When to Leave - Faithfulness or Foolishness?

This episode explores the crucial question for church leaders: are they staying due to faithfulness or foolishness? We discuss loyalty, fear, and pride's impact on this decision, alongside actionable steps to gain clarity on one's motives. 

• Exploring the tension between faithfulness and foolishness 
• Examining common traps: fear, misplaced loyalty, and pride 
• Ignoring warning signs and the harm it causes 
• The importance of aligning decisions with values and calling 
• Practical steps for assessing motives 
• The role of reflection, feedback, and prayer in decision-making

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Transcript

Speaker 1 0:07

Hi there , welcome to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast . My name is Todd Rhodes . I'm your friend , hopefully and co-founder over at chemistrystaffingcom . Thanks so much for joining me on this daily journey toward , hopefully , healthier leadership and ministry in all of our churches . Today we're going to be talking about a question that I think every church leader has wrestled with at some point . I know I have . Here it is Am I staying out of faithfulness or am I staying out of foolishness ? That seems rather harsh , but we just started on Monday of this week . If you missed any of the episodes , you can go back and listen . But we started a brand new series inspired by Wade Hodges' book when to Leave . The subtitle is how to Know it's Time to Move On Before you Stay Too Long , and we'll explore the fine line today between perseverance and stubbornness . Ouch , and by the end of this episode , hopefully , I hope you'll have some clarity on what's keeping you where you are and whether it's time to rethink your path Again .

Speaker 1 1:11

This podcast series , even though it's called when to Leave , this is not a podcast where I'm trying to talk you into leaving your church , goodness , no that . I would love for you to be able to stay exactly where you are . But I also know that it's January , it's the first of the year , and I know that many people are trying to figure out God , where do you want me to be ? Where do you want me to be this year ? Where do you want me to be next year , for the next five years ? And a lot of times , this question should I stay or should I go man ? This is the question that a lot of us are constantly . Sometimes it's in the back of our mind , on the back burner . Sometimes things happen and it's on our front burner . But that's what we're talking about here on this series .

Speaker 1 1:54

And let's start with the word faithfulness . Okay , it's a word that we hear all the time and it's deeply rooted in our calling . But sometimes what we call faithfulness , it could be fear or pride , or a refusal to admit that it's time to move on . And Wade challenges us to ask some hard questions . I'm going to share these here with you today . I think they're going to be really helpful to you .

Speaker 1 2:23

Some hard questions about our motives for staying . And here are some of the common traps that we fall in . The first is just fear of failure . Are you staying because you're afraid of what people will think when you leave . Fear isn't faithfulness and it can be a roadblock to growth . So are you staying just because you're afraid of what people will think if you leave ? Second is misplaced loyalty . Loyalty to your church absolutely is important , but staying out of guilt or obligation can do more harm than good to you and to the church . So maybe there's misplaced loyalty , maybe there's pride . Sometimes we're so invested in proving ourselves right that we ignore the signs that it's time to let go . So staying shouldn't be about winning a battle , okay . And then number four ignoring the signs .

Speaker 1 3:19

Wade points out that staying faithful while ignoring clear signs of toxicity or dysfunction , when it comes right down to it , it's not really noble , it's not really faithful , it's harmful . Faithfulness doesn't mean enduring the unbearable , and the key to align your decision with your calling and your values is to . The key actually is to align your decision with your calling in your values , not with fear or pride or guilt . How can you tell if you're staying out of faithfulness or foolishness ? Here's the bottom line for today Examine your why . Examine your why with honesty and with humility , and here are three steps that I'd love for you to take today . If you're really , this is a front burner issue for you . Am I going to stay ? Am I going to go this year ? Here's some things to do . First of all , ask the tough questions . The first question why am I staying ? Is it out of love and purpose or calling , or is it more on the negative side ? Is it more because of pride or fear ? Secondly , get some honest feedback . Talk to a mentor , talk to your spouse , talk to a trusted friend . They might see some blind spots that you've missed . And then , praying at the beginning of your journey , take your motives to God in prayer , ask for wisdom to discern whether you're being faithful or whether you're holding on for all the wrong reasons . So here's your action step today . Take a few minutes today .

Speaker 1 4:50

I don't know if you're a journaler or not . If you're a journaler , journal If you're not , just grab a piece of paper and write down . I always find that writing things down for me really crystallizes and really helps get my brain to move . So get out a piece of paper and a pen and write down why you're staying in your current role , even if you're not even thinking about leaving . Write down why you're staying . Be brutally honest . Even if you're not even thinking about leaving , write down why you're staying . Be brutally honest . This is for your eyes only . What's your driving decision to stay ? Sometimes , just putting it on paper can help you see things a little bit more clearly .

Speaker 1 5:24

Are you wrestling with this question , this whole question ? Should I stay , should I leave ? I'd love to hear your story . You can email me anytime . Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom . Would love to hear from you your thoughts and experiences could help shape future episodes as well , and I'd love to share some encouragement to you . Also , don't forget to subscribe if you're not subscribed to this podcast , so you'll get notified and don't miss a single episode . We're here every day , monday through Friday , and if your church is helping , needing some help in finding your next staff member , reach out to me as well . I'd love to partner with you in my work at Chemistry Staffing . You can email me . Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom and I believe I said at the beginning of this podcast if you're enjoying this series , if you're interested at all , you can download an absolutely free copy of Wade Hodges' book when to Leave .

Speaker 1 6:17

It's packed with wisdom for leaders and for helping you make decisions , including what we talked about today . You can download a free copy of that today . Chemistrystaffingcom slash when dash two , dash leave chemistrystaffingcom slash when dash two dash leave chemistrystaffingcom slash when dash to dash leave . Thanks for spending some time with me today here on the podcast . Remember , faithfulness is about aligning with your calling and your values , not clinging to something out of fear or pride . You have what it takes to discern the difference . You really do , and you're not alone in this journey . Okay , take care , I'll see you again tomorrow right here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast . You