FUMBLING THE BALL

“Live [compassionately], friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.”  (Galatians 6:1-3 MSG)                   

Churches that focus on compassion and love, that are rooted in the spiritual dimension, over time enhance their ability to offer creative and life-giving ministries and mission, but churches that focus solely on ministry and mission can lose their souls if they forget to love people involved in them. A major component, then, of spiritual leadership is being a compassionate leader…

There’s a comment made in many churches that I’ve always hated: “So-and-so dropped the ball on that one.” What this means is that a person agreed to do something, but then failed, for whatever reason, to accomplish it. What bothers me about the phrase is that it shows a lack of compassion. The phrase has its origins in football: a player fumbles and “drops the ball,” which messes up the offense. The reality is that in football, people fumble. They don’t fumble intentionally. It’s always a mistake. Sometimes they fumble because they are trying too hard to do too much. Sometimes they fumble because they lose sight of the ball. Sometimes they fumble because they are anxious or afraid. Nobody fumbles on purpose. But on good teams, when players fumble, it is up to the rest of the team either to get the ball back or to prevent the other team from capitalizing on the fumble. Good team leaders tell the rest, “Don’t worry about the fumble. Just focus on what we need to do, and eventually we’ll get another opportunity. And if we fumble again, we all have to get the ball back.”

Compassionate leaders recognize that people don’t fail on purpose. They fail for a variety of reasons, including not knowing how to do something, trying to do too much, losing sight of the goal, or lacking confidence. Good leaders have compassion and let people know that it is OK to make mistakes or fail, that a new opportunity will eventually present itself, and that the person is still valued and important. 

-- N. Graham Standish in “Becoming a Blessed Church: Forming a Church of Spiritual Purpose, Presence, and Power”

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