The Church is an Odd Place

The Church is an odd place. It attracts people with a message of grace, forgiveness, and love. It employs people with a message of meet these expectations or we will get rid of you. These are not mutually compatible philosophies. And the church rarely treats them in the same way or with the same attitude. Let me share a couple of examples:
When you come into leadership, you take on certain responsibilities and concerns. If you break those commitments, you forfeit the right to be in leadership. By accepting a leadership role, you must also accept the "baggage" that goes with it.
When you are employed by a church in some capacity, you accept certain responsibilities and concerns. But do you become a leader? If you are on the pastoral staff, obviously, the answer is "yes". But if you have another role, a support staff role, you don't automatically receive the role of leader that a pastor does. Should you be viewed in the same way? Should you be treated in the same way?
Where the "rubber meets the road" is how you deal with conflict. When a leader is acting in a negative manner, we rarely let them go or fire them from leadership. However, when an employee is acting in a negative manner, we are more than ready to fire them. Is this right? Even more than that, there are ramifications to the actions of leaders and to the actions taken by them when they act towards those whom they employ. We can, have, and do affect the way others feel about God, the church, and eternal truths by how we treat one another and how we deal with the failures of others. And so far, the church is not getting a passing grade.