As a leader, when you have to deal with confrontation, there are some people who will feel threatened no matter how carefully you follow the direction of Scripture. They feel like everybody is after them. They have a persecution complex.
Maybe they grew up in a family where they were criticized from the moment they got up in the morning till they went to bed at night. Who knows why they do it, but they take everything you say the wrong way.
You can pray for that person, you can minister to them and you can encourage them to change in this area, but ultimately you need to realize as a leader that no matter how careful you are, these folks are always going to be a little on edge.
The measure of your success as a leader will never be governed by the fact that no one ever took offense at you. All you can do is have “clean hands and a pure heart,” knowing you have done the best you can to provide an environment in which that is not going to occur. If it does, however, just make sure you do not take offense over their being offended!
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
Mac and Lynne Hammond are senior pastors of Living Word in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, which they started in 1980. Many outreaches and ministries have launched from Living Word since that time, including Maranatha Christian Academy, a Pre-K through grade 12 school with nearly 900 in attendance, and Living Free Recovery Services, a licensed outpatient treatment program.
Most recently, Mac and Lynne have launched a vision to plant fifty churches across the globe in the next five years. As of August 2024, nine churches have been planted in the Dominican Republic, Ireland, Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, and Guatemala with construction underway for seven more churches in El Salvador, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Prior to becoming a pastor, Mac was a pilot. He served in the Air Force, served two tours of duty in Southeast Asia, and was honorably discharged in 1970 with the rank of Captain. Between 1970 and 1980, Mac was involved in varying capacities in the general aviation industry, including ownership of a successful air cargo business serving the Midwestern United States. A business acquisition brought the Hammonds to Minneapolis, where they ultimately founded Living Word. Currently, Mac is the host of The Winner’s Way and The Winner’s Minute broadcasts and the author of several internationally distributed books. Mac is broadly acclaimed for his ability to apply the principles of the Bible to practical situations and the challenges of daily living.