It is not possible to avoid every negative motive all the time, but we must beware lest any of these start to fester within and then characterise our ministry.
Photo: [link]Clint Patterson[/link], Unsplash CC0.
We all minister with mixed motives. It is important to be aware of that, and to prayerfully stay before the only One who can really know what is going on inside of us.
Sometimes it can be helpful to delineate some of the unhelpful or sinful motivations that can sabotage a ministry. It is not possible to avoid every negative motive all the time, but we must beware lest any of these start to fester within and then characterise our ministry.
1. Preaching to impress
The inner child may not be as gone as we think, and it can so easily creep out and we then start to show off.
2. Preaching to be liked
The insecure self can manifest in public ministry and we can start to crave affirmation.
3. Preaching to be needed
The shepherds of a flock do make a difference to the lives of the sheep, but something is off if the need to be needed starts to grow. You are replaceable.
4. Preaching to validate our worth
The unsettled soul can seek validation for our education, our calling, our sense of identity, etc., through the medium of ministry. If your worth is not firmly rooted in Christ (as just you, minus all trappings of ministry position), then you have a problem and you may well become a problem.
5. Preaching to control behaviour
This may be more common than we think. Instead of patient ministry trusting God’s Word and God’s Spirit, we can shortcut the process and start to pressure conformity in our listeners. Quite simply, our life is easier if they will just behave like Christians.
6. Preaching to build a mini-kingdom
Again, too common to count, and probably involves a combination of the above issues … but it happens when we preach in order to have a little empire where our influence, our voice, our significance, and our ego get propped up.
7. Preaching to be paid
It is absolutely appropriate that churches recompense preachers and do so properly. It is shocking the way some churches do not care for their preachers. However, if I am preaching in order to get the paycheck, then my ministry motivation is broken.
8. Preaching because it is all I can do
The fires within will not always burn bright in perpetual personal revival. At the same time, if the fire has really gone out, please don’t just preach because you have no option. You do.
Trust God, ask others for help, and choose not to preach until you can stand with a fire for Him again. By faith hold back from doing damage and trust God to carry you through it.
There are plenty of other mis-motives that could be listed. What have you seen in others (no names please), or in yourself?
Peter Mead is mentor at Cor Deo and author of several books. This article first appeared on his blog Biblical Preaching.
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