PERILS FOR A PASTOR

A little compromise can lead to a large collapse. Sometimes, a pastor may steer clear of a “big” sin and allow a “small” temptation to bring him down. If you hear a woodpecker attacking your house, you will run it away, but the greater danger is from termites insidiously eating away until there is destruction. Thus, Paul has a solemn charge for Timothy and the Holy Spirit for us today through these words in 1 Timothy 5:21-22.  We must beware three perils for a pastor that may be overlooked, while deadly serious. 

There is the peril of SHOWING PARTIALITY, “ I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality,” (v. 21). 

In general, the church family needs to see a pastor without prejudice—that the wealthy do not claim precedence over the poor in the ministry and attention they receive, or the desires of the elderly are weighed more than the needs of the young, and a host of other ways we may show partiality. 

But, specifically—in context of what the Apostle has just said concerning the discipline of elders, (v. 19-20), all are to be treated equally. If one must be confronted about a sin, then sin cannot be tolerated in another. Simply because one leader may have greater ability or wider influence cannot subvert the need for impartiality. There must be accountability even for the lead pastor by the other elders. Too many men fall without such accountability.

Further caution is given about ACTING IMPULSIVELY, “Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins,” (v. 22a).

Again, there is a general principle to apply in all things, “Haste makes waste!”  That is a term we have heard, and though the quote is not found in Scripture, the principle is.  Here is one: “Also it is not good for a soul to be without knowledge, And he sins who hastens with his feet,” (Prov.‬ ‭19‬:‭2‬‬), and there are others. We can run ahead of God and act on impulse without intelligent forethought. That is a runaway locomotive that ends in a train wreck!

Still, we must come to the contextual prohibition that has to do with the ordination of elders. Selection of men in key leadership roles in the church must be preceded by thorough investigation. A man may have a charming personality and obvious ability—but if there is hidden immorality, then sooner or later it will surface with scandal. It will reflect on the church in negative ways, harming our testimony and giving the enemy cause for mockery with the charge of hypocrisy.  As another old saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

The third peril presented is ALLOWING IMPURITY, ”keep yourself pure,” (v. 22‬‬b). 

All of these are connected. Partiality in our heart will eventually show in prejudice in our dealings with others—so that sinful spirit undermines our ministry. That may bleed over into our choice of elders—elevating our buddies and weeding out anyone who would dare question us—which will bring a collapse of our credibility. Such compromise in ministry will likely be manifest in compromise in morality.

Generally, we can categorize the peril of impurity in two areas: sexual indecency and doctrinal infidelity. Compromise at either point is to open the door for the Devil to bring us down—and cause many followers to stumble over us when we fall. 

Sexual indecency is a danger for any man. God created us a sexual beings, and put passions in us for pleasure in marriage and procreation from marriage. Yet, sin takes a God-given drive beyond the bounds of holy matrimony. It usually does not begin with physical adultery, but temptation comes through the gate of our eyes, worms its way into our thoughts, and begins to raise passions in our heart. When this spark of lust is fueled rather than forsaken, it will consume us in the inferno of indecency.

Doctrinal infidelity is another deadly compromise. God has given us His unadulterated Word, and we are to concentrate and communicate with Biblical integrity. Again, a man hardly holds and heralds sound doctrine one Sunday and then obvious heresy the next. Rather, he begins to avoid certain uncomfortable truths while claiming to still believe them, yet in the name of pragmatism does not declare them. Before long, he starts rationalizing further deviation. Like erosion eating away at the foundation, eventually a collapse comes in his belief system. 

Men, keep yourself pure from these perils for a pastor!

THE WINDOW OF THE SOUL

When I was a child I learned a song in church that conveys a warning still applicable, “Be careful little eyes what you see…”. Is that not the same caution Jesus gives here?  “The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.” (Luke‬ ‭11‬:‭34‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

Think of the eye as the window of your soul. What you allow in shapes what you become—either light or darkness. Many of God’s men have been disqualified for ministry, caused many to stumble over their downfall, and given the enemy occasion to blaspheme, all because they looked too long, when they should have looked away!

I think of David, whose eyes should have been closed in sleep, looking at a woman bathing, and when enflamed with lust succumbed to adultery. The results were tragic. It is not unusual, sadly, to hear of a preacher whose ministry burns to the ground because he was, “looking for love in all the wrong places,” as the old country classic says. 

Then, there is the darkness that comes from the look of materialism. “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world,” Paul spoke with heartbreak in 2 Timothy 4:10. The allure of this material world had captured the attention, and at last the affection, of Demas. If it is not sex, it may be money and power that the world offers which enter the eye and darken the soul with demonic force. While the lifestyle of the rich and famous is often connected to celebrity preachers, it is possible for a minister who may not have much to be mastered by covetousness for what he lacks that leads him to sell out for a lesser  amount. 

What do I say? “There but for the grace of God, go I!”  Had it not been for the Lord helping me, I could have done what David or Demas did. If you deny that possibility, you are setting yourself up for a fall. The reality is that in this fallen world, we cannot avoid, “seeing,” some things. You do not have to be searching for them, for Satan will see to it that Potiphar’s wife beckons you and reaches out to you, as she did to Joseph. 

How do we overcome?  How do we escape like Joseph did?  The godly Job said, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why should I then look upon a young woman?” (Job 31:1). There is a negative and positive side to this. 

First, the negative choice of denial: God has given you eyelids as shutters to close the windows!  These protect our eyesight physically, but they may also spiritually. Further, we have a neck that can swivel our head away from the seduction of temptation. We must purpose to look away. 

Second, and this is vital, the positive choice of delight: we not only covenant not to gaze upon darkness, but open the windows of our vision wide to the light!  The windows are there for a good reason.  We must look to the Light of the World, Jesus Christ, and in so doing be captivated by Him!  The old hymn states it:

    Turn your eyes upon Jesus
    Look full in his wonderful face
    And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
    In the light of his glory and grace.  (Helen Howarth Lemmel)

There is a covenant we must keep each morning with the dawn to look upon Jesus in the light of His Word. We must open the windows of our soul and let truth and beauty fill our soul with Gospel light!  

Recall how Jesus resisted the Tempter with, “It is written!”  His eye was full of light, so He rejected the appeal of the world in its lust of the flesh, (turn stones to bread), the lust of the eyes, (the kingdoms of the world), and the pride of life, (make a grand entrance by angel escort to the ground). The Last Adam succeeded where the first Adam fell. That first Adam looked upon forbidden fruit and salivated over it. He tasted it with hellish consequences. Where will you direct your eyes?

“How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. …Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. …Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law. …Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your way. …Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. …Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” (Psalms‬ ‭119‬:‭9,11,18,37,97,105‬‬).

David knew better. In the end he failed to apply what he taught.  Had he buried his face in the Scriptures that morning, he might not have been restlessly pacing the floor in dark of night—and we know the tragic result.

Be careful little eyes, what you see.

SANCTIFICATION AND SEXUALITY

One of the most powerful temptations that a pastor will face is in the area of sexual sin. It may invade our mind through pornography that is so readily available. It may infiltrate our heart through a counseling setting that leads from sympathy with a hurting woman to seduction in lusting for the woman to sin in adultery with the woman.  This is the sobering reality: if David—a man after God’s own heart—could fall so wretchedly, then none of us are immune from the possibility.  David brought down a giant with a slingshot, but fell to the beautiful form of a woman.

The temptation is strong, yet God is far stronger—if we rely on Him. That is it His will for us to be sanctified is not debatable.  Our body is not our own—to do with as we please. It is His—purchased by the precious blood of Christ.  You will by His grace overcome sexual sin or sexual sin will overcome you. Do not desecrate the temple of God’s Holy Spirit!

Though we must say, “No!” when faced with the enticement, that may not be sufficient in itself. The wording, “that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,” suggests having a practical strategy to win this war. For instance: never meet a woman for counseling alone behind closed doors; involve your wife in such counseling; limit the number of times you will have counseling sessions before referral to someone else. You dare not let an emotional bond form that takes one down the road toward a physical one. Have monitoring software on your mobile devices. Get accountability partners who will pray for you and have difficult conversations with you.  Flush your mind daily with the washing of water by the Word. Meditate on it, day and night, for it is the Spirit’s sword to slay lust!

Understand that you are defrauding your brother and defiling your sister. That is, you are taking that which belongs to another.  Many a man has seen his ministry taken away because he was swept away by sexual sin.  That woman is meant to be someone else’s wife, not your plaything. That young lady you are leering at is some man’s daughter. 

Our ultimate accountability, of course, is to God.  We will stand before Him some day and give answer. I will never forget what Stephen Olford said over forty years ago as I began my work for the Lord, “The secret sin on earth is an open scandal in heaven!”

The call to preach is a call to purity. Those who are heralds are to be holy.  May God give us grace to be holy men of God in this filthy world!

DISCIPLINED OR DISQUALIFIED?

The spiritual disciplines of the intake of God’s Word, the output of fervent prayer, and the self-denial of fasting are a trio of practices that will train you to run the course without stumbling and finish the race without faltering.  The man of God is to do holy work and that requires a consecrated character. 

It seems a regular matter to hear of a preacher caught up in scandal. Temptation came and found him unprepared to face it.  They become disqualified from ministry. It brings reproach upon God,  scorn from  the world, devastation to their family, and hurt to the body of Christ.

If so great a champion as Paul was concerned about being disqualified, then who do we think we are to ignore the real possibility?  The moment you say, “I would never,” is the time you set an appointment with failure. 

Be faithful in your preaching, but do not neglect to preach to yourself first!  That is what I am doing today, and I hope that as I speak to myself, that others will eavesdrop and be helped.

Dear God, help us not to be disqualified, but to be disciplined instead!  Take us to the cross and by the Holy Spirit put to death carnal desires, raising us to walk as Spirit-empowered men!  For the sake of and in the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.

DRESSED FOR BATTLE

“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Rom.13:14 ESV)

I heard the late Warren Wiersbe say, “This world is not a playground, but a battleground.”  Every moment of every day, Satan is out to destroy the credibility of the preacher’s message by undermining the purity of the preacher’s morals.  Since the Devil has no power to assault our King, he attacks his soldiers. Those who command the army in the field are particularly targeted. The Dragon knows that if he can bring down the preacher, then he will have great success in routing the other troops under his leadership. 

There are two things Paul tells us we must do in order to begin the day, in order to end the day unscathed. We must put on Christ as our armor and put away access points for the enemy’s entry.

“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,” is the positive command. Where Paul details the whole armor of God in Ephesians 6, it must be noted that this is nothing other than the fullness of Christ Himself. He is our salvation, our righteousness, the truth, our peace, our shield in whom we trust and the living Word. We are no match for the Devil. He is a supernatural foe. But, he is no match for Jesus!  As the song says, “In the morning when I rise, give me Jesus!”  In your daily quiet time with God in His Word and in your prayers, consciously “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”He is all we need.  He is Sovereign—“Lord,” and we must bow to Him.  He is Savior—“Jesus,” and we must trust in Him. He is Sufficient—“Christ” and we must lean on Him. 

Further, “make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”  We are in a hostile world, with a spiritual foe, and living in sinful flesh. Now, it is not that the body itself is necessarily evil. We can employ our body for great good. When we receive Christ, we are given a new nature. Yet, the old way of living, sinful experiences woven into the fabric of our flesh, tendencies toward particular temptations passed down from generation to generation and thereby reinforced, patterns of thinking that have programmed our minds—all that—is an enemy who is ever present. While you cannot get away from this until the resurrection and in glorified humanity we will be made perfect like unto the Son of God, now you have these fallen impulses, salivating in hunger to be gratified. Even though these temptations will find you, you are foolish to place yourself in situations where you know you are weak.  There are places we must not go, things we must not watch, people we must not company with, and so forth. To pray, “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” and then to run into its presence is to deliver yourself to evil!

Man of God, stand your ground!  If you fall today, the enemy will use it to give occasion for others to blaspheme God and destroy the morale of those you lead.  Be dressed for battle!