What turn around pastors need
King Josiah had a major mess on his hands. He had inherited leadership over a nation that was in spiritual shambles, had no clear vision, and was distracted by all kinds of things that took the place of God. A major shift needed to happen (2 Kings 22-23).
Twenty-six year old Josiah, who had already been king for 18 years, discovered the Word of the Lord for his people, and recognized that a turn-around was essential. It may be that a directional shift is necessary for your church, too; whether you have been pastoring for 18 days or 18 years—and whether you are 18 or 81—you can learn from Josiah’s reform, too:
1. Josiah defined reality: Noted leadership author Max Dupree is famous for writing, “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality”. As soon as Josiah heard the Word of the Lord, he set out to understand it and apply it to his situation. The moment he knew reality (that they weren’t living in alignment to God’s Word), he set his heart to do whatever was required to change that reality (22:11-13). We must get a grip on what is really going on, even if it’s challenging, because if we think everything is going well, and it is not (or if we know everything is not going well, but we try to ignore it) we will never lead our church to the place God has for it.
2. He started with his leaders: “The King called together all the elders” (23:1). As you are addressing a change of direction and culture, it’s important to start by engaging the leaders and influencers who will be helping to carry the burden of turn-around. A healthy, united, and spiritually mature coalition of leadership will inspire faith in a congregation that is facing even the most difficult reality.
3. But the King informed everybody: “He went up to the temple with…all the people, from the least to the greatest” (23:2). Sometimes we want to share the challenges and opportunities with our leaders only, and we keep the hard realities away from our people; that could be a mistake! When facing a need for turn-around, everyone should be aware of how they can help contribute—this will provide an opportunity for individuals to deepen their faith and their prayer life as they learn to trust God and partner with the leaders of the church, and with one another, towards a solution.
4. The leader led the way: “The King…renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep His commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul…” (23:3). It was very important for Josiah to stand before the people and personally commit to doing everything it would take for the renewal of the Nation—This is the thing he would wholly commit his life and passion to doing! As your church sees that you are fully and personally invested in response to the Word of the Lord, they will be inspired to be fully invested, as well.
5. He got rid of distractions: Josiah tore down all the false altars and destroyed all of the false idols. (23:4; also v. 6-19). In our churches most of us won’t find altars or idols intentionally crafted to worship demons, but many of us will discover traditions, systems and programs that have become more important than what the Lord may be saying about His intentions for us. Anything that currently distracts a congregation from obediently following God now is an idol, and it needs to be torn down. This includes those things that started out because the Lord dictated them, but over the years nobody noticed when they started to distract from God’s current direction for our churches.
6. Josiah transitioned the negative influencers: Josiah got rid of the priests who were leading the people in a direction opposite God’s will (23:5 & 20). Once we start to lead our churches into turn-around realities, all of the shepherds have to be on board; leaders must reflect the heart of the Lord together because nothing can be more potentially destructive than a divided leadership team. After the leadership of the church understands the operative Word of God together (point 2), if they are all not willing to sacrifice to walk in obedience to that Word, they should not continue to influence the congregation.
7. He re-dug the wells of his fathers: In verses 22 & 25 we find that Josiah led Israel to celebrate a passover like had never been celebrated, and that he turned to the Lord with everything in him like no King had for a long time. Moses, who God ordained the passover through, and David, who was the last King to be so committed to God, were the forefathers who had established the wells. Josiah, like Isaac did in Genesis 26, re-dug the wells of his fathers that had been stopped up by the enemy’s design and from disregard and lack of use by God’s people. Re-digging wells is part of our job: The Lord wants us to open the flow of life that has been stopped by the enemy or by ignorance. So often glimpses of the intention of the Lord for a churches future can be discovered in its history. Do some archeology! Find out what the Lord said in the past & renew that in a way that brings the fresh water of the Spirit to peoples lives.
As we seek the Lord regarding what needs to change in our churches, let’s continue to learn from Josiah’s posture of humility, obedience, and courage.