Sexual Immorality and Love Of Money, Is A Real Threat To Pastoral Office
Ministers and pastors are like celebrities where slightest mistakes can lead to various issues. But what sins can kill the minister’s ministry?
First, we have to identify first what makes up a good minister. I already have written some articles about requirements and works of ministers and pastors.
You may want to check the following articles:
http://lighthouseresource.blogspot.com/2008/09/good-workman.html
http://lighthouseresource.blogspot.com/2008/02/paul-galatia-and-gospel.html
http://lighthouseresource.blogspot.com/2008/02/qualification-of-pastoroverseerbishop.html
http://lighthouseresource.blogspot.com/search/label/Pastors
Under the qualification of pastors and overseers, you will see there that a minister, overseer, or bishop must be morally, socially, doctrinally and spiritually qualified so that he can effectively perform his duties and responsibilities.
But should a minister be perfect? Well, obviously, nobody is perfect and nobody can be perfect except the incarnated Christ. All of us however, is bound to desire and strive to be perfect. All ministers have flaws, they have strengths and weaknesses.
If you are a minister, please read this carefully as a warning. There are two deadly sins of a minister. It means that if you commited these sins, your ministry will be more or less, shattering until it drops down. There are several who survives the impact of these sins but they really suffered a lot from the consequences of these sins. Finally, these sins are the most common sins that you can see in the ministry.
Note also that I do not mean to say that a minister can commit more sins as long as it is not these sins.
First Deadly Sin: Sexual Immorality
Looking in our world, I think there is nothing more prevalent sin than sexual immorality. This has become the norm of our world today. As it once said that: HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF. Empires in the ancient are pagan immorals. Included in their major belief is having orgies in the temple of gods and goddesses in order to entice them. And now the world is going back to these immoral practices.
Furthermore, the application of legality of divorce and its abussive use opens to more cases of immorality which are destructive to Biblical family relationship.
The Bible say that a minister should be a husband but of one wife. It just shows, that sexual immorality (I believe that even divorce) should not form part of the life of any minister.
In my personal observation, the ministries of ministers who commits adultery or any form of immorality inside their ministerial life were trampled after the sin has been committed. It is hard to believe a person who speaks against immorality yet committed such things.
Second Deadly Sin: Love Of Money
“The love of Money is the root of all evil (1Timothy 6:10).” I have seen pastors who get along too much with the finances of the church to the point that they are the one who handles and keeps the money collected from the offering. I cannot personally say that this is totally wrong. I know that there are still evangelical groups that practice this.
My only comment in that this is too risky. Personally, I really do not see any advantage for a minister to hold and keep the money collected from the offering. Even Jesus himself is not the one who keeps the money but one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot.
Keeping the money from tithes and offerings will open more issues that will eventually threatens the authority and respect for the minister especially if the money were not properly disbursed in the ministry,
The impact of these sins are detrimental to the ministry and can probably destroy your ministry. I do hope that ministers will try its best to avoid these sins. Rest assuredly these temptations will come to the life of ministers, but God gave us the power to resist evil (James 4:7). If we cannot resist the evil, then let us flee from it (1Tim.6:11).
Help a pastor now…
Yes, but this is the purpose why God gave us Jesus Christ as payment for all our since; before, now, and future.
Again, for God gave us not the spirit of timidity but of “power, of love, and of self-discipline.”
Our human nature may be corrupted, but it doesn’t mean that there is no hope… the very reason why God gave us his only begotten Son.
human nature always corrupts everything that is good! since his fall in Eden. Even in churchianity!
what you’ve said is true though it lacks some few things “power corrupts”, if used improperly… Hehehehe…
related din yan sa sinabing:
“Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
When the powers of the pastors and ministers already lost accountability and checks and balances, corruption follows, because their power corrupts them with its intoxicating seductiveness. Love of sex and love of money are just branches of the deeper love of power.
Love of power was the temptation Christ faced after His fasting and prayer in the dessert. Power
to shortcut to His glory by not going through sufferings, if only He will pursue love of power, and not pursue the power of love, which His selfless sacrifice will show.
Actually, there is a much deeper cancer in man’s heart, where the love of sex and the love of money are only branches or fruits.
A more underlying trunk, with roots from human pride, is the love of power, not the power of love. With the love of power comes the love of sex and the love of money!!! If one has too much money, it’s easier to buy sex, like some tele-evangelists who hired prostitutes for the sexual sexploits. Money talks, and baloney walks. With money, one can buy anything, especially sex!!!!!!!!!!!!
grammatical correction only: 2 line
it should be: “the effects are…”
Yes that’s true… however, the point in this article is that when a pastor or a minister committed sexual immorality, usually, the effects is far more painful, and devastating in his ministry.
And in most cases, the pastor who commits these two sins results in backsliding and not coming back to the ministry.
Again, there is a chance of going back to the ministry when they repent. But then again, in most cases, they will not be as effective as they were.
Well, they are not only deadly sins for the ministers and pastors, they are universally applicable to all human beings.
Sexual immorality, in a layman’s point of view, is an illness in the society.
Love of money may not be a deadly sin for the ordinary mortals but for the specially segrated group in the society especially for the societies of the real faithfuls, it should be absolutely avoided.