Leading Your Church in a Time of Crisis
In a season shaped by crisis and uncertainty, this post draws timeless leadership lessons from Joseph’s story, showing how humility, thoughtful planning, adaptability, and a focus on others can guide leaders through even the most challenging moments.
Since our world and our lives stopped being "normal" due to the coronavirus, my mind has regularly been going to a story about leadership from ancient times.
For many, the name of “Joseph” from the Bible brings images of a brightly colored “dream coat”.
However, more importantly, Joseph was once called on to save an entire nation from devastation during a global crisis.
As the story goes, Joseph was called by the Egyptian Pharaoh to interpret a troubling dream he had.
Joseph’s interpretation was actually a prophecy: Globally, there will be seven years of abundance, followed by seven years of famine.
Pharaoh responded by putting Joseph in charge of managing what was to come.
As the story unfolds from there, we see some key lessons in Joseph’s leadership that might be of help to us today.
Confident Humility
The story says that Joseph was 30 years old when he was unexpectedly brought before the world’s preeminent leader to interpret a dream.
Joseph’s response was interesting.
He said, “I can’t interpret your dream, but my God can.”
With a chance to show how smart he was, he instead chose to show humility by revealing that he didn’t have all the answers.
At the same time, he showed confidence.
He knew where and how to find the answers.
This combination of humility and confidence is remarkable given the circumstances.
The Lesson: In a crisis, be humble enough to listen, yet confident in what you know.
Assess and Reflect
The story says that immediately after leaving Pharaoh’s presence, Joseph traveled all throughout Egypt.
The context of the story leads us to believe he was doing so to assess the situation.
Up until this time, Joseph was in prison.
Even though he knew what was coming (seven years of abundance), he spent time discovering, exploring, and gaining perspective on the current situation.
The Lesson: When in a crisis, take a moment to assess. Ask “Where are we now?”. Think and reflect before acting.
Respond (don’t React) with a Plan
The story continues.
Joseph developed and hatched a plan: During the 7 years of abundance, he gathered as much grain as possible, and stored it.
The specifics of how this worked are not given, other than to say that Joseph collected all the food that was produced in those 7 years.
I’m sure there were many who disagreed with this approach.
But he stayed with the plan.
The result? By the time the famine hit, they had more food available than could be measured.
As the famine continued, Joseph made adjustments.
The overall plan stayed intact, but as new information and circumstances came to light, the plan was revised, yet never abandoned.
The Lesson: In a crisis, plan. Stick to the plan. Revise the plan. Stick to the plan.
It’s About Them, Not You
The story ends with the seven years of famine affecting the entire known world.
As food became scarce, everyone came to Egypt.
And what does Joseph do? He feeds EVERYONE, Egyptian and non-Egyptian alike.
Joseph understood that surviving this crisis was not about his well being, or status, or comfort.
He understood it was not just about his country. He had a genuine concern for everyone.
So much so, that he updated his plan for the long term.
He enabled the people to grow their own food in exchange for 20% of what they produced.
In doing so, they would be much better off if something like this should happen again.
The people’s response to Joseph was to say, “You have saved our lives, may we find favor in your eyes.”
The Lesson: When leading through a crisis, focus on others and their needs first.
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Tithely provides the tools you need to engage with your church online, stay connected, increase generosity, and simplify the lives of your staff.
With tools like text and email messaging, custom church apps and websites, church management software, digital giving, and so much more… it’s no wonder why over 37,000 churches in 50 countries trust Tithely to help run their church.
Since our world and our lives stopped being "normal" due to the coronavirus, my mind has regularly been going to a story about leadership from ancient times.
For many, the name of “Joseph” from the Bible brings images of a brightly colored “dream coat”.
However, more importantly, Joseph was once called on to save an entire nation from devastation during a global crisis.
As the story goes, Joseph was called by the Egyptian Pharaoh to interpret a troubling dream he had.
Joseph’s interpretation was actually a prophecy: Globally, there will be seven years of abundance, followed by seven years of famine.
Pharaoh responded by putting Joseph in charge of managing what was to come.
As the story unfolds from there, we see some key lessons in Joseph’s leadership that might be of help to us today.
Confident Humility
The story says that Joseph was 30 years old when he was unexpectedly brought before the world’s preeminent leader to interpret a dream.
Joseph’s response was interesting.
He said, “I can’t interpret your dream, but my God can.”
With a chance to show how smart he was, he instead chose to show humility by revealing that he didn’t have all the answers.
At the same time, he showed confidence.
He knew where and how to find the answers.
This combination of humility and confidence is remarkable given the circumstances.
The Lesson: In a crisis, be humble enough to listen, yet confident in what you know.
Assess and Reflect
The story says that immediately after leaving Pharaoh’s presence, Joseph traveled all throughout Egypt.
The context of the story leads us to believe he was doing so to assess the situation.
Up until this time, Joseph was in prison.
Even though he knew what was coming (seven years of abundance), he spent time discovering, exploring, and gaining perspective on the current situation.
The Lesson: When in a crisis, take a moment to assess. Ask “Where are we now?”. Think and reflect before acting.
Respond (don’t React) with a Plan
The story continues.
Joseph developed and hatched a plan: During the 7 years of abundance, he gathered as much grain as possible, and stored it.
The specifics of how this worked are not given, other than to say that Joseph collected all the food that was produced in those 7 years.
I’m sure there were many who disagreed with this approach.
But he stayed with the plan.
The result? By the time the famine hit, they had more food available than could be measured.
As the famine continued, Joseph made adjustments.
The overall plan stayed intact, but as new information and circumstances came to light, the plan was revised, yet never abandoned.
The Lesson: In a crisis, plan. Stick to the plan. Revise the plan. Stick to the plan.
It’s About Them, Not You
The story ends with the seven years of famine affecting the entire known world.
As food became scarce, everyone came to Egypt.
And what does Joseph do? He feeds EVERYONE, Egyptian and non-Egyptian alike.
Joseph understood that surviving this crisis was not about his well being, or status, or comfort.
He understood it was not just about his country. He had a genuine concern for everyone.
So much so, that he updated his plan for the long term.
He enabled the people to grow their own food in exchange for 20% of what they produced.
In doing so, they would be much better off if something like this should happen again.
The people’s response to Joseph was to say, “You have saved our lives, may we find favor in your eyes.”
The Lesson: When leading through a crisis, focus on others and their needs first.
podcast transcript
Tithely provides the tools you need to engage with your church online, stay connected, increase generosity, and simplify the lives of your staff.
With tools like text and email messaging, custom church apps and websites, church management software, digital giving, and so much more… it’s no wonder why over 37,000 churches in 50 countries trust Tithely to help run their church.
Since our world and our lives stopped being "normal" due to the coronavirus, my mind has regularly been going to a story about leadership from ancient times.
For many, the name of “Joseph” from the Bible brings images of a brightly colored “dream coat”.
However, more importantly, Joseph was once called on to save an entire nation from devastation during a global crisis.
As the story goes, Joseph was called by the Egyptian Pharaoh to interpret a troubling dream he had.
Joseph’s interpretation was actually a prophecy: Globally, there will be seven years of abundance, followed by seven years of famine.
Pharaoh responded by putting Joseph in charge of managing what was to come.
As the story unfolds from there, we see some key lessons in Joseph’s leadership that might be of help to us today.
Confident Humility
The story says that Joseph was 30 years old when he was unexpectedly brought before the world’s preeminent leader to interpret a dream.
Joseph’s response was interesting.
He said, “I can’t interpret your dream, but my God can.”
With a chance to show how smart he was, he instead chose to show humility by revealing that he didn’t have all the answers.
At the same time, he showed confidence.
He knew where and how to find the answers.
This combination of humility and confidence is remarkable given the circumstances.
The Lesson: In a crisis, be humble enough to listen, yet confident in what you know.
Assess and Reflect
The story says that immediately after leaving Pharaoh’s presence, Joseph traveled all throughout Egypt.
The context of the story leads us to believe he was doing so to assess the situation.
Up until this time, Joseph was in prison.
Even though he knew what was coming (seven years of abundance), he spent time discovering, exploring, and gaining perspective on the current situation.
The Lesson: When in a crisis, take a moment to assess. Ask “Where are we now?”. Think and reflect before acting.
Respond (don’t React) with a Plan
The story continues.
Joseph developed and hatched a plan: During the 7 years of abundance, he gathered as much grain as possible, and stored it.
The specifics of how this worked are not given, other than to say that Joseph collected all the food that was produced in those 7 years.
I’m sure there were many who disagreed with this approach.
But he stayed with the plan.
The result? By the time the famine hit, they had more food available than could be measured.
As the famine continued, Joseph made adjustments.
The overall plan stayed intact, but as new information and circumstances came to light, the plan was revised, yet never abandoned.
The Lesson: In a crisis, plan. Stick to the plan. Revise the plan. Stick to the plan.
It’s About Them, Not You
The story ends with the seven years of famine affecting the entire known world.
As food became scarce, everyone came to Egypt.
And what does Joseph do? He feeds EVERYONE, Egyptian and non-Egyptian alike.
Joseph understood that surviving this crisis was not about his well being, or status, or comfort.
He understood it was not just about his country. He had a genuine concern for everyone.
So much so, that he updated his plan for the long term.
He enabled the people to grow their own food in exchange for 20% of what they produced.
In doing so, they would be much better off if something like this should happen again.
The people’s response to Joseph was to say, “You have saved our lives, may we find favor in your eyes.”
The Lesson: When leading through a crisis, focus on others and their needs first.
VIDEO transcript
Since our world and our lives stopped being "normal" due to the coronavirus, my mind has regularly been going to a story about leadership from ancient times.
For many, the name of “Joseph” from the Bible brings images of a brightly colored “dream coat”.
However, more importantly, Joseph was once called on to save an entire nation from devastation during a global crisis.
As the story goes, Joseph was called by the Egyptian Pharaoh to interpret a troubling dream he had.
Joseph’s interpretation was actually a prophecy: Globally, there will be seven years of abundance, followed by seven years of famine.
Pharaoh responded by putting Joseph in charge of managing what was to come.
As the story unfolds from there, we see some key lessons in Joseph’s leadership that might be of help to us today.
Confident Humility
The story says that Joseph was 30 years old when he was unexpectedly brought before the world’s preeminent leader to interpret a dream.
Joseph’s response was interesting.
He said, “I can’t interpret your dream, but my God can.”
With a chance to show how smart he was, he instead chose to show humility by revealing that he didn’t have all the answers.
At the same time, he showed confidence.
He knew where and how to find the answers.
This combination of humility and confidence is remarkable given the circumstances.
The Lesson: In a crisis, be humble enough to listen, yet confident in what you know.
Assess and Reflect
The story says that immediately after leaving Pharaoh’s presence, Joseph traveled all throughout Egypt.
The context of the story leads us to believe he was doing so to assess the situation.
Up until this time, Joseph was in prison.
Even though he knew what was coming (seven years of abundance), he spent time discovering, exploring, and gaining perspective on the current situation.
The Lesson: When in a crisis, take a moment to assess. Ask “Where are we now?”. Think and reflect before acting.
Respond (don’t React) with a Plan
The story continues.
Joseph developed and hatched a plan: During the 7 years of abundance, he gathered as much grain as possible, and stored it.
The specifics of how this worked are not given, other than to say that Joseph collected all the food that was produced in those 7 years.
I’m sure there were many who disagreed with this approach.
But he stayed with the plan.
The result? By the time the famine hit, they had more food available than could be measured.
As the famine continued, Joseph made adjustments.
The overall plan stayed intact, but as new information and circumstances came to light, the plan was revised, yet never abandoned.
The Lesson: In a crisis, plan. Stick to the plan. Revise the plan. Stick to the plan.
It’s About Them, Not You
The story ends with the seven years of famine affecting the entire known world.
As food became scarce, everyone came to Egypt.
And what does Joseph do? He feeds EVERYONE, Egyptian and non-Egyptian alike.
Joseph understood that surviving this crisis was not about his well being, or status, or comfort.
He understood it was not just about his country. He had a genuine concern for everyone.
So much so, that he updated his plan for the long term.
He enabled the people to grow their own food in exchange for 20% of what they produced.
In doing so, they would be much better off if something like this should happen again.
The people’s response to Joseph was to say, “You have saved our lives, may we find favor in your eyes.”
The Lesson: When leading through a crisis, focus on others and their needs first.
Sign Up for Product Updates
Tithely provides the tools you need to engage with your church online, stay connected, increase generosity, and simplify the lives of your staff.
With tools like text and email messaging, custom church apps and websites, church management software, digital giving, and so much more… it’s no wonder why over 37,000 churches in 50 countries trust Tithely to help run their church.
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