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A Christian Leader has Fallen: 10 Board Principles
Brian Kreeger • Aug 04, 2022
The fall of a Christian leader
puts the organization’s board members in a difficult position. They certainly never expected it. As a board member you are hurt, probably feeling betrayed. You may even be mad. You have to protect the organization.
But there is a part of you that feels compassion for the fallen leader as their world crashes down around them.
How do you prioritize your roles—Christian individual with a duty to God, board member with fiduciary responsibilities to protect the entity, community member and influencer, provider of services? And all of that is on top of running your own life with your own family.
Where do you go from here? What do you do? There is no one answer, or set of answers, because all situations are different.
(This blog focuses on starting a conversation centered on preventing the fall of nonprofit leaders. I write it from a Christian perspective, but all leaders will benefit. Be sure to sign up to receive these articles via email every Tuesday at
briankreeger.com as well as taking a look at previous blog articles. In addition to receiving these articles two days before they hit social media, you will receive the article "5 Early Indicators of a Christian Nonprofit Leadership Fall" along with the Contents, Introduction and the Appendix (My story) of my book,
The Courageous Ask: A Proactive Approach to Prevent the Fall of Christian Nonprofit Leaders.)
What I will do, though, is recommend 10 principles for the Christian nonprofit board to follow in making the tough decisions as they deal with a fallen leader that come from my own experience, from conducted interviews, and from research. Keep in mind, there is a whole different set of principles to help an organization recover. Other than the first two, the rest are in no particular order.
- Your ultimate responsibility, way above being the entity, is your relationship with God. There will never be a time that you are not ultimately accountable to God. This is very important to realize as people try to pressure you into taking their position and play on your emotions. This could be other board members, the community, the fallen leader, family, etc. It’s important to keep the center-line on God and scripture, maintaining the courage and integrity that make you a solid board member.
2.
Protect God in the community. I’m not so arrogant as to think God really needs your protection. But what God does desire is for you to be His hands, His feet, and His mouthpiece—His representative at the board table and in the community. It’s possible that the leader needs to be removed from their position, or that difficult decisions will need to be made. But how you react, and how a fallen leader is treated is what the community will see. There are instances where the aftermath of a fall creates a much worse impression of the Church than the fall itself. For their part, the board needs to do their best to represent God well.
3.
The fallen leader is still valuable. They messed up in a big way and hurt a lot of people. That does not mean they do not have value. One thing I have been told, and experienced, is that the board disappears from the life of a fallen leader after final decisions are made, portraying indifference. If everyone treats the fallen Christian nonprofit leader as if they have no value, at least in the eyes of Christ, they may start to believe it themselves. This may launch them into a place of despair that is hard to recover from in a lifetime. The board must do what the board must do as the entity. But everyone, the board and the offender, is a fallible human being and that must not be forgotten. This must go beyond words.
4. Author and speaker Kay Warren said,
“Broken trees can still bear fruit.” Recognize that this is hopefully a short-term issue in the life of the fallen executive. It especially is short term in the light of eternity. The board doesn’t want to be the stumbling block that causes long-term disarray in the life of the fallen executive that is trying to recover. For instance, after possible recovery the leader will need to find employment. They will still have a full life to live. The board should attempt to be a help, as deemed appropriate considering the circumstance, in the recovery of their entire life and not just this relatively short-term circumstance. One board chair I interviewed who led the board in terminating their fallen executive said, “Nothing should prevent the recovery of the leader.” They continued, “A board needs to take the leader’s heart into consideration and make tools available for the fallen leader to recover.”
5.
Make the wisest decision possible. Prayer and meditation are a must. Make decisions slowly and with all of the facts possible. Go with what you know and not with what you assume. Reject any and all gossip that cannot be proven. Bring in a third party to investigate if possible, in order to prevent emotion and fear from guiding the process.
6.
Do not yield to fear or public pressure. This happens way too often. Boards are left asking, “What will the donors think, and how will this affect our funding? Will the public lose faith in us as an organization? What if this hits social media? What does it say about me/us if we don’t make a quick decisive decision?” Fear is a big human motivator. Public pressure many times drives this fear, especially in a Christian environment where the expectations of leadership, executives, and boards are much higher. In most situations, when a Christian leader falls, the public scrutiny will be short-lived if the accountability structure is focused, with conviction, on doing things to the best of their human ability God’s way. This will translate to grace from most of the Christian community.
7.
Love unconditionally.
Yes, justice is important and must be enacted if needed. But recognize that accountability and church discipline, even in a Christian nonprofit, are humanly easier than unconditional love. In other words, make decisions the hard way, not the easy way.
8.
Search for facts without browbeating.
It is not necessary to continually remind the leader of their mistakes after they have acknowledged them. No piling on. Use Jesus as an example. The woman caught in adultery and the woman at the well come to mind. Everyone knew the sins of the offenders, but He did not have to beat them into the ground with them. There is an appropriate level of reminder, but taking it too far is driving the fallen leader into a place they may not recover from.
9.
Encourage communal care for the fallen leader.
Because of their position, a board may not be able to initially connect with the fallen leader. They should encourage others to reach out to them to help with the recovery.
10.
Finally, grace is not a natural concept.
Seek it. Fight for it. Allow it. Remember, you need it as well.
Following these principles takes great courage on the part of the board because many are simply counter-cultural. Many people want revenge and for the leader to hurt like they have been hurt.
All legitimate human feelings.
But the role of the Christian nonprofit board member is to go beyond human feelings and seek a solution that honors God and His word. Not always easy, but doable.
Be Courageous!
Be Proactive!
Be sure to sign up to receive these articles via email every Tuesday at
briankreeger.com. In addition to receiving these articles two days before they hit social media, you will receive the article "5 Early Indicators of a Christian Nonprofit Leadership Fall" along with the Contents, Introduction and the Appendix (My Story) of my book,
The Courageous Ask: A Proactive Approach to Prevent the Fall of Christian Nonprofit Leaders.
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Executives -pastors or nonprofit executives in our context- are put on a pedestal. It’s not that the typical person necessarily believes they belong there or desires to put them there. But it is human nature that this happens. The general public often places much higher expectations on leaders than they do on themselves. Sometimes it is appropriate, and the leader has put themselves in that position. In some cases, it is simply scriptural. For instance, James 3 points out that those who teach will be judged more strictly, thereby heightening the expectations of those who lead and teach. But what about when we accept, and enact, those elevated expectations and forget the humanity of our leaders? Often a community heaps on a leader the expectation that they are to perform with the perfection of Jesus and not simply be a Jesus follower and disciple just like them, but with a unique calling and heightened responsibility. Too many times when a leader shows human imperfection, the respect we have for them is damaged. Leaders fall under strict judgment, and we forget they are no less fallible than us. The imperfection they have colors any positive experience we would have had with them otherwise. While most of us acknowledge this strict, hypocritical judgment and recognize it as not being how we want to treat our leaders, it is a difficult battle to fight in our own attitudes and minds. No matter who the leader is, they are not Jesus. But please allow me to reverently make some comparisons. (This blog focuses on starting a conversation centered on preventing the fall of nonprofit leaders. I write it from a Christian perspective, but all leaders will benefit. Be sure to sign up to receive these articles via email every Tuesday at briankreeger.com as well as taking a look at previous blog articles. In addition to receiving these articles two days before they hit social media, you will receive the article "5 Early Indicators of a Christian Nonprofit Leadership Fall" along with the Contents, Introduction and the Appendix (My story) of my book, The Courageous Ask: A Proactive Approach to Prevent the Fall of Christian Nonprofit Leaders. )
You are the community, no matter what formal role you play in a particular organization, or if you play any role at all. My blog articles typically focus on the roles the leader and the board have in preventing the fall of Christian nonprofit leaders. But I contend that the community that exists around organizational leaders and boards has a role as well. In fact, a community’s role can many times be much bigger. My next few blog articles will focus on the role of the community in preventing the fall of Christian nonprofit leaders. (This blog focuses on starting a conversation centered on preventing the fall of nonprofit leaders. I write it from a Christian perspective, but all leaders will benefit. Be sure to sign up to receive these articles via email every Tuesday at briankreeger.com as well as taking a look at previous blog articles. In addition to receiving these articles two days before they hit social media, you will receive the article "5 Early Indicators of a Christian Nonprofit Leadership Fall" along with the Contents, Introduction and the Appendix (My story) of my book, The Courageous Ask: A Proactive Approach to Prevent the Fall of Christian Nonprofit Leaders. )
