the hardest place in the world to do ministry.”.

Trust me, I know the devil is the devil and places can be very hard. I deal with both on a regular basis.

But I cannot hide behind these statements. The Resurrection of Christ does not allow it. The Resurrection of Christ has opened life to all and this life in Christ is greater than the death that is in the world. The darkness cannot overcome the light.

Yes, it is easy to blame the devil and others. It is far harder to deal with the blinders we place on ourselves through our attitudes.

Reflecting back on 30 years of ministry in multiple nations and cultures I have observed Seven Attitudes That Limit Your Ministry.

1. “That will never work here.”

This is the attitude that finds a problem in every solution. The person afflicted with this attitude will never listen and learn from what others are doing because they are convinced “that will never work here.”

2. “Not invented here” syndrome. 

This is a close relative of “That will never work here.” This attitude refuses to listen and learn from others. After all, those people are from another town, nation, decade, century, movement, or denomination. Pretty much everything is a disqualification when you suffer from NIH (Not Invented Here).

This is an actual syndrome. Look it up. It affects academics, scientists, scholars, and everyday people. It can stem from pride, fear, jealousy, xenophobia, the desire to be original, or just good old-fashion thick headedness. Really people, how many times do we have to re-invent the wheel, the light bulb, or the church?

3. The need to prove an idea.

Pick your favorite idea of what the church should look like: Simple Church, Mega Church, Organic Church, Attractional Church, Multi-site Church, Missional Church, Seeker-Sensitive, Liturgical, Emergent, Evangelical, Charismatic, Cell Church.

We have at least 31 flavors of what the church can taste like. But when you get it in your head that your double-scoop of organic-missional-emergent-simple church is the RIGHT version and the cutting edge of what the Spirit is doing today and everyone not using this flavor is wrong and outdated you are not only historically misinformed (each of these have been around for about 2000 years in some form or another) and theologically short-sighted (God uses multitudes of ways to reach multitudes of people with the Good News of Jesus Christ), you probably have an attitude problem as well.

Look, if you feel called to build a multi-site mega church, go for it! May the Lord bless you. If you feel called to plant an organic house church, go for it! May the Lord bless you. Do it because you feel called by God and led by the Spirit to do. Don’t do it because you are trying to prove a point.

4. Independence

A few years ago I asked a pastor, “You have a handful of real quality young people here, what are you doing to disciple them and perhaps see a few of them become church planters or pastors?”

His response, “I get tired of people coming in here and telling me what I should do and how I should do it. I know what I am doing. No one else knows this place like I do.”

I wasn’t telling him what to do or how to do it. I was asking what he was doing. His response told me far more about himself than he realized. It told me among other things that he is closed to outside input, wisdom, and suggestions. He was independent.  Consequently, no one can  help him and nothing in his situation has ever improved.

5. Dependence

This is the polar opposite of independence. The person afflicted with a dependence attitude is a slave to the contributions of others. The dependence mindset is always looking to others to fix, support, provide breakthroughs, and supply their needs. This attitude reduces a person to a “victim status.” If others do not do it for them, it will not get done.

6. Trusting in Techniques

This is the mechanical mindset. It is the thinking that says, “Just do these five things and your church will grow.” This attitude focuses on events and not process.

Are events important? Of course they are. The event of my wedding was very important to my marriage. But that wedding, in and of itself, did not make my marriage successful. The daily process of loving, serving, sacrificing, and living together is what has caused my marriage to grow.

7. Misguided Spirituality

I originally thought to call this “false spirituality.” But on further reflection I realized these dear people are not “false” in their spirituality, they just misunderstand spirituality and are thus misguided.

If a man neglects his personal hygiene because he believes his prayers cancel out body odor, he may be very sincere and close to Jesus, but I hope he stays away from others, because after four days “he surely stinketh.”

No amount of prayer will overcome violating all the other laws and principles of God. The ways of God work together synergistically. Learning the role of good planning and wisdom is just as valuable as learning the role and power of prayer.  After all, the whole book of Proverbs is dedicated to this subject.

I cannot count the number of godly leaders I have seen defeated by these self-limiting  attitudes.

There is a better way. A way of renewal that begins with renewing our own minds with seven opposite attitudes that overcome the limiting attitudes.

To be continued…