Stop Eating 💩

Your Organization is a Living Organism with Waste

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

I’ve got a fun little story for you today.

The Situation

Let me take you back to early 2015. I was a ReLeader rookie, just a few months into my gig as the new Lead Pastor of Victory Church. To say I was knee-deep in 💩 would be an understatement; I was swimming in it.

The Sunday we broke the news (April of 2014) about the founding pastor's moral failure was a bizarre mix of tragedy and spectacle. It was like the Super Bowl of church drama, pulling in the biggest crowd we'd seen in years. You know how folks slow down to get a better look at a car accident? Well, this was the ecclesiastical version of that—a spiritual fender-bender that everyone wanted a front-row seat to.

But here's the thing: the rubbernecking crowd didn't stick around long. Once the initial shock value of the "car crash" faded, we were left with the grim task of cleaning up the debris, nursing the wounded, and grappling with a church that was hemorrhaging members. Fast forward a few months, and our once-thriving community had become a shadow of itself. With each exit, it wasn't just the numbers that were dropping; our budget, momentum, and collective energy all took major hits.

Being the ReLeader in this scenario was like being handed a broken compass and told to navigate through a storm. The crisis wasn't my doing; I didn't light this fire, and yet, I was the one left to put it out. In other words, I had to fix what I hadn’t broken.

Here I Come to Save the Day

So, here's what I did.

I had made it my mission to be the anchor that kept everyone at Victory Church. Diving headfirst into my inbox, I tackled every toxic email and complaint, as if I could mend the fractures in our community with well-crafted responses. I was on a constant chase, tracking down anyone who hinted at leaving and becoming a one-man crisis hotline for every disgruntled call. But let's be real: this was a draining endeavor. Most folks voicing their complaints on their way out weren't exactly in the best state of mind, and their negativity started to weigh heavily on me.

Far from "saving the day," my efforts seemed to be in vain. The people I desperately tried to keep in the fold either continued on their way or stayed only to stir up new issues a few days later. The energy I poured into salvaging these relationships left me stretched thin and questioning the effectiveness of my one-man retention strategy.

The Intervention

Then one day I looked down at a vibrating phone, and yet again I saw the words “Jimmy Evans Cell” on my screen. After a brief description of how I was spending my days, Jimmy gave me some of the best advice I’ve ever received. And today, I’m going to give it to you.

The following are the words I heard on the other end of the line. I’m inviting you to hear the same words and apply them to your life.

Jon, I’m going to help you overcome something today. And it is going to give you freedom.

Your physical body is a living organism. Every day, you eat food and your body nourishes itself by receiving the food you eat and extracting vitamins, minerals, proteins, and other essential elements to give you the strength you need to fulfill your daily duties. Your body then (how should I put this politely), excretes the waste that was not useful to the body.

Jon, the church you lead is a living organism too. It is made up of people who come to bring their gifts to serve the body of Christ. Each of them brings nourishment to the church, giving it health, growth and vitality during their time at the church. And, in the same way your body excretes things that no longer provide nourishment, your church will do the same.

So, let me ask you, Jon: after you've, 'taken care of business,' do you ever think about recycling that waste for more nutrients, or do you flush it?

Everytime you chase someone down that’s leaving you are picking “it” up, and trying to make the body redigest it, trying to find more nourishment in it.

Hey Jon…STOP EATING 💩

Stop Eating 💩

Yeah, it's blunt and a bit stomach-turning, but man, did it hit home. It was my wake-up call to stop the endless pursuit of the discontented, the naysayers, and the chronic complainers. No more diving into the cesspool of toxic emails or taking calls from energy vampires. I set up a whole system to filter out the junk—screening emails, flagging problematic correspondences, the whole nine yards. I wasn’t avoiding conflict, I was avoiding the toxicity that would not result in a healthy outcome no matter how hard I shoveled it.

In essence, I stopped eating 💩. And you know what? It was the first step toward reclaiming my sanity, and refocusing on what truly mattered.

I don’t know who this is for today, but I am quite certain you have more important things to do today than eating more of that 💩.

Go Fix Broke Stuff

How about you? What 💩 do you need to stop eating?