MINISTRY KILLERS

Good has given us an awesome responsibility as Ambassadors to declare His word and name in the earth. As Paul declared, we have this treasure in clay vessels (2 Corinthians4:7). God entrusts His glory to fragile human beings. As a result, Satan never stops trying to disrupt our effectiveness. It’s God’s will and our prayer that we all finish well. Endure till the end. Make full proof of our ministry and get a “well done thy good and faithful servant.”

In order to achieve this, there are some ministry killers we will need to avoid. Warfare and human weakness have not changed. The same attacks and strategies are used repeatedly over the centuries to weaken or cut short our ministry.  Let’s learn what they are and shun them so we may run well. 

I.    LOSS OF VISION – Samson

Samson was called and anointed by God with a specific vision. He was given a personal vision and a ministry vision. Eventually, He lost focus on both visions. The result was a ministry cut short and intense personal suffering.

Proverbs 29:18

18     Where there is no vision, the people perish…

1.    Samson’s Personal Vision

Judges 13:2-5

2 Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. 3 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Now, therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. 5 For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

Numbers 16:1-7 (Nazarite Vow)

•    No Wine

•    No Strong Drink (Vinegar)

•    No Razor

•    No Grapes or Raisins

•    Touch No Dead Body

•    Never become unclean

Samson forgot who he was. He ate honey out of a carcass (Judges 14:7-9_. He took the jawbone of a donkey and used it as a weapon (Judges 15:15).

2.    Neglected Cooperate Vision

Judges 13:5

5 For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

Samson let His emotional issues get in the way of His corporate ministry vision. He was no longer delivering Israel just playing around with Delilah.

Solution: Stay focused on your life and ministry vision. Cling to them through every season of life. Fulfill them when it seems fruitful and when it doesn’t. Let death find you doing what you were born to do.

II.    FRUSTRATION / BITTERNESS – Moses

Moses was anointed by God; Humble and meek, But he internalized things too much.  The improper internalization of issues showed several times in his ministry and ultimately cost him the Promised Land.

Exodus 2:11-14

11 Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?” 14 Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”

Exodus 4:24-26

24 And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the LORD met him and sought to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!” 26 So He let him go. Then she said, “You are a husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision.

Exodus 18:1-2

And Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people—that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back

Exodus 32:19-20

19 So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses’ anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20 Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it.

Numbers 11:10-15

10 Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and the anger of the LORD was greatly aroused; Moses also was displeased. 11 So Moses said to the LORD, “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me? 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child,’ to the land which you swore to their fathers? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep all over me, saying, ‘Give us meat that we may eat.’ 14 I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now—if I have found favor in Your sight—and do not let me see my wretchedness!”

Numbers 20:10-11

10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.

Psalm 106:32-33

They angered him also at the waters of strife So that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: 33 Because they provoked his spirit, So that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips.

Solution: Let stuff go. Do not hold on to things. Practice

Philippians 4:6. Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God and let the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds.  Don’t ever let yourself become more burdened than Jesus is for His church.

III.    PEOPLE PLEASING – Saul

Saul cared more about his image before people than obeying and pleasing God. This cost him His throne.

1 Samuel 15:20-25

20 And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took of the plunder, sheep, and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.” 22 So Samuel said: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.” 24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now, therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD.”

John 5:44

44 How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?

Matthew 23:2-6 

2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 Therefore whatever they tell you to observe that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. 4 For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5 But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. 6 They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, 7 greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.

Solution: Stay God-focused. Seek to please Him. Follow your assignment. Realize Jesus loved all but did not seek to please all. The danger of a seeker-friendly model is we have to know the boundaries so that people pleasure does not replace God’s favor.

IV.    BURNOUT – Elijah

1 Kings 19:1-10

And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” 5 Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the LORD came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” 8 So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they seek to take my life.

•    33% felt burned out within their first five years of ministry.

•    33% say that being in ministry is an outright hazard to their family.

•    40% of pastors and 47% of spouses are suffering from burnout, frantic schedules, and/or unrealistic expectations.

•    45% of pastors say that they've experienced depression or burnout to the extent that they needed to take a leave of absence from ministry.

•    50% feel unable to meet the needs of the job.

•    52% of pastors say they and their spouses believe that being in pastoral ministry is hazardous to their family's well-being and health.

•    56% of pastors' wives say that they have no close friends.

•    57% would leave the pastorate if they had somewhere else to go or some other vocation they could do.

•    70% don't have any close friends.

•    75% report severe stress causing anguish, worry, bewilderment, anger, depression, fear, and alienation.

•    80% of pastors say they have insufficient time with their spouse.

•    80% believe that pastoral ministry affects their families negatively.

•    90% work more than 50 hours a week.

•    1,500 TO 1,700 pastors leave their ministries each month due to burnout, conflict, or moral failure.

•    Doctors, lawyers, and clergy have the most problems with drug abuse, alcoholism, and suicide.

1.    Improper Boundaries

2.    Messiah Complex

3.    Insufficient Intercession

Solution: We must know our sphere and stay within it.  The one only given two talents must realize he only has two and not five. We also must obey Sabbath principles. This continues to be the only commandment we feel need not to be obeyed. Lastly, we must labor with a focus on sovereignty.

V.    PRIDE – Lucifer

We often forget Lucifer once had a ministry far grander than anything we will ever have. He was once close to God than we can fathom. He lost his ministry and place before God do to one thing; Pride. That same pride propels Him today to seek to kill steal and destroy. That pride will land him in the lake of fire with the angels he persuaded.  We must resist pride at all cost

Ezekiel 28:13-15

13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and Jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. 14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. 15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.

Isaiah 14:12-15

12    “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ 15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.

Proverbs. 16:18-19

18 Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. 19 Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

James 4:6

6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:” God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Solution: Embrace humility with every fiber of our being. As Paul, the Apostle says, “be clothed with humility.” (1 Peter 5:5). We must learn the warning signs of pride and resist them at all cost. Here are a few signs:

•    Consistent strife in relationships. Prov. 13:10; Prov. 28:25

•    Not praying much. Luke 18:10-13

•    Place and position seeking.  Luke 14:7-11

•    Constant discontentment and ingratitude. Isaiah 14:12-15

•    Always having to be right. 2 Samuel 17:23-24

VI.    BECOMING PROFESSIONAL – Ephesus

Revelations 2:1-5

“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: 2 “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3 and you have persevered and had patience, and have labored for my name’s sake and have not become weary. 4 Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.

2 Corinthians 11:1-3 NLT

I hope you will put up with a little more of my foolishness. Please bear with me. 2 For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ. 3 But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.

Solution: Pursue love above all else. Seek to be a lover of God. Make relationship primary, not duty. Let duty be out of a relationship not in lieu of it. Measure progress by your heart, not your tasks. Ask God to show you your heart regularly. Seek a baptism of love. Let daily growth in love be your pursuit.

Answer Key: VISION, Frustration; Professional