Pastor, Beware the Danger of Success

Brothers, beware of the danger of success in the eyes of this world. I think about Revelation chapter 3 often, this picture of a church in Sardis that everybody looked at and said, “This church is alive!” and then the Lord Jesus Christ looks at the same church and says, “You are dead.”

That’s a frightening thought. That in the eyes of the world, even the church world, that my ministry and the church that God has entrusted me to lead and to pastor could look like it has all the signs of life but under the surface be missing the entire point.

So, let’s make sure that we give ourselves to what is most important in the eyes of God, His Word, the gospel, prayer, desperation for Him, passionate commitment to spreading His gospel here and among the nations. Even when that brings us, not success in the eyes of this world, but even suffering even in the midst of this world.

So, let’s beware that danger. As we hold fast to that which is most important, let’s trust that more important than the applause or acclaim of man is ultimately the adoration and the glory of God among all peoples.

POSTED ON May 18, 2015

1 Comment

  • June 3, 2015

    Sonya James

    So right Brother! I would rather have a few that God could count on than the number He could count in one of my services. We have to be more concerned with doing Gods’ work than with anything else. We must get back to the altars and seek the Mind of God!

Bo Lane is the founder of ExPastors, a community that strives to offer help, healing, and hope for expastors, pastors, and church leaders, and author of Why Pastors Quit. As a media professional with more than 15 years of experience, he has developed marketing and brand strategies that have revolutionized churches and businesses, both large and small. Bo left full-time ministry after serving more than a decade in churches in Oregon, California, and Iowa. He is also a writer, filmmaker, woodworker, husband and father.