Yesterday I described the five temptations of a pastor.
Because pastors lead our churches, they are targeted by the enemy for
destruction. He comes along with temptations that sound reasonable, but that
corrode the life of the church. The good news is that pastors and others in
church leadership can fight these temptations. Here’s
how:
- Disciple people using Jesus’
model
Get your young people on a modern Matthew
10 experience where they have to really practice faith. I recommend the World Race. Initiate them! Give
them a reason to live!
- Every church service should be part
AA service
Shock the people that you lead. We’re all
sinners saved by grace. Let ‘em see that it’s hard for you to get out of bed
some days.
- Allow the Spirit to lead your service
– really!
I used to print bulletins. Now I find them
tiresome and constricting. Who says there has to be a sermon? Why can’t we
allow the Spirit to just prompt people to share a song, a testimony, or some
scripture?
- Offend legalistic spirits &
create your own culture.
To practice freedom, exercise freedom in
ways that are new. It used to be that churches prohibited dancing. Now, they’re
easing up on that. In many churches the sin of drunkenness has led them to
prohibit drinking. One must ask, does the sin of gluttony cause them to
prohibit eating? And how is it that we can be known for our judgmentalism when
Jesus preached a gospel of grace? The point is that if you’re a person of
substance, then your style is negotiable.
5. Take risks every
day
Go out and pray with people you don’t
know. Empower your people. Show them you trust them.
Teach people to hear
God.
We don’t have to give into these temptations. There’s a
generation that knows there’s more. Give them their inheritance now! It’s time
to start moving in this direction. There is no temptation common to man that
God hasn’t created a way of escaping.
Comments (2)
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Thanks for sharing… I was quite shocked by what you said yesterday about how our view of pastors was unbiblical… but as I kept reading I was pleasantly surprised… I love the challenge in their and even though I am not a pastor I know that those are areas where that I can encourage my pastor in… not critcize but to encourage!
i am a pastor from nigeria i fell into many temptations all kinds until God thought me how to listen and be lead by the holy spirit now i can do all things thru christ who strenthens me. we should always remember we are still in the flesh so dont underestimate the power of the flesh by giving room to the devil . pastor or whoever in the body of christ read luke 17vs1 james 1vs12-15.we sin when we refuse to obey the holy spirit john 16vs8. call me 08037521202 if ur still fight wit any tempations in ur life cos proverbs 27vs17.