The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
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The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
The Spiritual Mismatch on Your Church Staff
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Your church staff team may believe the same things on paper, but did they carry out the same part into ministry? Today on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, we're gonna explore how spiritual mismatch, not dis not doctrinal disagreement, creates tension and confusion and burnout on church staff teams. And we're gonna walk through what they work, what to watch for, and we're gonna start this over. Okay, here we go. Three, three, two, one. Your church staff team may believe the same things on paper, but do you carry the same heart for into ministry? In this episode, we're gonna explore how spiritual mismatch, not doctrinal disagreement, can create tension and confusion and burnout on church staff teams. And we're gonna walk through what to watch for and how to surface hidden value differences and what it takes to lean toward real alignment. Hi there, my name's Todd Rhodes. I am your host here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast every weekday. And I hope you'll check us out, our work by work, over at chemistrystaffing.com, where I'm one of the co-founders. Everybody on your team checks the same doctrinal boxes, at least hopefully they should, if you hired them correctly. But somehow, sometimes something just feels a little bit off. And the issue might be that you're experiencing a spiritual mismatch. Now let me explain this. The theology aligns, okay? No theological differences there, but the heart, the posture, the ministry philosophy somehow just don't. Stick with me, because this might explain more staff conflict and turnover than what you realize. Because doctrine isn't the only alignment that matters. Okay? Let me repeat that. Doctrine is not the only alignment that matters. Sure, doctrinal statements matter. Absolutely. Don't hear me say that they don't. But your staff also brings a lot of other things along with their theology. They bring their personality and how they're wired, they bring their spiritual background, they bring any kind of wounds or baggage, they bring different definitions to things like discipleship and leadership and health. You can be reformed, complementarian, and evangelical, and still disagree wildly on how to do ministry day to day. And ministry mismatch looks like a few things. It could look like a few different things on your staff. Okay, maybe you've got one person that values risk and boldness while you've got another person that values caution and discernment. Now they might have the exact same theology, but one is always just because of their wiring, they're gonna value that risk and they're gonna be really bold. Another is gonna say, no, we need to hold off here. We need to be really discerning. One is gonna thrive on Holy Spirit spontaneity, another is gonna prefer planning and preparation. One is gonna see success as faithfulness, another is gonna see success as fruitfulness. Same theology, but different outcomes. These things rarely show up in some of the interview questions, but they will show up in everyday ministry and ministry decisions. And when those values clash silently, you're gonna start to get the gossip and the resistance and the off-the-record frustrations. So, how do you surface those? How do you recognize them? And how do you resolve those things, those spiritual mismatches, even though your theology is lined up, right? You can ask better questions in hiring. And we encourage churches to do this all the time. Ask questions like, what's a recent decision that your last church made that didn't sit well with you and why? Because chances are if they have a beef or a problem with a decision that was made in their last church, I'm almost going to bet you that it wasn't theological. It was more a philosophical decision or a problem with leadership direction and mission. Ask questions like what energizes you the most in ministry right now? That'll tell you a lot about what a candidate is going to do once they're in the job. What does a healthy church staff look like to you? They're gonna tell you exactly what they think, what kind of environment they would like to work in. So ask key questions like that and then listen not just to their answers, but listen to their posture. Listen for their minister, ministry posture. In team settings, invite conversation around those unspoken values and style preferences. Because the con a conflict isn't the enemy. Confusion is. Conflict is not our enemy. The confusion is the enemy. The goal isn't uniformity. It never should be. It should be the goal should be clarity and consistency and courageous dialogue. So here's the bottom line, here's the final word for today. You can't disciple people well if your team is constantly confused about how and why you lead the way you do. So you need to start surfacing your spiritual mismatches early and often and with humility. You can have the same exact theological position on something and be way off with your ministry philosophy. And that's what causes so many church staff people to leave. What's one spiritual value or posture that you wish your team talked about more? I'd love to hear your input. Maybe you're dealing with this mismatch right now and need some help, the coaching, consulting to go help get you through this. Reach out to me at anytime podcast at chemistry staffing.com. Might not need us today, but we're here for you whenever your church needs some help with developing or hiring your next healthy church staff. All right, that's it for today. Hope you have a really great weekend. We'll be back here on Monday on the Healthy Church Staff Blockstead.
