10 Stupid Things Ministers Should Never Do In Ministry!

There are indeed many dangers for last-day ministers. Whether you are an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher, there are temptations and pitfalls at every turn. 

There are fiery darts coming your way. It can be difficult to know whom to trust. But that doesn’t mean you need to get stupid.

By Pastor Ronnie Matras
So, if you are a minister, or if you aspire to be one, please decide now not to do the 10 stupid things I earlier mentioned in my post, or stop doing the ones you are guilty of NOW. And, for good measure, please decide now not to do the 10 more stupid things I’ve outlined below. Which, unfortunately, have also become common in our Pentecostal and Charismatic movements during the past decade.

1. Abuse the sheep.

Always remember that church staff—and church volunteers—are serving God, not you. Spiritual abuse is a dirty little secret in the Pentecostal/charismatic church that is seldom exposed because it would topple small and large man-made empires alike.

If you aren’t willing to be the servant of all—if you think the sheep are there to serve you—please hang up your ministry aspirations before you hurt someone. We don’t need more spiritual abusers in the pulpit.

2. Water down the gospel.

If you aren’t going to preach the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth—so help you God!—please don’t preach. Although there are many effective preaching styles, if you aren’t bold enough to preach the whole gospel—even the parts people don’t want to hear—then pray for boldness until you are, because erroneous and out of bible context preaching has gained much ground in the church of today. Compromising the gospel is a plain dump!

3. Refuse to release people into ministry.

God’s people don’t belong to you. You aren’t the one who called them, Jesus did. You aren’t the one who anointed them, the Holy Spirit did. If you feel threatened at the notion of your worship leader moving on—or your members attending a conference at another local church—your insecurities are perverting your leadership.

10 Stupid Things Ministers Should Never Do In Ministry!

Equip people for the work of the ministry and then let them fulfil their calling no matter where God leads them without cursing them on their way out the door.

4. Focus on gimmicks and programs rather than people.

Seeker-friendly churches bring in bubble machines to attract the kids and A-to-Z programs to attract the adults. When the focus is on glitz, glare, glamour, and gimmicks rather than meeting the true needs of people in the community, the church can quickly become more like a Christian Club Med (or even a circus) than an expression of the kingdom of God. When our local churches focused only on meeting the felt need of people, rather than the real needs. That’s just dumb.

5. Ignore evangelism.

Failing to pursue evangelistic endeavours has got to be the height of pastoral stupidity. Jesus gave us a Great Commission—and that means going beyond your many-walled church and into the surrounding community with the saving grace of Christ’s gospel. Refusing to have an altar call for salvation because you insist the laypeople in your church should be getting them saved before bringing them to service is just plain stupid.

6. Refuse to network with other leaders.

You may have accountability, but if you refuse to network with other pastors and leaders in your city then you are part of the division that’s running rampant in the church. Sitting on the wrong side of the unity table lacks common sense. 

Jesus wants us to be one as He and the Father are one. He didn’t make exceptions for denominational differences.

7. Failure to make prayer a priority.

It amazes me to see how little prayer is going on in many churches. Pastors who don’t make prayer a mandate in their church are shooting themselves in both feet and crippling their vision. And pastors who are too important to show up to the prayer meeting to join hands with the laity are sending signals that prayer is not their priority. 

And they will soon lose all their spirituality and get into carnal reasonings and efforts without the Spirit of God.

8. Overemphasizing spiritual warfare teaching.

Spiritual warfare should be taught, but not at the expense of teaching the rest of the gospel. Pastors who focus too much on spiritual warfare are making unbalanced disciples that flow in suspicion rather than discernment and may all the while miss the devil’s work in their midst. Preaching, teaching, and emphasizing the whole gospel is the heart of true church growth!

9. Quenching the Holy Spirit.

For all the extremes out there with false prophecies, gold dust, gold teeth, and angel feathers, quenching a genuine move of the Holy Spirit is stupid. Cutting the worship at three songs in order to rush to your memorized message when the Spirit of God is obviously doing work is dumb. Put your pride down and let the Holy Spirit take control.

10. Burning out.

The ministry brings pressures that can lead to divorce, emotional breakdowns, and the sin of all manners in your personal and family lives. Failure to take heed to the warning signs of burnout is stupid and it can cost you your ministry now and later. Mark out time to rest and rejuvenate yourself with your family.

At the end of the day, if you take on the David mentality you won’t get stupid. David said, “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock” (Psalm 27:4-8).

Pursuing intimacy with the Lord is the smartest thing you can do and others will fall into line.

Receive Jesus Christ today and go to church for spiritual fellowship.

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