I love you but . . .

Years ago I was resistant to hire church members. My experience in previous churches had been that church members come into their positions with a sense of entitlement. My secretary at my previous church had been church secretary for 17 years before I arrived. I couldn't get a whole day's work out of her in the 5 1/2 years I was there! But I couldn't touch her because she was there when I got there and, it was obvious, she was going to be there when I left. She had too much political clout in this small, county seat First Baptist Church. I just had to get by.

When we moved to Arlington, I discovered Rush Creek had a church secretary that had been a member prior to employment. I was hoping it wold be different, but it wasn't. She was surly and not very helpful. But this was no county seat FBC, and I wasn't about to get weighed down with another entitlement attitude. She lasted less than a year.

From then on, I was dead set on hiring outsiders. But I kept noticing God was putting some incredible people in my church that could do incredible work. So I began to hire them as we grew. Through the years, I've hired quite a few; scores, actually.

I interview every person we hire; I'm usually the last one to interview the candidate and for all practical purposes, they're already hired. But I reserve the right to look them in the eye, get a sense of their character, and give the final yes. We are a family; we are a team. And even a part-time custodian or a youth intern is both cherished by God and a valuable team member.

And I ALWAYS have 'the talk' with them. I say, "Listen _______, you are a church member and we think you'll do a great job at ________. But I need to tell you something very important: just because you're a church member and just because I love you, doesn't mean I won't fire you. If you don't continue to take your performance to new levels, or if you become a difficult team member, or if you have a notable lapse in character, I will fire you, do you understand?"

I've had to fire or squeeze out 5-6 of them in the past eight years. But most of them have been the best hires I ever made. Set it out clearly at the beginning--you'll be glad you did.