Adam Hamilton is senior pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. Leaning on personal leadership experience, Hamilton provides perceptive insights into how and why leaders fall-and how to help preempt such failures within a team before they occur.
Adam starts by saying that “this is not an inspirational talk…” That’s fine, we’ve had enough “inspirational talks” today.
Leaders fall often. Not a week goes by that we don’t hear of one. According to a study by the Francis Schaeffer Institute, among clergy, 30% admit to some kind of sexual impropriety during the course of their ministry.
He talked about a crisis in his own church where there was an improper romantic relationship between two staff members.
4 Ways of dealing with the crisis
- Say nothing
- Be evasive
- The “Scarlet Letter” approach
- Transparency, honesty, compassion
- We are their family. We exist for broken people.
Told staff first. Asked congregation not to throw stones and to pray for the families. Are you going to throw stones or are you going to see these people as Jesus saw the woman brought before him who was caught in adultery? (I’m assuming the staff members were repentant at this point?)
This sermon and response actually drew new church members, some who were there for the first time that Sunday.
“You can recover, but it’s so much easier when you don’t give up on Plan A that God has for you.” Never think that you are not susceptible. The strength of your relationship with Christ does not reduce or remove the need for boundaries.
5 R’s of Resisting Temptation
- Remember who you are – a child of God, a follower of Jesus Christ
- Recognize the consequences of your actions – Will I feel better or worse, proud or ashamed after I do this?
- Rededicate yourself to God – pray
- Reveal your struggle to a trusted friend
- Remove yourself from the situation
The Two Big Ideas
- The aim of the Christian life is sanctification. We’re called to life a life that’s worthy of the calling
- All of us are tempted as human beings and there are consequences when we fall.
The final word cannot be judgment – it must be grace.
Great talk. Christ-saturated.This was one of the pleasant surprises. I’ve never heard of Adam Hamilton before but I’ll be looking at more of his work soon! his blog is here.
(PS – a number of people commented that Adam looks a lot like Rob Bell. I agree. Unlike Bell however, Adam had both the appearance of substance AND genuine substance beneath.) ;-)
More From The Ascent to Truth
- Christine Caine – Liveblogging the Global Leadership Summit 2010 (#wcagls) – Talking about music is like dancing about architecture…
- Seasons of Attack the Lure of Adultery – Talking about music is like dancing about architecture…
- Jeff Manion – Liveblogging the Global Leadership Summit 2010 (#wcagls) – Talking about music is like dancing about architecture…
