Feeding the Problems and Starving the Star Performers in the Church

Leadership 1 – by svilen001 – at free images.com

Mark Sanborn wrote about the extraordinary service of Fred the Postman in his best-selling book The Fred Factor in 2004.  The book tells about Fred’s generosity and commitment to excellence in the midst of normalcy.  The book encourages people to be a Fred.  The real Fred Shea gained some recognition from the book, but has since continued to work for the USPS.  In Mark Sanborn’s follow up book Fred 2.0 released in 2013 he updates the life of Fred.  He notes that Fred has received little recognition for his extraordinary service and the difference he continues to make for his customers.  After decades of work, the USPS has not formally recognized or encouraged his admirable service.  When asked about this he is realistic and replies, “The problem at work is that they forget about you because you’re not a troublemaker.”  Mark then makes this observation, “It’s ironic, isn’t it, how poor performance tends to get more attention than good performance?  We effectively feed our problems and starve our star performers.”

As I reflected on this thought, it hit me that churches are often guilty of the same mistake.  Who gets the attention in the local church?  Isn’t it often the people who complain or create problems and strive?  What do most elders meetings consist of–discussing problems in the church or discussing the hard work and opportunities available because of servants?  The squeaking wheel gets the grease!

Now please don’t misunderstand me.  Leaders in the church should be willing to deal with problems.  We should be attentive to the needs of the flock and have compassionate hearts like Christ.  But, we also must understand we can “feed the problems” if we are letting the vision and work of the church be held captive by a few who demand attention or their preference.  The church must do like the Apostles in Acts 6 when they appointed men to serve the Grecian widows.  They kept their focus on prayer and the word.  Sometimes, we need to allow people to be upset and ignore their demand for attention if it is harming the overall church.

But let’s not overlook the second aspect of his statement, we “starve our star performers.”  How often in the church are we reluctant to recognize, appreciate, or honor someone who has made a great contribution and service to the Lord’s work because we are afraid of what others will think?  We need to sincerely say thank you to those who serve tirelessly with little recognition.  They don’t do it for the glory, but they still need some encouragement.  You know who I am talking about!  The old faithful servants in your church who have been doing superb jobs for years.  They don’t complain, they don’t worry if they aren’t recognized, they just keep on serving.  When you need them to do something they are always willing to help.  They know what needs to be done and they get it done.  Let’s recognize and appreciate these folks more.  It will encourage them and inspire others to be like them.  Don’t let the excuse of, “well if we recognize them, we will offend others who we are leaving out” keep you from encouraging these brethren. If you don’t want to do it publicly, at least make an effort individually to encourage the old faithful brethren that you can count on to keep the church going strong.