I am afraid of 3 very silly things that are completely illogical. Math, spiders, and clowns. Math is confusing, spiders are killers, and clowns eat children. These are scientific facts.
But beyond the laughable fears that each of us have should be a very real and horrifying fear every pastor, youth minister, missionary, campus pastor, worship leader, wife and husband and parent, should always be mindful and fearful of.
It's the fear of being disqualified.
If you are not daily aware of this deadly threat, then according to the book of Proverbs, you are a fool. If you don't prepare and plan and plot the path you will walk to avoid being disqualified, then you will eventually do something that will indeed make you unfit for the work of ministry. If this sounds harsh, then I have communicated well my intention.
Consider this short passage from Paul the Apostle and hear the urgency in these words.
Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly ; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:26-27
Paul's fear was that because of a lack of focus and self discipline, he might fall into sin that would make him unfit for ministry. He lived daily with the reality that he could do certain things that would disqualify him from preaching the gospel, things that would cause those he preached to to doubt him, distrust him, or scorn him. He had labored for many years to gain a reputation and testimony as an ambassador of Jesus Christ and he lived with the constant understanding that he could literally throw all of that away in a split second of sin or stupidity.
So can you and so can I.
It takes a moment of unbridled passion to destroy a marriage. It takes 5 minutes online to begin an addiction that will crush your congregation when it comes out (and it will come out). Just a few words spoken in anger or rage and your entire life's work in ministry is undone. And the reality I live with is that after 24 years in ministry and on the stage, I could just as easily disqualify myself by burning myself out, ruining my health, or having a stress induced heart attack before I even hit my most effective and fruitful years for the gospel. If I am dead at 45 then I am no good to anyone on earth. And if you have an affair at 60, no one will remember the great church you built. Your legacy will simply be that you blew it. You failed. Many great leaders end up nothing more than footnotes in conversations years after they stepped out of bounds and were disqualified.
Of course the grace of God covers a multitude of sins. But there is no guarantee from the New Testament that once a minister is disqualified that they can automatically be restored to serve in the same capacity. The best idea is to stay in bounds. Here, briefly, is how we avoid being disqualified.
- Do not let anything come between you and your daily time with Jesus Christ
- Maintain a vibrant life of private worship, prayer and meditation on His word
- Have real accountability with people who are not impressed with you, not just "yes" men or "yes" women
- Spend unhurried, uncluttered time with your wife and your children
- Slow down, say no, and create margin in your life for rest, reflection, and fun
If being disqualified is not your greatest fear, then I urge you to re-think what you are most afraid of. By the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, may you and I walk in humility, dependence, accountability, and self-discipline so that we may not be disqualified from our calling.
What are you afraid of? What steps have you taken to protect yourself from being disqualified?
Comments
July 11 2011
Norman
You have written a clear, concise, creative, compelling warning and raised it high. Thank you Clayton. When a high profile brother fell a few years ago, my first editorial at the Recorder was about “the second question.” The first question of us all was “How could he?” The second question is, “How can I keep it from happening to me?” You’ve explained it in no uncertain terms. Keep going, brother.
July 14 2011
Leslie Nease
Wow…this is great. Thank you for this, Clayton. Too of us lose so much when we don’t have this healthy fear. You really hit the nail on the head.
July 14 2011
Mama Kline
Thank you for your wise words. I am forwarding this to my son, who is a godly young man studying at LU for Kingdom work. He has met a young lady, and his life seems to be in a spin. As I hope he will read this, and he will probably read these comments, I will say no more other than, these words are a much better version of what I tried to tell him. (And, of course, you’re not his mother!)
July 15 2011
Joe Watson
Thank God for boldness and uncompromised truth! Too many leaders have excused away accountability, rightousness and most important a Christ like example! Your right Bro. Clayton, it can all be LOST in one decsion! I know, I am one who failed, and i live with that to this very day, and it is, awful!! If you think it can’t or won’t happen tp you, or your smarter than that, I am here to tell you, it can happen to you, and it will come out! What is done in darkness will be shouted from the roof tops! We work to hard at finding excuse for sin instead of not accepting it in our lives! Are we really that weak? Can we really change? Seems like people want a cake and eat it too theology. We have great church, then just go back to the world! TV, music, books, internet, video games. What happened to, I shall set NO wicked thing before mine eyes? Where’s the changed creatures? Where’s the transformed minds? We want God and we want to do what we want (selfishness). The answer is, I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me, with God ALL things are possible. But we must surrender our lives wholly and completly to him, and finally and most importantly. we have to come to the place where we LOVE God more than we love the sin and not accept failing him.
July 18 2011
TJ
I wonder if in some ways this ‘fear’ is already a general part of the modern person’s life. For example, people now have a much clearer idea of the future and can seek it out and claim it. I think the general idea is to be prepared in every respect specifically the threat against ones faith. indeed a moment of weakness leaves the door open for the devil to step in and whisper in your ear.
I agree and good advice by the way.
August 4 2011
Jennifer
I heard a wonderful message you preached on salvation on JCTV to Liberty University tonight. Thank you for the uplifting and inspiring words that hopefully were grown in the hearts of many young men and women that night!
August 6 2011
Vanessa
Hey nice post, thanks for sharing, me too have fear from few things.
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