I remember after a pretty heated board meeting, the vice president came up to me and asked if I would give him a ride home. He spent the next 30 minutes pouring into me, asking me how I was doing, who I felt God calling me to be, challenging me to be gracious and forgiving, encouraging me to be content with my position, advising me to listen more than speaking.
I was experiencing incredible ministry success and was getting frustrated with what I felt was the lack of movement by the overall church. The leadership was struggling with direction and vision and I wanted to see youth ministry advance to the next level. I was young and did not have experience sitting in board rooms and navigating difficult conversations with tact.
Mark, the vice president, took the time to invest in me, to teach me, to correct me. Mark was also dealing with sudden onset of stage 4 cancer and was uncertain of how much longer he would live. He was having issues with his vision, endurance, and strength. He had 3 incredible boys and an amazing wife along with a significant influence in our community. He lived a life of integrity in the small and the big things. He influenced me and I believe numerous people in important ways. When he breathed his last breath here on earth, he left a championship legacy of integrity, compassion, and living a life focused on others.
A decade later, I found myself on a field with hundreds of kids and families from our community playing on bounce houses, winning carnival games, watching entertainment on a live music stage, and enjoying an afternoon of fun laughter. I got a text from a person on the leadership team asking me to be in charge of the field because the rest of the leadership team wouldn’t be available for the rest of the day. Later that night, the leadership team invited me into an office and informed me that the board had just released our senior pastor from his position because of an inappropriate relationship with another staff member.
The church was largely successful with 1000’s of salvations each year, a growing influence regionally in encouraging other churches, and a dynamic vision in reaching the lost. The church had just announced opening its third campus which would lead to a larger influence and opportunity. Within weeks, church attendance plummeted, financial giving slowed to a trickle, and it became obvious that everything was crashing in on itself.
Integrity wins championships. Doing the right thing over and over again, while maintaining honesty, care, and commitment wins championships. I have been a part of some incredible opportunities in my ministry life. Over and over again, I have had the gift of watching the integrity of leadership be the number one thing that determines long term success in ministry. It is tempting to execute ministry in a way that gets the most likes, the biggest bang, the most excitement, the quickest and loudest approval, but what will last beyond the next season and maybe even your last breath will be the things that are grounded in integrity. Don’t be tempted to sacrifice the impact of a generational championship influence for the sake of a fun, feel good, small win in ministry. We are made to be winners of championships. Live with integrity.