God's Purpose for the Church

Hindrance of Resistance

Possible Effects of Resistance:

When others, perhaps your leadership board, ministry team, or congregants, disagree, put up some resistance, or won't come along, it can send you on a downward spiral and derail the process if you don't quickly gain perspective.

denial

They aren't really against this. They just don't understand.

defensiveness

They are the ones who are wrong. They're just being obstinate.

discouragement

They are never going to change. They are going to hinder this process from moving forward.

defeat

They ruined it. They won't ever come along.

Look at Resistance as Opportunity:

to learn and grow
to refine and improve
to wait on and trust the Lord

How to Prevent Resistance:

While you often cannot totally eliminate resistance to change, you can minimize it through the following:

Reliance on God: Pray, pray, and pray some more. God's Spirit can go before you and prepare the way.

Respect for People: Invite input. Include input. Involving others in the process, especially those you believe will be prone to resist, says that they matter and usually leads to greater cooperation.

Responsibility in Leadership: Communicate, communicate, communicate. Don't assume others will know what you are trying to do. Keep them informed each step of the way. You are there to serve people.

Recognition of the Process: Go slow, introducing small incremental changes. When you try to do too much too fast, you can count on problems. Just as you went through a series of steps to get to this point, so do other people need to come to a point in their readiness to change.

To Read: Click below to read articles on the MinTools.com site.

Obstacles in Becoming More Purposeful
First Things First When It Comes to Implementing Change

Additional Resources on Conflict Management

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