Have you ever seen a tree after it’s just been pruned? It’s cut back to the trunk in most places, branches and limbs lobbed off. To an untrained eye it looks dead and broken. It’s tempting to think the famer went too far, got happy with his clippers and destroyed his tree. But come back in one season and take a look at the growth in that tree because of a skilled pruner. You’ll find it full of fruit and ready for harvest.

In John 15, Jesus describes our relationship to the Father as branches on a vine subjected to the skilled hand of a farmer. The parts of us that are ready for growth aren’t left alone. They’re pruned. And pruning can be painful.

Healthy things grow, and growing things change. Growing healthy churches requires a lot of skill, but more importantly it calls for the steady hand of leadership. Instead of avoiding the pain that comes along with change, let’s identify it for the opportunity for growth that it just may be.

Pruning is Painful but Necessary for Growth
The pain of pruning comes in different ways. There are times when you need to cut back on ministries, projects or even staff. In order to start something new, you may have to stop something else. Some aspect of your church or ministry have run their course, and it’s time to pull the plug.

Growing healthy churches requires a lot of skill, but more importantly it calls for the steady hand of leadership. 

Often these cuts are out of our hands. We may be running for a while thinking everything is great when all of a sudden you hear about a family or key volunteer who has decided to leave. As Patrick Lencioni puts it, “As soon as the leader starts the bus and puts a sign on it declaring where it’s headed, some people will want to get off.” What he means is that losing people is not always bad. It can even be the key to future growth.

As soon as you get going, there will be people who want to pull the cord and get off. Or worse, other people may get on and want to give you instructions on where you should go. As leaders, we should evaluate each loss against any future gains. How do we determine when it’s the right time to prune?

How to Handle the Pruning Sheers
You have to be willing to lose before you gain, especially when it comes to people. This is about addition through subtraction sometimes. It’s so hard to accept this, especially for pastors. We are wired to accept and retain everyone who comes through our doors. And this is only heightened during the early formative stages of growth.

But too many leaders hold on to the wrong people for the wrong reasons for too long. They accommodate a key employee, imaging that if they can keep them on the team long enough then they’ll surely find a place for them. So, they create an unnecessary position that blurs the mission of the church.

Or worse, they refuse to fire anyone just to avoid pain. As a leader, you will have many chances to decide whether an employee stays or goes. Avoiding pain is the absolutely worst reason for retaining a staff person you know needs to move on. I recall once being given great advice about this. When letting an employee go, the worst thing you can do is eliminate the pain, either for you or the employee. This pruning can be helpful to both of you. For the employee, it can help them see where they don’t fit or how they can improve.

One of the keys to influential leadership is a willingness to withstand pain now for gain later.

When it comes time to prune, always do so on the basis of mission and vision. This is where you have to get downright mean about it. If there’s one thing you should protect above all else, it’s the direction of your church or organization. Don’t allow outsiders or circumstances to redirect you. Have courage to lead and evaluate every situation based on your core mission statement. This may rock the boat or ruffle feathers, but a leader needs to be willing to prune and be pruned.

Ready for Some Pruning?
Did you know that an un-pruned tree takes longer to bear fruit? If you don’t prune a young tree, it struggles to grow. But once you keep pruning, you stimulate more growth, you shape it for the best harvest and you give it the greatest chance for survival.

It’s the same with your ministry, your organization and your church. When you commit to cut away those things that are no longer necessary or meaningful to your mission, you put yourself in position to grow. When you dare to eliminate staff people who have run their course, you prepare your church for the next level. And when you allow yourself to be pruned, you are exhibiting great signs of maturity and strength.

One of the biggest leadership failures is unwillingness to push through the pain of pruning. Planting a church, growing a church and developing a culture of multiplication will always involve pain. One of the keys to influential leadership is a willingness to withstand pain now for gain later.

A tree’s strength is not in its branches but its trunk. Jesus’ words in John 15 make it very clear that God is our source. He is the master gardener and knows what’s best for us. We can always trust the Master, even when we see the pruning sheers in his hands.