{"id":30817,"date":"2022-09-10T15:05:42","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/5-fatal-flaws-in-ministry\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:05:42","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:05:42","slug":"5-fatal-flaws-in-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/5-fatal-flaws-in-ministry\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Fatal Flaws in Ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"
Robert Thiemann photo – Unsplash <\/p>\n

By Andrew H\u00e9bert<\/em> <\/p>\n

Pastors are normal people. The shepherd of God\u2019s flock is still a sheep himself. As a pastor, I\u2019m not a \u201cfather\u201d but a \u201cbrother,\u201d a real brother who is part of the same dysfunctional family as the rest of God\u2019s children. I struggle with the same things everyone else does. <\/p>\n

Pastors wrestle with all kinds of sin. I\u2019ve often told people in counseling situations there\u2019s little they could tell me that would surprise me\u2014not only have I heard it before, but in many cases, I\u2019ve been there myself.<\/p>\n

The truth is, we\u2019ve all been there\u2014wanting to throw in the towel, to let a church member know what we really think, and to take the \u201cmask of ministry\u201d off for a minute. We\u2019re tired of always having to be \u201con\u201d when we\u2019re in public. <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been frustrated at times when I\u2019m at the grocery store or eating at a restaurant with my family and a church member comes to share \u201cconcerns\u201d he has about something happening at the church. I don\u2019t always have the most sanctified thoughts. We all have bad attitudes at times. <\/p>\n

Sometimes, though, these bad attitudes extend far beyond small frustrations and become sinful thoughts, actions, or desires. And sin in the life of a pastor, like sin in the life of any believer, is deadly. <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

While an extensive list of pastoral dangers would be impossible to summarize here, there are five fatal flaws that especially endanger those in ministry.<\/p>\n

1. Fame<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The temptation of fame subtly seduces as it takes on different forms, often masked with righteous aims. We want our online sermons to get more \u201clikes and shares\u201d so \u201cwe can reach more for Christ.\u201d But we mix in a small dose of prideful arsenic along with our righteous intentions. We desire recognition and personal significance. God created us to have God-directed ambition, but sin always twists God\u2019s good gifts. The desire for fame often looks like wrongly directed ambition or the desire for recognition.<\/p>\n

God created us to have God-directed ambition, but sin always twists God\u2019s good gifts. \u2014 @andrewhebert86 Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

When fame takes the form of ambition, pastors are blind to the goodness, grace, and gifts of God. They find discontentment with where God has called them and what He has called them to do. Fame can also look like a desire for recognition. We want people to recognize our talents and giftings. We enjoy compliments and are hurt by criticism. Both responses reveal how we’ve allowed pride and the desire to be recognized to seep into our souls. <\/p>\n

Do you feel just as joyful when others are recognized? Do you feel slighted when you don\u2019t receive public or private praise? Answering these questions may reveal you desire fame more than you realize.<\/p>\n

The \u201cpride in one\u2019s possessions\u201d (1 John 2:16, CSB) is one of the three original sins of the garden of Eden. Paul warns that a pastor should \u201cnot be a new convert, or he might become conceited and incur the same condemnation as the devil\u201d (1 Timothy 3:6, CSB). The hunger for fame will never be fully satisfied. If you aren\u2019t content with what God has given you at this present moment, you will likely never have enough to be fulfilled. Paul said he \u201cdidn\u2019t seek glory from people\u201d (1 Thessalonians 2:6, CSB). The desire for fame and recognition and the pursuit of prideful ambition are ministry killers.<\/p>\n

2. Infidelity<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Sexual temptation is real. Giving in to this temptation will render a pastor\u2019s ministry dead on arrival. Pastors should treat women as \u201csisters with all purity\u201d (1 Timothy 5:2, CSB).<\/p>\n

Billy Graham famously determined to never be alone with a woman who wasn’t his wife. He wouldn’t eat a meal or ride in a car alone with another woman. He wouldn’t even walk into a hotel room without first having a staff member check to make sure there wasn’t a woman hiding in a closet, waiting to catch him in a compromising situation. This protected Dr. Graham\u2019s ministry from public reproach and left him uncompromised in his ministry.<\/p>\n

We must be careful in how we relate to the opposite sex. In our friendships, pastoral counseling, visitation, and social media interactions, appropriate relationships can become inappropriate. We must embrace Joseph’s response to temptation: run! <\/p>\n

Sexual temptation is a problem in the church. We’ve all heard of too many pastors who dropped out of ministry because of moral failure. Lust, flirtation, pornography, adultery, sexual misconduct, and sexual immorality are fatal flaws. The ripple effects of sexual sin extend far beyond any one of us\u2014to our wives, our children, our children\u2019s friends, the church, the community, and even regional or national headlines.<\/p>\n

3. Fighting<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Perhaps no other ministry danger is more personally draining than church conflict. Satan loves nothing more than dividing, distracting, and discouraging Jesus\u2019s church. Nothing will zap a church of its spiritual vitality or steal a pastor\u2019s joy faster than a church fight.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, in a fallen world, conflict is inevitable wherever two or more are gathered. But fighting becomes deadly and the hurt within churches becomes more intense when the pastor gets involved. Pastors should always take the high road\u2014there\u2019s less traffic there. But from time to time, pastors give in and join the fight. In our digital age, this fighting spirit may show up outside the walls of the church and end up on the walls of the pastor\u2019s social media pages.<\/p>\n

Nothing will zap a church of its spiritual vitality or steal a pastor\u2019s joy faster than a church fight. \u2014 @andrewhebert86 Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

This is not to say the pastor should never participate in a fight. Pastors, at times, are called to \u201ccontend for the faith\u201d (Jude 3, CSB). They should drive out wolves from the flock (Titus 1:9\u201314). There are hills worth dying on. The problem is when we make mountains out of every molehill and are eager to fight. <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
See also  What Sparks Evangelical Generosity? Discipleship<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Paul says a pastor must not be \u201ca bully but gentle, not quarrelsome\u201d (1 Timothy 3:3, CSB). When a pastor has a combative spirit, he fails to exemplify the character of Christ. It also almost always spells the end of his ministry within that church or ends the effectiveness of his ministry.<\/p>\n

4. Finances<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As those who lead ministries that operate entirely upon the generosity of God\u2019s people, pastors have to walk carefully through the minefield of personal and church finances. Financial missteps affect not only the church\u2019s life but also the reputation of Christ in the community. <\/p>\n

Finances present multiple challenges and dangers for pastors. Perhaps the most obvious and egregious is the embezzlement or misappropriation of church funds. Another financial danger is when a pastor mismanages the church\u2019s finances. This isn\u2019t always intentional, but it happens whether it\u2019s due to ignorance, negligence, or risky stewardship practices.<\/p>\n

Financial misappropriation and mismanagement are more common than any of us want to admit\u2014about 1 in 10 U.S. Protestant pastors acknowledge someone has embezzled funds from their church. But much more common is the landmine of financial greed. We must be careful about our motivations in ministry. Paul says he didn\u2019t have \u201cgreedy motives\u201d (1 Thessalonians 2:5, CSB). Peter exhorts pastors to \u201cshepherd God\u2019s flock . . . not out of greed for money but eagerly\u201d (1 Peter 5:2, CSB). At the same time, we are responsible for providing for our families (1 Timothy 5:8). I want to make enough money to provide for my wife and kids, be generous to the Lord and to others, save for the future, and enjoy the good gifts God allows us to enjoy. But if that\u2019s why I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing, then money is my master, not Jesus.<\/p>\n

Few things hurt the witness of the pastor or the church in the community more than the pastor\u2019s misappropriation, mismanagement, or misplaced motivation regarding money. \u2014 @andrewhebert86 Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

Few things hurt the witness of the pastor or the church in the community more than the pastor\u2019s misappropriation, mismanagement, or misplaced motivation regarding money. A lack of integrity with finances is a clear and present danger in ministry. A reputation takes a lifetime to build but only a moment to lose.<\/p>\n

5. Fatigue<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Leadership is a high-stress calling. There are no two ways about it. Pastors have all the stresses of any leader with the added weight of spiritual burdens. The hazards of the job include physical, mental, emotional, relational, and spiritual fatigue. Many pastors walk around burned out without even realizing it. Sometimes pastors don\u2019t realize how susceptible they are to sin when they\u2019re this fatigued until they make a life-altering decision to give in to temptation in a moment of exhausted vulnerability. We often don\u2019t realize what the weight of ministry has done to our souls until it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n

As they care for their flocks, few pastors take care of their own souls. Many lack disciplined rhythms of spiritual, relational, and physical health. The busyness of doing the Lord\u2019s work can sometimes crowd out the intentionality of being in the Lord\u2019s presence. Most pastors identify with Martha much more than they do Mary (Luke 10:38-42). <\/p>\n

Some of the fatigue comes from the inescapable responsibilities of pastoral ministry. Sermon preparation, counseling, weddings, funerals, and hospital visits along with the need to lead the church staff well, coordinate with church committees, work with church deacons, and fulfill responsibilities to the community and the denomination can all be overwhelming and seem never-ending.<\/p>\n

Fatigue is often a gateway drug that weakens the pastor\u2019s defenses against other sins. \u2014 @andrewhebert86 Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

Some pastors won\u2019t take the time off the church offers for them to replenish their own souls and invest much-needed time away with their families. Failing to observe Sabbath rest is as much a sin as failing to observe the commandments to not commit adultery or murder. A failure to rest is its own type of unfaithfulness, but the mistress is work. It\u2019s its own type of murder, where the pastor is killing himself to work. He is also killing his own joy and the joy of his family.<\/p>\n

Fatigue is often a gateway drug that weakens the pastor\u2019s defenses against other sins. Fatigue may reflect sinful habits that don\u2019t reflect the character of Christ who \u201coften withdrew to deserted places and prayed\u201d (Luke 5:16, CSB). Jesus modeled a rhythm of work and rest pastors should, but often don\u2019t, imitate.<\/p>\n

A Call to the Character of Christ<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In light of these temptations, we need nothing less than a return to the character of Christ. The temptations of fame, infidelity, fighting, finances, and fatigue don\u2019t create character problems but simply reveal the character problems already there. <\/p>\n

As pastors, and as believers, we\u2019re called to more than this. We\u2019re called to the character of Christ. Embracing Christ\u2019s character is the essence of what it means to be a pastor. When we submit to the Spirit\u2019s work of forming us into greater Christlikeness, we will have ministries that make a lasting difference and bring God glory.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Andrew H\u00e9bert<\/h2>\n

@andrewhebert86<\/p>\n

\n

Andrew is the lead pastor of Paramount Baptist Church in Amarillo, Texas, and the author of the book Shepherding Like Jesus: Returning to the Wild Idea that Characters Matters in Ministry<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n