In my 20 years plus of being involved in ministry, I’ve had my share of dealing with territorial people. I myself can be one. There are some characteristics I’ve found that describe a territorial person.
Characteristics of a territorial person (wearing masks of Godliness) :

• possessive (mask of shepherding)
• controlling (mask of leadership)
• involves inner circle people to protect their leadership (mask of loyalty)
• surrounds themselves with people they can manipulate (mask of trust)
• gossips about other people, leaders (mask of love)
• makes “lone ranger” decisions (mask of teamwork)
• involved in many church activities, lacking submission (mask of godliness)

How do I help people overcome being territorial?

• Ask them to give leadership away and delegate decisions.
• Be committed to shepherding them through change.
• Help them to identify that they are territorial.
• Hold them personally accountable for offenses they cause.
• Ask other people to hold them accountable.
• Commit to uphold their good/Godly decisions and leadership.
• Show support and unconditional love for them.
• Communicate your desire for them to succeed.
• Rotate responsibilities; rotate people and positions. Provide cross training among the team.
• Be an example in lifestyle, speech, love, faith, trust, discipline and coaching.

1 Timothy 4:12 Be an example to all believers in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 16th, 2007 at 8:06 pm and is filed under Leadership. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.