“Why do we keep losing ministry leaders we believed were invincible?”
“These collapses follow a pattern: identity fused with platform, isolation deepening behind a public persona, activity substituting for intimacy with God.” - Real Clear Religion
Psalm 146:3 - Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
All of us need prayer and the support of other Christians, or in the right circumstances any of us could be there.
When I was kid, Jack Hyles was still highly respected or even revered in most fundamental circles, including the one I was part of. It took what happened with him and his ministry to really drive home to me that it’s not men we should ever be putting on a pedestal, no matter who they are. When Jim Bakker fell a short time later, such events were no longer shocking to me. Disappointing, but not shocking.
Dave Barnhart
The problem is in the title. Ministry leaders instead of Ministry servants. We believed, instead of Scripture aligned. And, invincible, instead of frail, weak with Satan crouching right outside of their door. Christ is invincible, man is at the entire opposite of that spectrum, in fact, not even registered or recognized on the spectrum.
The problem is in the title. Ministry leaders instead of Ministry servants.
Yet the Bible calls them leaders and requires them to be able to lead. They have to be able to lead well, to have charge over, to watch for and expect submission, etc. And when they do it well, they are worthy of double honor. It’s a sin problem, not a title problem or even a position problem. It’s a heart problem.
It’s ubiquitous. And It’s banal.
Finding the right polity won’t stop it.
Hold to the Head. Kill sin.
Yes, elders/overseers/pastors are indeed leaders, but it strikes me that while there were anomalies in the early church, particularly with the great coming to Christ in Acts 2, but overall, I'd argue that a good pastor is going to follow the example of Paul vis-a-vis Timothy and Titus--to train his replacement(s). And if a pastor is eagerly training those who will replace him, that doesn't leave much room for empire-building, IMO. Training your replacement means you share the same sand-box; empire building means the sand-box is all yours.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
Discussion