A Plea From a Pastor

I have been sitting back and doing some thinking recently.

In my pondering, I have realized I am not desperate enough.  I have also found that I am not nearly humble enough.

I love to figure things out.  I love figuring things out so much, that I often don’t like to ask for help.  I guess that means I am rather prideful as well. 

I really don’t like how it sounds, but as I have been thinking, I realize that there is a desperate need to be honest with those I care about and with those that care about me.

You see, I have noticed as momentum builds in my own life and in the life of a ministry the enemy takes note.  His devious attacks increase and one cannot help but notice the ways in which he attacks.  Opportunities to compromise abound.  Compromise doesn’t always come in the form of absolute moral failure.  Sometimes it is just a small crack here or there.

Funny thing about cracks, they spread, they get bigger, and before long they become rather destructive.

I have no desire to compromise.

However, neither have many of my friends that I have seen falter.

The destructive force that I have seen wage war against my friends, their families, their children, their lives thrown into chaos because of moral and character collapse was never a desire of their heart.  The cracks formed but were never resealed or corrected, they spread, they got bigger, and they destroyed lives. 

For those of us who lead in ministry in some capacity, the consequences for faltering grow even greater.  The destructive force carries even more weight as we show the weakness of humanness.  We grow tired, weak, and feeble.  In those times when we are vulnerable, it is best to attack us. 

This doesn’t happen only to pastors, of course, it can also happen to their spouses and to anyone for that matter.

Far too many of my friends in ministry have fallen.  The fallout has been painful to watch.  There has been, in some cases, restoration.  In some cases, the destruction has become so severe that forgiveness has occurred, but reconciliation has become a very slow process.

I see this and I cannot help but ask, plea, beg you to pray for me.

Pray for my family.

Pray for your own pastor, other local pastors, elders, church leaders.  Pray for each other, for your friends, for their families, and for their marriages. 

We say and believe that we have a powerful God.  Our enemy has always tried to steal glory from God by manipulating, deceiving, and causing havoc in the lives of those who follow God. 

That is why I write this.  As independent, stubborn, and hardheaded as I am…I need help.  We all do.

I believe our God is not dead.  I believe He is alive.  I believe if He is for me than who could be against me.  I believe He has made me free.  I will proclaim this until I no longer have the breath to proclaim it.  I don’t want the enemy to sneak into any area of my life to take away from that message.

This is a plea from a pastor.

Pray for your pastor, whomever they may be.