The mechanic is able to fix everyone else’s car, but he keeps his own with mechanical problems. The lawn worker and gardener can’t keep his yard looking as good as the yards he works on. The Doctor has a hard time going to other doctors when he is not feeling well. However, as long as these guys are effective and good in what they do, no one recommends for them to step-down or to take a brake outside of the normal vacation times.
It seems like we all embrace the trap of the Devil so easily. After we give our lives to Jesus we immediately find reasons for not serving the Lord: I don’t have seminary, I still have issues, my marriage is not straight, my children are acting crazy, etc. And just like that, time continues to pass on as we run from the responsibility of using our gifts for the glory of God and for the service of His people. We turn our backs from the call of God for our lives. The Devil certainly will use the ones closest to you to accuse you of being a hypocrite as they are able to see your humanity more than anybody else’s.
Our problem as ministers is that many times we are comfortable with people placing us on a pedestal and we refuse to embrace transparency and share our own challenges; it is then that we become hypocrites as we present to others an image of us that we are not. We neglect to follow the example of the great apostle Paul in Romans 7:14-25. Paul actually declares in verse 19, “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.” Can you imagine one of our great leaders today going to TBN confessing that they do the evil that they don’t want to do? Nevertheless, Paul did not disqualify himself from ministry, why? Because he understood the Word that the Holy Spirit gave him personally to share with the world in Romans 11:29
“For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
God does not change His mind about you; we change our minds about ourselves. Sin has consequences; brutal consequences. When we openly sin, even as we do not lose our gift and calling, we do lose credibility. However, before the Lord, if we truly repent, we are able to be restored. Have you not read 1 Corinthians about the man who had sex with his step mother? Paul recommended for him to be kicked out of the church because this man was walking around like he had done nothing wrong. However, in 2 Corinthians this man repented and Paul called for his complete restoration.
Some are just facing the tragedies of life; dealing with open rebelliousness in their own families and as leaders they are condemned for it. Is that fair? What do we do with the many people that rebel against God? Is God failing to have the people He created in order? If men are bold enough to rebel against God; do you think that we will not rebel against each other? The problem did not start on earth; it started in heaven as Lucifer was the first one to rebel against God. So, how can a minister, called by God, turn his back on ministry because his children are coming against his teachings or because his family is out of order?
What do we do with David? Did he stop being the King? Did he stop writing psalms after all his many personal sins and family mess? What do we do with the great Prophet Samuel whose two sons completely rebelled against him? What do we do with Josiah and many others? We have countless people in the Bible whose children rebelled against them; many others who rebelled themselves. The question is, what made them persevere; why did they not fall under the guilt and turmoil? God does not take away your gift and your call; He will never do that! Your audience may change; in some cases minimize or disperse; but that call will be burning in the inside of you until the day you die. First Peter 4:10-11 puts it this way:
“As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. |
If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” |
Being called by God does not mean that you are required to be perfect and have a perfect family. Are we not tired of the hypocrisy? We are vessels of clay; it is not about us. We make fools out of ourselves. We must take the attention away of us and make it clear that it is all about, Jesus. If your church is not able to function unless you are there doing the preaching and teaching, you are placing too much attention on you. Most like it, you are pretending to be what you are not.In these last days, I strongly believe that God is raising a group of men and women with the anointing of the Samaritan woman. Men and woman with nothing to offer in the natural, with no credibility, even ministers that have fallen from grace, people with no seminary; perhaps with little personality yet, has an obvious anointing that will truly “break the yoke” out of people. This woman had five divorces and was in in sin with another man; nevertheless a true encounter with Jesus gave her the anointing to evangelize. Her ministry was so effective that at the end, the people that she brought to Jesus stated that they came because of her words, but now they believe because they have heard Jesus for themselves.One of the greatest problems we have in the Body of Christ today is that we are delegating our spiritual responsibility to the Man of God so that our Christianity depends on how effective our mask is. The problem is that this mask does not last long; sooner or later, the world will know our true issues; it is then, that we will use the “fall of the Man of God” as excuse to justify our own falling and moving away from God. How many people out there want nothing to do with God for what a minister did or did not do? It is obvious that they put their faith and trust in man and not God.You are not disqualified; if your issue is sin; repent and let God heal, restore and use you again according to the measure of His grace.Get up and sing, get up and preach, get up and teach, get up and evangelize. The world is waiting for somebody real, for somebody that will tell them the truth in humility, love and boldnesss; for somebody that can identify with them just like Jesus was able to identify himself with the sinners. Are you disqualified from ministry? Absolutely not! The devil is a liar. |
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