Unfortunately, this is a subject that causes a certain amount of regret on my part, as I’m certainly guilty of many of these from time to time. There are statistics out there about the rate of pastors and church leaders who fall out of ministry due to immorality or discouragement. I’m not talking about those mistakes, per se. Rather, what are some of the more root mistakes that lead to pastors and church leaders getting frustrated, fruitless, discouraged, or even disqualified? You may not find this list mentioned by any leadership stats. But the things that make a lot of preachers become a statistic often begin with some of these. And even if you don’t work for a church, these are probably common traps we all have tendencies to step into.
- Not Praying Daily: This is the “no duh!” thing that I almost didn’t list. But it happens way more than it should. I literally add “Pray” to the top of my To-Do List everyday, not so I can have an easy thing to check off my day, but because I have to discipline myself to begin my day with prayer. I don’t take for granted that I’m a pastor and “should know to pray.” Not praying, to me, feels spiritually like not sleeping feels physically: I feel off, irritable, and less productive.
- Listening to the Wrong People: There are some people you have to tune out. I believe selective hearing can be a good thing. Not every voice comes from God. This doesn’t mean that the voices you and I should tune out are “bad people.” In fact, many of them have great intentions. But Paul warns us in Galatians 1 that if we are living for the approvable of people, we are no longer livings as “servants of God.”
- Accountability: Most of us think of this as someone we tell everything to that calls us out when we’re wrong. But real accountability is about edifying, or building up. Sometimes that means that the right people call out our weaknesses and call us into our full potential. But very often, this means that the same person looks us in the eye and tells us “You’re doing great. Don’t give up! God is in this.” I find most preachers need more edifying and less criticizing.
- Playing it Safe: We all have a tendency to settle and get comfortable. But Jesus promised that the gates of Hell couldn’t stop His Church. There are souls at stake. Getting comfortable, playing it safe, and avoiding risk is not an option for a move of God. Period.
- Letting Guard Down: This usually happens in tandem with lack of accountability and excessive fatigue. When people, including preachers, get tired, we can all humor ideas that we would outright reject when at our best. Problem is, there are many moments when we don’t feel “at our best.” Many a preacher has disqualified himself with mistakes that began small when he was feeling burnt-out.
- Job-oriented, not People-oriented: Every single person I know that has ever been in fulltime ministry didn’t chose to do so because of the great career opportunities or job advancements. We took this path because we wanted to make a difference, see lives changed, broken hearts restored, addictions broken, and cities impacted with the Gospel. In other words, we got into it because we wanted to be part of God working in people. But the day-to-day stuff can make us think more about office work, deadlines, projects, etc. and less on the heart of our calling: to reach people.
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Stop Growing: I heard early on that “Leaders are Learners.” Another one I liked was, “If you’re finished growing, you’re just finished!” An occasional conference is a great way to rejuvenate one’s passion for ministry and hunger to grow in their calling. If you constantly make the excuse of not having time, you’ll wish one day that you had made time.
As I write these, I’m encouraged to avoid these preacher mistakes myself. We have a world to see impacted by the Gospel. Let us “walk worthy of the calling” that God has placed on us. I’m grateful to call many of you brothers and sisters, not only in Christ, but in ministry. Hope I could encourage you like many of you have been to me!
Blessings,
Pastor John