By Robin Sam
WHEN a pastor or a Christian leader fails, he doesn’t fall alone – he pulls down his church or his ministry along with him. The failure of a Christian leader has disastrous and often traumatic effects on his circle of influence. The church which has lost trust in its pastor takes a long time to pull itself back from the debris and rebuild from its ruins. The ministry that has been failed by its leader often lies by the wayside licking its wounds waiting for divine intervention.
In both cases, the loss is tremendous.
While we need to look at how to restore the church and the ministry to its original and God-intended place in the Kingdom scheme of things, we must not ignore our responsibility in finding out what went wrong. If we fail to analyse the reasons behind the failure of the pastor/leader, we also may be walking into the same pit without our knowing. When there is no counsel, people fail (Proverbs 15:22).
I’ve listed out some of the reasons why pastors and Christian leaders fail. I don’t expect you to agree with every one of them. You may have your own reasons and analyses to make too. If we are able to learn from our mistakes, we would be in a better position to navigate our way in our faith walk. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged (1 Corinthians 11:31).
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Prayerlessness: This could be the Number 1 reason for a Christian’s failure. Remember, Satan does not have as much trouble with your reading the Bible as he has with your union with God in your prayer chamber. How could a pastor or a Christian leader be a man who doesn’t pray? Incredible, did you say? Well, it happens. Chances are that the man who is so eloquent at praying from the pulpit is someone who’s so caught up with his work, tasks and responsibilities that he does not spend quality time at the Lord’s feet in Bible study and prayer. Of course, he reads the Bible, makes notes for their sermons, and continues to preach at meetings. The gifts may be in operation, too because as Romans 11:29 says, ‘the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.’ And, because the anointing is still in operation nobody suspects anything amiss in the pastor or the leader. A child of God (workers of God included) should realize why Jesus Christ frequently reminded his disciples to watch and pray. Prayer keeps us from temptations (Mark 14:38). Prayer keeps us from falling a prey to Satan’s machinations (1 Peter 5:8).
Vainglorious approach: Last month, a video of a young pastor in Chennai went viral on WhatsApp and Facebook. The pastor who is better known for his praise and worship concerts than his sermons was seen making such boastful claims about his gifts and the anointing on his life that the viewers were quite repulsed. Throughout the 7-minute video snippet, he kept telling his church, “My time is very precious. Use me. Otherwise, I’ll keep going. God has given the anointing to me for the benefit of millions of people. So, henceforth, I cannot use my anointing for 50 people. If you want to use me, I’ll remain here. Otherwise, I’ll keep going. Nations are waiting for me.” Anointing, if anything, should make the anointed humble and realize the hand of God upon his life. It should never, ever, make one boast in one’s gifts. Romans 12:3 says, ‘For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.’ The success of a video album, the trappings of being a popular worship leader, the fulfilment of a prophecy that one uttered, the exhilaration of being called a great Bible expositor can go to one’s head and make the person conceited. Almost immediately, narcissism kicks in, the person turns to jazzy clothes, acquires a spring in his step, and thinks he deserves newer titles (Reverend, Most Reverend, Cardinal, Chief Pastor, to name a few) better tithes, swanky cars, bigger churches and overflowing audiences at his meetings. Finally, the person becomes too big for his boots little realizing God had long ago walked out of his life and ministry. The fact that one thinks he’s arrived also indicates his steps have begun to falter. The Bible reminds us through Philippians 3:12, ‘Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.’
Exceeding the brief: God sure reveals things to His children. You don’t have to be a pastor or a veteran evangelist to receive Biblical insights from God. A simple and a genuine prayer from a totally committed layperson who has yielded his life to the Lord will reveal the mysteries of the Word of God. If someone truly prays like the psalmist, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law” (Psalm 119:18), God will reveal what he needs to know. It is true the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations has now been disclosed to the Lord’s people (Colossians 1:26). The mystery referred to here is the Gospel – the atonement work of Christ on the cross. It is also true that the secret of the Lord is with those that fear Him (Psalm 25:14). However, we need to remember two things here. Firstly, God will not go on a revelation spree if you don’t obey the instructions that He has already revealed to you. Secondly, God’s revelation is total and complete. There are no more newer revelations to be made apart from those that are already within the pages of the Bible. The Bible says, ‘The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law’ (Deuteronomy 29:29). God’s revelation is complete and can be fully gleaned from the pages of the Bible. The Bible is totally sufficient for all man’s needs today. Trouble begins when some people believe they have some extra revelation from God. The founders of the Mormon church and the Jehovah’s Witnesses also believed they had some ‘special’ revelations from God. Pastors, evangelists, worship leaders and all those people who believe in that lie exceed the brief. All those people, whatever their spiritual stature may be, who claim to be making trips to heaven and having breakfast, lunch and dinner with the Lord Jesus Christ, Apostle Paul and other saints either suffer from serious delusions or are hell-bent on uttering lies in an effort to fool the gullible and line one’s pockets.
Hankering after novel & strange experiences: Occult and cult are not just similar sounding words, they also go together. Both are driven by a desire to go after the paranormal and the immeasurable experiences that mediums, spirits and unbiblical practices can offer. It is true that the Bible says Apostle Paul was caught up to the third heaven, but he says in 2 Corinthians 12:2, that he did not know whether it was in the body or out of the body. Apostle John received revelations of heaven, hell, satan and the things of the last days while he was in Patmos. However, we need to remember them as instances when God chose His servants to complete His work of inspiring them and writing the revealed Word of God – the Bible. Paul was utmost humble in talking about the experience in 2 Corinthians 12 in the third person. No chest-thumping, here. Nor did he attempt to write about what he heard there. Gills’ commentary of the passage says this: “these were visions and revelations of the Lord…not the pretensions and cheats of designing men; and were for the confirmation and establishment of the Gospel, and not to countenance a new scheme, or introduce a new dispensation; wherefore all visions and revelations men pretend to, which are for such a purpose, are to be despised and rejected.” Hankering after novel and strange experiences in these days, when the revelation of the Word of God is complete and total, would only make us like King Saul who sought the help of a medium to converse with a dead prophet Samuel. As much as one needs to be careful about séances, one also needs to guard against most of the experiences dished out by New Age preachers – ‘laughing in the spirit’, ‘drunk in the spirit’ (Ephesians 5:15-18 gets twisted by its advocates), miracle weight loss, moneyfestations, immortality on earth and breatheranism are all fads that will lead us away from the Living Word of God and the Lord Himself into eternal despair. It will be good to remind ourselves of Colossians 2:18, where Paul warns: ‘Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind…’
There are many other reasons – the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and an insatiable greed for money, power and influence that lead a life that was once touched by the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, washed by the blood of the Lamb, and consecrated to the work of the King of kings to doom, despair, moral and spiritual failure.
Robin Sam is a preacher, Bible teacher and missions worker. He works in Messenger Missions, a Gospel proclaiming ministry and edits The Christian Messenger magazines in English and Tamil.
