George Washington and Timing Your Exit

An article by Matt    No Comments

Lately I have been talking a good bit about the legacy that a pastor can leave for himself.  I wrote about entitlement and preparing ourselves for our defining moments.  Today I have been thinking about George Washington.  Perhaps it is the President’s Day weekend or maybe it is all the car ads, but as I was making the trip from Baltimore to New York yesterday I was thinking through the legacy that our first President left us.

Washington has been described as the American Cincinatus for his reluctance to take and hold power and the regularity with which he returned power to the people as opposed to using his popularity to maintain his power indefinitely.  This, I believe, is his greatest gift to our country.  At the end of Washington’s second term he drafted his farewell letter, knowing that his time as president was over.

Several years ago a friend and mentor of mind told me that every pastor knows when it is time for them to leave their current church.  He said that we, as pastors, know about three years before our closest friends who know about three years before everyone else.  The trick is acting on this knowledge in a timely fashion.  Acting on this knowledge can be difficult.  The process of leaving a church is painful, the breaking away from relationships made through the years, selling homes, finding new jobs (the hiring process in most churches is downright miserable), and everything else that goes into a move is hard.  While the idea of moving on is difficult, it is in the best interest of the church.

We have all seen what happens in churches and organizations where leadership holds on too tightly for too long… and it never ends well.  Each of us in our role as church leaders needs to be cognizant of whether we are still called to serve the church that we are in, and whether our calling is still to that church or not we need to be thinking through the idea of succession planning.  The discipline of figuring out who replaces us and preparing them for that role is huge in helping us to remember that leading a church is more about what is best for the church, and the Kingdom than it is about us keeping our benefits package and ensuring that our bills are paid in time:  if we are faithful to pursue the calling placed upon us by our God, we will be provided for.

George knew when it was time for him to step aside for the good of the country…

How will YOU know when it is your time?

Bonus:  The Harvard Business Ideacast did a fascinating podcast on succession a couple years back.  This is worth a listen.