Why You Should Waste Church Resources
©/ Dollar Photo Club
It’s hard to walk away from something that’s taken a significant investment of time and resources. But I’m learning in my position as executive pastor (and it’s likely applicable for other ministry leadership positions), the investment of time into things that never see the light of day is actually me doing my job effectively.
I assume all leaders are frustrated by sunk costs. But, as ministry leaders, should we not embrace them? Or at least embrace the process which often leads to them?
Last year, I was significantly involved in two minister searches for our church. Each process took more than four months. It included countless calls, flying to their homes, and flying them to our church. I’d count up the hours I spent in this process, but it might make me nauseous. When we got down to the last stage of selection, it was determined the match wasn’t best. All the work invested tempted me to pull the trigger anyway… “I can’t walk away from this, I have too much invested.” But we knew something wasn’t right. We didn’t feel this was what God had for us, or for the candidate. It was hard for all involved, but I’m confident the time and resources of the selection process helped us avoid the wrong hire.