Now What?
Posted on October 6, 2008
As of a couple of days ago, I stepped down from my leadership role of the tech ministry at my church. It was a volunteer role but I was responsible for nearly everything tech related. There are always questions when someone steps down from a leadership position and I thought I would briefly share why I did what I did.
Mary and I had been talking about it and she listened as I shared about what I was feeling. I have prayed a lot lately about this decision and it has slowly become apparent that the time was near.
As I have been preparing for Catalyst next week, many things are put off until after Catalyst, including this decision. I thought. On one hand, it had been a long time coming, but man there was a moment last week when I knew I had to do it and I had to do it now!
What was that moment that pushed this decision into gear? It wasn’t my anger, it wasn’t a conversation I had or anything else like that. It was God. I think He just got tired of my lack of movement on it and my growing restlessness and He gave me a swift kick.
Everything that I have done lately, everything I have thought and everything that has happened around me seems to point to one thing: it’s time to go.
One thing that validated this thought was watching LifeChurch.tv with my family last Tuesday night. The main scripture was Genesis 12 where God commands Abram to leave and go to the place where God would show him. Of course we know that he left and God blessed him tremendously. That sermon that night seemed to fit right into where I am at lately and filled in all the blanks.
I met with my pastor early Saturday morning to share my decision with him and honestly, I’m glad to have that behind me. Good or bad, that’s a tough conversation to have.
Anything that I am leading, whether at work or church or anywhere, my goal is to make things better than they were when I started, and also to finish strong. I think I have succeeded in both of those areas in this case and I hope the church leadership feels the same.
Sometimes we tend to question God and this is a time like that for me. I have been in the process of rejuvinating the network, the new firewall, switch and APs are in and scheduled to be installed in a couple of weeks. That upgrade is going to help in so many ways to make the network more stable and secure. That’s one of those projects that gives a great deal of satisfaction once it’s done and you can see the results. Now, for me, this is going to be like mowing the lawn and finishing after dark, then moving away. There is no satisfaction in looking across the lawn and seeing the results of your effort and knowing that it’s making a difference. This kind of project would be a milestone, marking a turn in the way technology is used. It’s going to allow the church to have an open, secure wifi network which will allow anyone to come in when the church is open and surf the internet. That is one of many benefits.
The irony of last week was after turning in my budget for 2009, the main financial person in the church emailed me, questioning why the budget was so large and a couple of specifics on it. In my mind and heart, I knew I was done there and it would have been easy to blow that off and just agree to let those things be dropped. But at the same time, I hadn’t made my decision known yet, so for all anyone knew, that was my role. So, I responded and explained in detail my thought process going into my submission. We ended up going back and forth via email and I agreed to a slight modification in concept, although inconsequential to the larger picture, and in the end, he said he agreed with all that I have told him and he would move forward with the budget as submitted.
Major victory for the tech ministry and for all the lives that will potentially be touched by the added use of technology over the next year. One of the things in question was a new server. Essentially, all that needs to be said is that it is 8+ years old and that should be sufficient, to a techie at least. We discussed this at great length and I shared how a year in the life of a server is like 12.3 human years, so do the math. Not really, but I shared many details of the risks of relying on a server that old.
So, I pushed to the very end, then abruptly brought my role in all of this to a halt. I agreed to finish out the firewall install in a couple of weeks but that’s probably more selfishness on my part. I want to see the end result of this baby that I worked hard to make the sale to the church leadership and get it approved. So, that’s my last hurrah, then I’m out.
Now what?
No clue. I have been enjoying worshipping in some different places with my family but beyond that, only God knows where this is leading. I have to believe that God has a plan for my life and this is just another step in that direction.
At this point, it’s better for my family and I to worship someplace else and we’ll see where that leads. We haven’t officially left our church but we are enjoying some new scenery.
As things unfold and become less fresh, I’ll share more. I expect to have more time to write because I have less responsibility. I’ll probably share more about where my passions lie and what kind of role I see myself playing in all of that in my future.
I do have an opinion of a tech volunteer role vs. a tech non-volunteer role and I’ll be sharing about that in the near future as well.
For now, I am free of some responsibilities and pumped about getting to Atlanta for Catalyst. Anyone else going to be there? Let me know. Let’s connect somehow while we’re there. Mary and I are meeting up with about 10 other church leaders from around the country and all of us are staying with some very generous friends.
It should be an incredible week. I know I need that right about now. Maybe God’s timing is good after all.
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7 Responses to “Now What?”
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God’s timing is never late seldom early but always on time. besides that though, you have made the decision to make this change and it was lead by God. That said it will prove to be the right thing and you will learn that God has a next step for you prepped already, so don’t get comfy, You will be busier than you could wish for soon enough because God has big Plans in store for you.
-Chris
I too know of this “nudging” that God can apply and timely it is indeed. I also understand the ever so slight, but ever increasing pressure, to “move along” and venture out. Excellent post… I especially enjoyed the “finishing strong” reminder… Every step in our lives dictates how profound the finish really is.
-Dean
8+ years on a server . . . you must have a strong prayer/faith life. I start having trouble sleeping if one of my servers goes over 4 years.
I hope the best for you as you move forward into this new place God has for you.
Jim, thanks for sharing…that was an excellent message…blessings to the new direction the Lord is taking you…
Jim,
I too have had the same struggle. With my situation I have been more than ready to move on but God has not released me. There is obviously still work for me to do. I know that God’s timing is perfect and when He is ready to move He will. Thanks for sharing. See you at Catalyst!
Jim, my thoughts and prayers go with you at this time. I’m sure I’ve shared with you b4 about my similar decision made a couple of years ago - and I am still in the midst of working out what God wants me to do for the future, etc …
The only difference and at the time I thought this hugely important (especially for our Church and its recent history) is that when I stepped down from my public role of leading various aspects that I and my family remain in the Church - happy to share the why if you want - and continue to worship there as well. This is not meant as a criticism of your decision but merely a nudge to think, consider and pray very carefully about leaving as well as stepping down.
All that said, I am aware that moving Church in America is not such a taboo thing as I perhaps envisage it in my haed
Hugs and huge blessings to you an dyours.
You did a good job explaining it.
I wish you the best in the upcoming decisions.