by George Keralis, DMin

Rocks and water. Combined, they make splashes. Little kids, especially little boys, love to throw rocks in the water. Some do it for the splash effect. Who can get wet? Others skip rocks across a pond or a lake to see how many times that rock will bounce off the water. Little boys love to compete. Sometimes, we throw rocks in the water just to see the ripple effect, the waves.

When you throw a rock in the water, you see the first ripples move out in concentric circles. If you are patient, you will see the ripples bounce off the shoreline causing a pattern of ripples to move back towards the original splash. If you can extend your patience, you can see the rebounding ripples intersect the first ripples causing a new pattern of ripples.

The splash of the rock in the water caused the first ripples that caused rebounding ripples that intersected with the first ripples causing a new pattern of ripples. One more thing, the droplets of water in the big splash will cause little ripples that intersect with the big splash first ripples.

Ripples are an important picture because the effects of decisions that we make have ripple effects. Some decisions make big splashes. Other decisions are hardly noticed. In either case, change occurs on the surface of the water.  Change occurs in the lives of people. When people affected by our decisions intersect with one another, we may find turmoil in our pond or lake that we did not expect. How will people receive the decisions we make that change their lives? Ignore that question and your leadership will not meet mere ripples but a tsunami back lash. How will your decisions affect others?

  • Your decisions as a church leader will affect members of your immediate family. If you are the minister, your decisions may affect your job position or salary. Your decisions may also affect the way people treat your family. I’ve seen spouses shunned and bad-mouthed by people upset with a decision. Children sometimes receive the brunt of a decision because other people talk in front of their own children. Children are more perceptive about politics in a family or church than we care to believe. Your decisions will affect members of your immediate family.

Your decisions as a leader in your church will affect people attending your church? You might be thinking, “Well, of course.” While this seems obvious, leaders do not always talk about the effects their decisions will have on individuals or groups in the church/para-church group. Just as ripples extend to the perimeter of a body of water, so the effects of decisions will extend past the immediate group affected by the decision. As leaders, please think beyond the obvious people affected by your choices.

  • Your decisions as a church leader will affect people outside the church you help lead. God designed the church to live in a community, not in isolation. God designed the mission of the church to go to the outside world (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 17:8, 18; 20:21; Acts 1:8; 28:30-31).  When we discuss budgets, we must ask ourselves how our decisions will change our mission to the lost.  When we discuss hiring new personnel, we must intentionally search for those that will help us fulfill God’s mission to the world.  When we think about adding new ministries to our church, we must ask how those ministries will help people come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord.  When we ponder the heavy measures like changing our worship times or exchanging pews for chairs, we must never forget that even the small measures impact those we want to bring to Christ.  As church leaders, we make too many decisions without considering how those decisions will change the lives of the lost, the forsaken, the imprisoned and the maimed.

  • Your decisions as a church leader will affect people that collaborate with you. Most churches help to support mission organizations locally, regionally, nationally and/or internationally. Your church touches the latitudes and longitudes circling our globe. Not only do you contribute financially, but you contribute workers engaged in short-term projects, workers that come away from those projects wanting to share their lives with others. Mission groups ask for your input that helps to shape their agendas and goals. No longer can the local church see itself as simply local. The little country church and the mega-church in Louisville, KY are both integral parts of the international community. Churches and para-church organizations must now strive to have a global outlook while purposefully engaging in their local communities. We live in a new era, the era of glocalization. Ripples extend around the world.

Why is it important to talk about the effects of the decisions you make in a Tuesday night board meeting? Those decisions result in ripples. Decisions are all about change. Change is disruptive. Change means the loss of one approach while leadership teams define new directions. Carefully and prayerfully, look forward to the ripple effects of your decisions.

What other ways might our decisions affect the lives of others? What ideas do you have that would help others to make better decisions early on in the process?  What leadership concerns would you suggest that we address in this blog?  Your voice is important.  Thanks for reading. Leave your comments below.

As iron sharpens iron, so a person sharpens his friends — Solomon

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