Heading for Disaster

I recently have finished a book called "Dangerous Calling" by David Paul Tripp.   It is a must read for anybody who is active in ministry.  After being a pastor to pastors for the past 6 years, everything in this book has resonated with my own heart as well as what I have witnessed.  He gives 3 warnings that will lead somebody in ministry to disaster.  The 3 warnings are:

1.  When we allow our ministry to define our identity.  Instead of thinking of ourselves as somebody who needs daily sanctification, still battling with sin we get caught up in the successes and failures that accompany ministry.  When we confuse our identity we have a tendency to talk, eat, and sleep ministry.   This is an enormous temptation for many of us.

2.  When we let Biblical literacy and theological knowledge define our maturity.  It is enormously tempting to define our spiritual maturity by what we know and study academically rather than what we obey or have sift through our hearts.  The apostle Paul said that knowledge can puff up.  Those of us in ministry need to be careful to apply the truth in our own lives first before we dispense it to others.

3.  When we confuse ministry success with God's endorsement of our lifestyle.  Those of us who have enjoyed a certain amount of success on the ministry side might be tempted to think that God must be pleased with every facet of our lives.  When in reality there are many so-called successful pastors who have dysfunctional marriages and abandoned children, as well as other personal issues.  Successful ministry people often are the type A's of this world.  Driven to the distraction of other pressing needs and priorities that resemble a life of integrity.

If you are reading this as a pastor or lay ministry leader, please heed these warnings before your ministry comes crashing down.