5/27/2023 0 Comments Pray over your flocks![]() Pastor-elder David Mathis expands on the nature and calling of local church leaders as joyful workers for the joy of their people, through the framework of the elder qualifications found in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Your indwelling sin, if fed rather than starved, if coddled rather than put to death, if given time and space to breath and grow and expand, can wreak havoc not only on your own soul but-because you’re a pastor-your congregation with it. ![]() The biggest threat is already on the inside because it’s on the inside of you. And typically, the worst of them-the deepest, most discouraging, most divisive, most devastating-come from within you, dear pastor. No, the biggest threats usually come from within. In Christ’s strange and wonderful economy, the most awful of external tests often serve to strengthen the hearts, and join the hands, of God’s people and spread the reputation of Jesus for good as his church rallies with patience and resilient joy. Great as they may be, imposing as they may seem, Christ keeps quite the record of building his church through such external threats and attacks. It’s not slander or persecution or even some terrible act of violence perpetrated by an evil attacker or group in the throes of Satan-not to make light of such trials, however severe. That greatest of threats is not external. I have both good news and bad news for you and your church.īad news first: the single biggest threat to the life and health of your church is already on the inside of your church walls. This article is part of the Dear Pastor series.
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