Kirby 1 Dexter Kirby Dr. White Church Administration March 5, 2007 The Leader’s Pitfall Introduction As thorns are attracted to roses, so are the many dangers that are attached to leadership. It is almost inescapable for spiritual leaders not to fall prey to some pitfall that might presents themselves. This resource is generally geared towards identifying and explaining three main pitfalls that spiritual leaders need to be aware of wherever they may work. These pitfalls are often referred to as the “three F” because they are females, finance and fame. It is the author’s opinion that the majority of spiritual leaders who fall do so in one of these three areas. In today’s society, the media is never in need of stories to flaunt as they glory in the failure of spiritual leaders. Although it may be an overstatement to say it’s an epidemic, it will certainly be an understatement to say that things are getting better. Why is it that fewer leaders are finishing strong today while the majority is succumbing to these pitfalls? This prevalent trend begs answers from the Christian community as to the reason why many of its leaders are prone to these pitfalls. As stated above, there are three main pitfalls that this paper would address. On the other hand, there are more than these three that leaders are constantly bombarded with. There are other areas like; spiritual laziness and carelessness that leaders falls in.

Kirby 2 Females To say that men have a weakness in the area of females is an understatement. History, which tends to be a great teacher, has shown that many mighty men who were unable to be defeated by the sword were defeated because of women. For example, the great king David committed murder in order to satisfy his craving for a woman. Probably the most classic example is that of Samson. He was so big and bad but yet so weak in the arms of a woman. In fact, most of God’s choice servants have in one way or the other, “Hearken to the voice of the woman.” For instance, Adam was not to keen in God’s promises anymore since his wife had already walked the paths of disobedience because he soon followed her example. Noah, fresh from deliverance, slept with his daughters. As if that was not enough, the man to whom God gave more wisdom than any, fall prey to women as well. Solomon wisdom was unparallel but yet he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Someone said, “Those who doesn’t learn from history are sure to repeat it and those who learns are sure to find ways to make history.” In this contemporary culture, history seems to be the forgotten subject especially among spiritual leaders. Everyone seems to think that they are the exception to the norm. Unfortunately, this type of thinking has saturated our spiritual leaders and by extension the church of Jesus Christ. There is not anything inherently wrong with women. The problem is the way that men choose to operate outside of the perimeters set by God. For one thing, when God created the first male and female, he said that “it was very good” (Gen.1:31) therefore, females are not inherently evil. Man’s sinful lust is the problem! No one is immune to sexual temptation and spiritual leaders are not the exception because the statistics are staggering as to the amount of men that fall because of some form of immortality in their life. For

Kirby 3 example, 1500 pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failures. Also 80 percent of pastor’s spouses would choose another profession (liferelationship.com). As mentioned above, leaders fall because of lustful thinking. In the Old Testament, Job puts it this way, “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a woman” (Job 31:1). Job is making a commitment to a special kind of blind love. He is not making a commitment to never notice an attractive female. That would be ludicrous and would require blindness. Therefore, there is a difference between a look and a lustful look. Spiritual leaders must be one woman kind of a man. This is not the prerequisite only for pastors but all believers must try to emulate this. A one-woman kind of man is a man who demonstrates his commitment by being faithful in all aspect to his wife and this can be achieved by disciplining his eyes. I Corinthian 6:18 says, “Flee from sexual immorality.” This involves both adultery and fornication. Someone once said that most men who flee temptation usually leave a forwarding address. It is undeniably that the debris of many spiritual leaders lay by the wayside of life because they had succumbed to the snare of a woman. History is loaded with examples on many spiritual giants who has drawn away and enticed. There is always the danger of that other woman. This is a world of sexual freedom in which no one is really immune. Some seek intimacy just to fulfill their desires; others do so because they have found someone with whom they can have a rewarding relationship. But out from under the protection of marriage and cut loose from a God sanctified love relationship, the cost of these relationships is too high.

Kirby 4 Finance Many spiritual leaders disqualify themselves simply because of the pursuit of money or the lack of it. In other words, the availability of lots of money has cause many leaders to switch allegiance. Also equally distressing, the lack of finance has caused many leaders to steal or create shady alliances. Therefore, whatever one of these reasons it might be, the truth remains that finance has created havoc in the Christian community. Some spiritual leaders pursue finance instead of God. The slogan of the day is; whoever dies with the most toys wins. Unfortunately, many spiritual leaders have bought into this mindset and greed drives them to compete with their neighbors. According to Erwin Luther, “Before credit cards were popular, Christians would trust God for a car, for furniture, or for a home. God it was believed, would lead his people by supplying money or withholding it…today, faith is out and credit is in” (Luther, 31). Pastors as well as spiritual leaders who has secular jobs both feel pressured to be financially sound. A sense of security might not be a bad idea but when compared to the scripture, it is a totally foreign concept. Believers should only find their security in God. Does God not want leaders to be wealthy? He probably wants some but definitely not all. Does God not expect leaders to make adequate money to feed their family? Absolutely! God is not opposed to finance as many Christians think He is. The Bible never said that money is evil but rather it says that the love of money is the root of all evil. Having too much or too little finance can be equally destructive for spiritual leaders. In Proverbs 30:8, Agur the son of Jakeh says it best, “Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the

Kirby 5 name of my God in vain.” Agur begs the Lord to give him sufficient but not overly too much because he might get greedy and forget the Lord neither did he want too little because he might be tempted to steal. This statement summarizes the danger that awaits spiritual leaders who ventures to either extreme. While it is evident that having or pursuing finance can be detrimental to leaders, as mentioned above, not having is also detrimental to some. For example, many leaders quit their jobs where they were being a blessing for the Lord and accept some job that they have to compromise their beliefs. The lure of material possessions has enticed many leaders to make foolish career decisions. Finance often reveals the leaders faithfulness or lack of it. For example, leaders whose main goal in life is to accumulate lots of money by any means necessary has already displayed their heart. Such drive only proves that they believe that money will take care of all their needs and reveals their lack of faith in God. It is impossible for spiritual leaders to serve two masters. Therefore finance often time takes the place of God. According to the Blackaby brothers in their book, “The hunger for wealth and possessions can destroy spiritual leaders. People valuing wealth above everything else will strive for jobs that pay more, regardless of whether these jobs cause great hardship to their families”(242). It only seems, Blackaby noted, it is always the Lord’s will that Pastors be called to larger churches. While no one really can judge their actions, it seems rather alarming that the majority of larger churches attract more Pastors as oppose to smaller churches. When Leaders hunger for wealth, they can also be tempted to act unethically. The statistics are overwhelming as to the amount of spiritual leaders, men of conviction that

Kirby 6 was enticed by wealth and the possibility of a fatter paycheck. When the books fail to balance mentally, leaders fall into serious ethical problems.

Fame Do spiritual leaders struggle with fame? What exactly does that means? Well the propensity for leaders to be recognized laid buried deep within everyman. No leader wants his work to go unnoticed. Therefore the desire to be acknowledged and applaud by men has caused many good men to fall. While the author chooses the word fame, the Bible used the word pride. Pride or fame is simply usurping God’s authority. In other words, it is putting oneself in the place of God. All the glory belongs to God. The Bible strongly prohibits doing good works for strife and vainglory. The desire to succeed has cause many leaders to fall. Once again, history comes to aid in this topic as it is replete with examples of many who have fallen due to Pride or fame. For example, Alexander the great, although not a spiritual leader, was so driven that he led his million man army to their death in the cold of winter. The same can be said of leaders like Napoleon Bonaparte and Hitler. On the other hand, while spiritual leaders would never admit that they pursue recognition, it is evident to a watching world that pride has caused their downfall. For example, it was anger that was mixed with pride that causes Moses not to enter the Promised Land. Probably the classic example of pride is the Devil himself trying to usurp authority over God. God will give leaders their reward in His own time. Waiting has always been one of man’s biggest flaws. For example, Abraham chose not to wait on God and as a result he had to ostracize his first son.

Kirby 7 As mentioned earlier, both the desire for fame and pride are used interchangeable in this resource. The Blackaby duo in their book exphasized and explained four diffeent ways that pride can destroy spiritual leaders. For example, Blackaby wrote that “Pride tempt others to take the credit from others”. This is not uncommon. Many leaders would simply take all the credit for the final product that the company produced without giving any regard for those around them who made it possible. The book of Nehemiah gives us a good picture of what leadership entails as far as recognition. Reason being, Nehemiah devoted an entire chapter (3) to those who worked on the wall. This should be the pattern that spiritual leaders follow. Another vital pitfall of pride that Blackaby emphasized was “Pride makes Leaders unteachable”. Some people are simply too arrogant to learn. As Blackaby succinctly states it, “Pride closes leaders mind” (233). After all, pride makes leaders think that they have seen it all and done it all therefore they know it all. Once again, at the pinnacle of pride, lies the desire to be recognized or fame. Pride drives leaders to the ultimate extreme. Pride also causes leaders to think they are self sufficient. This is intimately tied to the above. Their minds are close, therefore they take the credit of others and also it is natural for them to think they are self sufficient. This is probably why of the main reason why God hates this sin. A self sufficient person doesn’t need God, because that is a sign of weakness and dependency. Therefore they would rather proceed alone in order to take all the credit for themselves.

Kirby 8 Other Pitfalls Apart from the big three of females, finance and fame, there are other pitfalls that are lurking around ready to trip leaders. For instance, many spiritual leader struggles with laziness. This is certainly evident in the quality of work that they produce. For example, pastors because they don’t have that power structure in place where their daily work can be checked for productivity succumbs to laziness a lot. Lack of motivation can also play a major part in leaders who are lazy. Nonetheless, it is unethical for leaders to be taking home a paycheck every month while they are not being productive. Another huge pitfall that many leaders succumb to is their failure to be accountable to another believer. This is huge! If many leaders were to take drastic measures in this area, all the other pitfalls of fame and finance and especially females would be almost nonexistent. Accountability is a much talked about subject among spiritual leaders but it is a much neglected one also. Many men that were greatly used of the Lord had other men that they highly respected as persons that they can hold them accountable. For example, Billy Graham told many television audiences that when he is on the road, because he travels so much, he has a group of men around him that can keep him accountable. Why would such a spiritual man takes such drastic measure? Well he would be foolish not to take such measure since 1Timothy 4:16 states that we must “Take heed unto thyself”. Simply put, don’t trust yourself. Many leaders fall by the wayside because they trusted in their own strength and thought that they were able to do in on their own. The Bible calls such people fools.

Kirby 9 Can the Bible help? Is there any hope for the many leaders that has fallen and are going to fall? Yes there is hope! The bible is a book about hope. Therefore all is not lost. Men will continue to sin and disobey God but his word would not change its constant. God wants to come to your rescue in times of need. For example, the Psalms are replete with references as the Psalmist called on the Lord in times of need. Another comforting thought to spiritual leaders is that knows exactly how much you can withstand. According to 1Corinthians 10:13, God knows how much you can bear, therefore he will not give you more than your allotted portion. In other words, God knows when you maxed out! As a result, leaders can take these “pitfalls” and turn them into opportunities. Leaders definitely don’t want to attend any invitation to sin but they can take these temptations and turn them around as opportunities in which they can display the glory of God. This is spiritual warfare. Therefore it would be wise to know the rules of engagement. According to Ephesians 6:12-17, we can only be successful by putting on the whole armor of God. This is a spiritual battle that would necessitate spiritual weapon in believers’ arsenal. Leaders failed to realize everyday that they have already been deployed into service. Therefore their armor needs to be worn at all times. Also of major significant that many fails to understand is the strategy of their opponent the Devil. For instance, many believers have the Sunday school idea of the Devil; with pitchfork and dark coat with big ears. That’s a warped view of the Devil! The Devil is much more nefarious than that in appearance and most definitely in action.

Kirby 10 Conclusion Spiritual leaders, by virtue of their position, face many obstacles that are thrown in their way by the Devil. Nonetheless, God is faithful. It doesn’t matter whether it’s in the area of females, finance or fame, leaders can get over these hurdles and be successful in God’s eyes. Problems arise when leaders quit relying on God and start trusting in themselves. There will always be adversities in life. The road to spiritual prosperity is paved with trials. The question is; how are leaders going to respond these adversities? With God’s help and a few good friends, leaders can rise above these seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

Kirby 11 Bibliography

Blackaby, Henry and Richard. Spiritual Leadership. Broadman and Holman Publishers. Nashville, Tennessee. 2001. Lutzer, Erwin. W. Seven Snares of the Enemy. Moody Press, Chicago. 2001. Armstrong, John H. Can Fallen Pastors be restored? Moody Press, Chicago. 1995. Farrar, Steve. Point Man. Multnomah Books publishers. 1990.

Kirby 1 Dexter Kirby Dr. White Church Administration ...

Mar 5, 2007 - Erwin Luther, “Before credit cards were popular, Christians would ... money or withholding it…today, faith is out and credit is in” (Luther, 31).

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