One of my favorite movies of all time is Forrest Gump. Every
time somebody asks Forrest if he is foolish, Forrest replies “foolish is as
stupid does.”
There are some really stupid things that pastors should
avoid at all costs. You would think that these things would be no brainers but
after 34 years of being a believer in Jesus I have seen men and women of God
engage in each of these things and they have never turned out to be a good
thing.
Don’t get me wrong. I love pastors. I love people who have
dedicated themselves to serving God. I just know that at times we all need
correction. It is my prayer that if you find you are engaging in one of these
things, you will hear the voice of the Lord in Proverbs when it says.
Proverbs 12:1
To learn, you must
love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction.
12 Stupid Things Ministers Should Never Do
1. Pastors Should Never Put Their Fingers In The Dough
One of the stupidest things a pastor can do is have his
fingers in the financial dough. Whether he is directly involved in the counting
of the offerings, the one that is receiving the offering, or whether he gets
reports on who is tithing and who is not, this is a recipe for disaster.
Nothing will bring down a ministry faster than accusations
of financial hanky panky. The farther you can separate yourself from the dough
the better.
It does not matter if you have actually done something
wrong. If you look like you are involved you will be blamed. If you are the one
receiving the offering it comes across as you are just trying to fill your
pockets. Especially if you are forceful or manipulative in any way. (see #6)
If you are keeping track of who tithes and who does not,
then you are opening yourself up to the temptation of playing favorites or
treating people differently based on the amount they give.
I even know pastors who select leaders based on their giving
record. Dumb dumb dumb and even dumber! This opens the door for people to want
to control because of their gift size.
2. Pastors Should Never Be A Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger was a wonderful TV show years ago. However
pastoral ministry is not about going around doing good all by yourself. The
lone ranger mentality opens the door to unbridled authoritarianism and you
never have opportunity to grow beyond what you discover on your own.
Pastoral ministry is about building and growing through
relationships. Doing your own thing is not conducive to that.
Not only that, but pastors are not just accountable to God.
They are also accountable to others.
Whether it is the leadership in their denomination, or
elders in their church, or a group of mentors, pastors have to be accountable.
Even King David was held accountable for his actions by the
Prophet Nathan.
If you are approaching ministry as a Lone Ranger, then you
are going to be picked off by the fiery darts of the wicked one.
3. Pastors Should Never Be An Overbearing Husband
One of the stupidest things you can do is mistreat your
wife. Not only is she your helpmate at home and in ministry but she is your
closest member of your support group.
Not only that, but the Bible teaches that if you mistreat
your spouse, your prayers will be hindered.
1 Peter 3:7
7 In the same way,
you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding
as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal
partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will
not be hindered.
When you mistreat your wife you are telling God you do not
appreciate the gift of grace He has given you in her. (Proverbs 18:22) When you
are unappreciative of such a wonderful gift, this hinders any other prayers you
may have.
So if you want to be successful in ministry, treat your wife
right. If you don’t you are just plain dumb.
4. Pastors Should Never Place Themselves In Compromising
Positions
There are 2 things that will bring a pastor down fast. They
are money and women. I do not believe we have to be in fear of being with the
opposite sex, but I do feel it is stupid to pray for them, counsel them, or
spend inappropriate amounts of time with them alone.
Not only are you opening the door to the possibility of
temptation but you are also opening the door to the ability to have false
accusations made against you. Either way you are not walking as a wise man.
When praying for women, include another woman (preferably
your wife if she is available) that is mature in the Lord. When counseling,
include your wife or a mature gray haired lady in your church. Never close the
door to your office when counseling a woman.
Do not make female friends that are not first and foremost
your wife’s friends. You are just asking for trouble if you do.
5. Pastors Should Never Fake Spiritual Gifting
One of the greatest mistakes that pastors make is to give
into the pressure of being something they are not. Whether it is the pressure
to be God’s man of power for the hour with miraculous signs and wonders, or
just the simple things like trying to be a counselor when you are really not
gifted in that area. It is stupid to try to be something you are not.
God has created you to be unique. He has gifted you to reach
the people He has chosen.
When you fake having other spiritual giftings not only is
your ministry actually inauthentic, but you are also missing the people that
God has uniquely qualified you to be.
This is like pawning yourself off as a auto mechanic when in
fact you are an internet engineer.
6. Pastors Should Never Manipulate People
I don’t know how many times I have seen pastors manipulate
people. Whether it is with the offering where they lay on the guilt trip
thicker than mayonnaise, or whether it is signing them up to clean the church
without first allowing them to volunteer. It is still manipulation.
When people are forced to do something then they are being
taken from. When people are allowed to volunteer and choose to do something
then it is their gift to God.
Manipulation might work for a short season but the fruit of
it is resentment. Resentment builds resistance and eventually leads to a
culture of mistrust.
It is totally stupid to build a culture of mistrust in the
people that need to learn to trust you.
7. Pastors Should Never Teach Exotic or Speculative
Doctrines But Stick To The Main And Plain
There is a great temptation in our society to have the
latest and greatest teaching because our society rewards superstars. However
this is not the way it is supposed to be in the kingdom of God.
The drive to titillate the people with the latest and
greatest flavor of the month will in the end kill your ministry. Nobody can
maintain this model.
Eventually you will run out of new ideas and new teachings
and all those people you attracted with the flavor of the month will go
somewhere else where their itching ears will be satisfied.
Stick to the main and plain things. They may not be
glamorous. They may not be as exciting as naming spirits and launching prayer
teams to fly above your cities, but they will build disciples. They will build
solid and lasting fruit in your ministry.
8. Pastors Should Never Let Their Ego Get The Best Of Them
One of the greatest dangers of always being in the public
spotlight is getting a fat head. Pride goes before a fall and a haughty spirit
before destruction. (Proverbs 18:16)
Regardless if you are the pastor of a church of 50 or a
church of 5,000 this temptation happens to all of us.
In our church world today we have people who think they
deserve Leer Jets, million dollar mansions, and the public spotlight.
We also have pastors of small churches who still think that
they are above their people. They still think that nobody lives for God like
they do.
Regardless of the symptoms exhibited by their pride, the
fact remains that pride will lead you to destruction. Nothing is stupider than
engaging in behavior that you know will lead you to ruin.
9. Pastors Should Never Beat The Sheep
If this doesn’t take the cake for the stupid is as stupid
does award I don’t know what does.
I see pastors all the time beat up on their own sheep. They
forget that when they point fingers they have 3 fingers pointed back at them.
They also put their sheep under burdens that they were never meant to carry.
I don’t know how many messages I have heard about how we
need to do “better” at something. Or how many times I have heard them say that
God will not bless them if they do not perform to a certain level. This is
nothing than spiritual abuse. They beat their own sheep.
Rarely do I hear messages today that talk about how much God
has done for us. How much God loves us. How much God has enabled us to walk
with Him.
It is all about us trying to please God rather than God
being pleased with us because of what Jesus has done.
10. Pastors Should Never Water Down The Good News
I have heard people say that pastors should never water down
the gospel. I chose to use the words “good news” instead since gospel means
good news. The reason I did that is because many people use the word gospel for
a message and style of delivery that is not really very good news.
The fact of the matter is that a pastor should never water
down the good news because it is the only message that gives hope to saint and
sinner alike. It is the power of God for salvation. (Romans 1:16)
It is not hard preaching, angry preaching, condemning
preaching or legalistic preaching that is good news. It is the preaching of the
gospel of grace (Acts 20:24) that is the real good news.
It is not smart to go away from this message. To do so
causes you to operate from a different heart than is the heart of God.
11. Pastors Should Never Surround Themselves With Yes Men
One of the dumbest thing a person can do whether it is in
ministry or outside of ministry is surround themselves with people that always
think like they do and always tell you what you want to hear.
Many a ministry has fallen because of this issue. If you
cannot handle people telling you what you do not want to hear, get out.
Proverbs 27:6
Wounds from a
sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.
People who love you enough to tell you what you need to hear
rather than what you want to hear are invaluable.
I have been saved from making some of my greatest mistakes
because of such people and I have ended up making my greatest mistakes when I
did not listen to people who tried to tell me what I didn’t want to hear.
12. Pastors Should Never Hoard People For Their Ministry
Many times when we are trying to build a church or ministry
it is very hard to release people. The last thing we want to do is let people
go because it leaves a gap in our churches.
However we need to remember that our job is to train people
to follow God and pursue Him with all their passion. A lot of times that means
releasing people to leave.
Pastors who hoard people, try to manipulate them to stay, or
do not allow them to leave well are in fact hindering the growth of their
churches.
You cannot reap a harvest of new people if you never sow
people into their own ministries apart from what you are building.
Jesus released the disciples into ministry on their own.
(Luke 10:1) When you try to hoard people and keep them in your own little
flock, you are missing the greatest blessing of giving and that is dumb.
13 Pastors Should Never Speak Ill Of Other Pastors
We may disagree theologically.
We may use different methods.
We may even be of different streams of Christianity.
However we cannot afford to take pot shots at one another.
Remember, when you speak ill of another pastor, you are just encouraging people
to speak ill of you.
Written by Pastor Duke Taber
Pastor Duke Taber is the Senior Pastor Of Mid-Peninsula
Vineyard Christian Church In San Carlos. He is an Alumnus of L.I.F.E. Pacific
College and Multnomah Biblical Seminary. He has been in pastoral ministry since
1988.
He is a published author with 16 ebooks available on Amazon.
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