Ruin not your potential for ministry.

I want to recommend an article by Don Whitney entitled, "THE ALMOST INEVITABLE RUIN OF EVERY MINISTER . . . AND HOW TO AVOID IT."

He begins with these sad truths:

"Almost everyone knows someone who used to be in the ministry. Almost everyone knows someone who shouldn't be in the ministry. And every minister knows another minister—if not several—he does not want to be like."

In this article, Whitney speaks of how extensive are the cases of pastoral failure, nothing that ministers may get ruined by:

• Money
• Sex
• Power
• Pride
• Cynicism
• Success

He elaborates on these, of course, and also gives some suggestions for success, including:

1. Don't let the ministry keep you from Jesus.
2. Don't let the ministry keep you from learning.

(He elaborates on these as well.)

For those of you in pastoral ministry, or intending to do so, what have your experiences been with these temptations?

What can be done to minimize the propensity of failure in these areas?

Are there other areas that are potential "land mines" of ministry?

What are you doing to fight becoming a statistic?

I pray we take heed, we that stand, lest we fall.