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Ahead of his Equip keynote, Lifeway’s Ben Mandrell talks about the beauty of using blunders for our betterment
Lifeway Christian Resources President/CEO Ben Mandrell will be the keynote speaker at the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Equip Conference on Aug. 5 at Sagemont Church in Houston. Mandrell gives vision and strategic leadership to the 132-year-old organization that provides ministry resources for churches in more than 160 countries on six continents. He also hosts the ministry podcast, The Glass House, with his wife, Lynley. Mandrell recently spoke with the Texan about a topic he will speak on at Equip—mistakes.
What’s one of the biggest mistakes you’ve ever made in a ministry context?
Ben Mandrell: One of my biggest mistakes was I told my church plant [in Colorado] I was going to be there forever. [The church] wanted to know if I was going to plant this church, get it up and running, and move on to the next city. At that moment in my life, I was a 100% convinced I was in Denver for life. I told them I was going to be buried next to Buffalo Bill, because he was famously buried in that area. But Scripture is just so clear about [not] predicting your own future. As much as I wanted to comfort my flock and encourage them that I had no intentions of leaving, what I was really doing was pretending in some weird way that I was sovereign over my life or that I could decide where I was going to be buried. I’ve learned that it’s really good to give people hope and encouragement, but it’s not good to make promises you can’t keep.
Generally speaking, what are some of the biggest mistakes ministry leaders make?
BM: I feel like a lot of pastors—and I’ve been in this boat—we worry so much about how we’re being perceived by outsiders when the ultimate measure of our success is how we are respected by the insiders. There’s an old saying that is so true: you can tell the skill of the shepherd by the condition of the sheep. It doesn’t matter to me how big a church is or how fast it’s growing. There are a lot of things that cause a church to grow. What’s really the best way to tell if a church is healthy is to go inside and look at the condition of the sheep. If they’re attended well, if they’re fed, if they’re cared for, it’s a healthy environment. I heard somebody say once, “Success is when the people who know you best respect you the most.” That’s a definition of success that I think is more biblical than the one that we have, which says that success is when you have the most followers on social media. Most of those people who are following you really have no clue who you really are.
"Just like Peter, we all make mistakes. We betray the name of Christ. We blow it, and the Lord—because He’s gracious—restores us."
For pastors, the nature of their calling frequently thrusts them into positions where the decisions they make, which can sometimes lead to mistakes, are often very public. What advice can you offer to pastors to help them navigate those rocky waters a little more smoothly?
BM: I think one of the hardest things to do is publicly apologize for a mistake. Yet when people observe somebody owning a mistake, there’s something so endearing about that. It makes you feel connected to that person and [leaves you thinking], “Man, I’m so glad he said that. That makes me feel better about the seven mistakes I made this week!” I don’t know what it is about us as spiritual leaders, but we want to give people the impression that we don’t need grace, that we don’t need forgiveness, that we don’t need anyone to put up with us because we blow it sometimes when that’s exactly what the gospel says.
The healthiest pastors I know often say things like, “Look, I don’t know if we’re doing this right, but we’ve got to do something, so here’s the path we’re going to take.” And when they communicate things like that, it’s always done in a spirit of [acknowledging] we’ve never been here before. You often don’t know [what to do]—you’re just doing your best to manage a tricky situation. The decision you’re making may be the right decision, but it may not be. Time will tell.
Why are we so afraid—especially in ministry contexts—to make mistakes, and what are some ways we can process our mistakes in a healthier way?
BM: In ministry, I’m either beating myself up for something I should have seen coming or I’m catastrophizing what could happen if this thing gets out of hand. Neither one of those things is healthy. Just like Peter, we all make mistakes. We betray the name of Christ. We blow it, and the Lord—because He’s gracious—restores us. I don’t think Jesus wanted Peter to spend the rest of his life punishing himself for that one night, and I don’t think the Lord wants me to spend the next 10 years lamenting some decision that I made in year one at Lifeway.
That doesn’t mean I don’t want to cash in on the experience and be better next time because of it. So I think one of the things I’d recommend is surround yourself with people to help you sort out [the different parts of your ministry]. Have a leadership team that has the freedom to challenge you and to speak into your processes. Let people speak into your life who have the gift of discernment and wisdom. That is an invitation into intimacy. … I think having people you trust speak into your pastoral ministry is a rare thing. I just don’t see a lot of pastors doing it. A pastor who thinks he’s got it all [figured out on his own] is sunk. He needs people around him to round out his gifts—but it takes a certain amount of self-awareness to get there.
Saturday, August 5
Sagemont Church Houston
Equip is designed for anyone serving in the local church and offers leadership training in a wide array of ministry areas. Whether you are a pastor, volunteer, deacon, or church staff Equip has something to help you become a better leader.
