The Silent Killer in the Church

In a conversation this past week with a faithful lady from my church – something she said has burrowed itself into my spirit man. She said, “Men can’t handle celebrity status in the kingdom. God won’t share his glory with any one! Man wasn’t created to be a celebrity. He was created to honor, love, worship and glorify God – not himself.” I took a deep breath and thought about that for several days. She is right. God isn’t going to share His glory with anyone. Not anyone!

I have been teaching at our midweek Bible class the simple subject of “What is a Christian?” Needless to say we have had some exciting and challenging discussions. I’m loving Wednesday nights right now!


I have a problem with “celebrity” preachers.  Seriously…I really do. I don’t watch a lot of religious television because most of it makes me sick to my stomach.  Let me say up front that not all Christian television is fraudulent.   Don’t send me frightening responses to his commment.  But can you not agree that out of a 30 minute program when someone spends 20 minutes selling product or begging for the money to pay for the programming – there is a problem!  My parents were home bound for years and without Christian television (program names not mentioned) they would have died of spiritual starvation. There are literally millions of shut-ins that absolutely need and thank God everyday for Christian broadcasting. So there is a place for honest ministries of integrity that offer what folk need. Both the churched and unchurched. 
So not all Christian broadcasting is a problem.  But there are those who advocate pride in programming more than they do in pure evangelism.  

Let me continue. Last week we read of another high profile celebrity status pastor who “bit the dust”. He went down like a military jet in combat with the enemy. An immoral failure! The details have yet to be disclosed to his church or the public. Details – I’m not interested in. What hurts is another pastor/minister has engaged in immoral behavior and the church suffers again. Mind you I have done what I do long enough to know that we who claim a calling are human. We are not super heroes of the faith. We make mistakes. But immoral behavior of certain types can be avoided. Billy Graham said that when the tall oak falls in the forest that it by nature takes small pine trees with it.  When the big ones fall often times irrepairable damage is done in the kingdom. When it comes to keeping ourselves pure, honest and people of integrity we need to heed some of Jude’s counsel.

Jude 1:20-25 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, (21) keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. (22) And have mercy on some, who are doubting; (23) save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. (24) Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, (25) to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Pride. One could plead ignorance which is the default answer for most believers who are guilty of it but don’t want to claim it as their personal sin. But lets face it…pride is a problem for most believers.

Here’s my take on this. Pride is an issue that will get a minister (male or female) in trouble more often than not. We all know it but obviously some in the ranks of ministry forget it. They are overwhelmed by the celebrity status others grant them for some standard or measure of success others have not yet managed and probably never will. The hard working inner city pastor who works a vocational job, puts in 40-50 hours a week to take care of his family, studies hard, visits the sick, preaches funerals of more murder victims than most of us could imagine, makes hospital calls, lead his own worship, lead his own youth program, writes his own letters, is his only staff member…even he can filled with pride to a degree. His pride will focus on what he’s doing that the “big guys” would never touch. Hard as it is he finds himself doing something others loath. He takes a little pride in what he’s accomplishing in his own little world.

Remember, God is a jealous God and will not share His glory with any of us. No matter how big or small our church is, how many satellite congregations we have, video sites, how much we take in for tithe and offerings, etc. None of those things impress God. None of them. Absolutely none of them. They impress us – but not Him. We get turned on by them. We take a certain amount of pride in “our” numbers when comparing them to others. We western minded ministers don’t get it. It’s not about TBN or any other Christian network broadcasting our name, church, or testimony. All of that is good and it may have a place in processing the kingdom. But it doesn’t excite Jesus. Abba Father is not impressed. The Holy Spirit wonders why we’re so giddy about such trivial issues. The bottom line is pride. It even reaches those in our pews.

A man gets a promotion and a raise. He suddenly finds himself with new friends, new social venues never afforded him before. There’s an element of pride that sneaks in and he leans more toward his understanding of life, things, labor, marketing, etc. more so than God’s. A woman loses weight, gets a new look, begins to compare herself with others who aren’t as “thin” as she is and there it is…sneaking into her mind while she sits on the pew at church. Why can’t other women look as good as her? The business person nails several contracts and is blessed beyond their imagination. Before the day is out they’re taking credit for it. Somehow the blessings of wisdom, knowledge and courage have escaped their carnal mind.

Yes, pride. It’s out there. Ready to fall a pastor or high profile minister as much as it is the housewife, business man or common “Joe”. Pride is like high blood pressure. It’s the silent killer that can sneak into a persons life and wreak havoc in a heartbeat.

This week I’ve had three different people tell me what an impact our church is making in the city. For a fleeting second pride stood at the door and knocked, wanting to get in. I thought I didn’t let it in but yet I find myself smiling as I write because I find myself bragging about the silent killer I didn’t let in called pride. Ironic isn’t it? I didn’t let it in and here I am taking pride in the fact that I didn’t let it in. So, did I let pride in? I would have to say yes. See, it happens before we know it sometimes. Pride is not gender biased. Pride is not prejudice or racist. Pride doesn’t discriminate age. Pride is ugly, nasty and full of disease. Pride can kill us or in the least, handicap us.

I leave you with these scriptures to ponder. May God rid us all of any element of pride in our life. May our daily prayer be to see our life glorify Him who has enabled to accomplish anything in life. May we not take pride in the flesh and crown carnality that is present in all us to some degree. God help us everyday to honor Him.

Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom.

Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom.

Proverbs 29:23 A man’s pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor.

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

That should do it for tonight.  For now anyway.  Until another moment of pride filled journalism comes to mind.  Just kidding!  Settle down!