Brad Powell Online

Removing One to Grow Many

Q: As a pastor, my heart is for people. Because of this, it’s difficult for me to remove people who aren’t doing their job well. What are your thoughts on removing people from the ministry?

A: As pastors who are seeking to lead the church to greater effectiveness in fulfilling the Great Commission, it is essential that we wrestle through the question of removing people from ministry. The reason is simple. We’re balancing the tension between two equally important values: the value of individual people and God’s mission for the Church.

The first value demands that we, as you said, have a “heart” for people. But the second value demands that we fulfill the mission to seek and save the lost. Successfully achieving this mission is the only hope for our world; failure is not an option.  When thinking about removing a person from a ministry, these two values appear to contradict one another. After all, how can I genuinely love a person while removing them from ministry? However, I’d argue that we can genuinely love people while removing them from ministry. In fact, if the removal is biblically appropriate, I believe that removing someone is the only way to genuinely love that person. Here’s why.

We cannot possibly love the Church if we allow an ineffective individual to continue in that ministry. The good of God’s Church should never suffer for the sake of an individual who’s not serving effectively or living in a way that honors Christ.

However, the real difficulty lies in practicing this principle. If you are considering removing a person from a ministry, prepare your heart. First, ensure that your motivation for removing the person is pure. When we are motivated by anything other than the church’s best interest, we will ultimately damage it. Examine your motivations and make sure you’re living by the admonition of Paul in Phil. 2: 3, 4: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”

Second, ensure that you properly handle the process of removing a person. Determine a person’s fit to a ministry based upon character and competence. If someone is lacking in either category, share your conclusions with godly and trustworthy ministry leaders. Consulting with others gives you a better chance of arriving at a wise decision and it also gives you a circle of support in case you encounter negative responses to the removal.

Then, communicate your decision personally, clearly, truthfully and lovingly with the person. Removing someone from ministry has great potential to hurt both the person and the church, even when it’s the right decision.  Therefore, communicate in a way that honors the value of the person while ensuring the success of the church’s mission.

Finally, find the right place of ministry for the removed person. In addition, provide the opportunity for repentance, renewal and growth if the person is removed for character issues.

Like it or not, for a church to remain effective, there will be times when people must be removed and replaced in ministry.  Though you may face some short-term losses, God will honor your decision and the gains will be eternal.