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Sad to say, many of God’s men are guilty of the sin of jealousy. Jealous pastors cause many problems, not only for themselves, but for their congregations. What are the common causes? What is the cure for this cancerous blot on the character of these men? How can a member, of an affected congregation, help their jealous pastor? We will seek to answer these questions in this post.

What Are Some Common Causes For Jealousy Among Pastors?

Below are some issues that pastor trip up in. Not all are like this so please do not stereotype them. Pastors are like anyone else… capable of sinning.

1. Another pastor preaches better.
2. More compliments are given to another preacher.
3. Previous pastor gets more accolades.
4. Neighboring church is growing faster.
5. Another pastor gets paid more salary.
6. Another pastor has larger congregation.
7. Another church has more offerings consistently.
8. Another pastor is better skilled at counseling.
9. Another pastor has a better benefit package.
10. Another church has more talent (music,teaching, etc.)

What Is The Cure For Jealous Pastors?

1. Acknowledge this jealousy as sin.
2. Repent of this sin.
3. Have a loved one hold him accountable with his speech, actions, and temperament in this area.
4. To again look to Jesus for everything and stop coveting what he does not have. 
5. Keep their eyes off of themselves, and get them back on Jesus Christ, and the fields of labor!

What Can A Church Member Do To Help A Jealous Pastor?

1. PRAY… before doing anything!!!
2. Pray again!!!
3. When you have finished praying a second time… pray again!!!
4. Once you are prayed up and feel led of the Lord, in a loving way, try to bring up the subject. Whatever you do, do not make things any worse than what they are. You are not the pastor, so do not act like one. Just share your concern and leave it at that!
5. No matter the result of the conversation, pray again!
6. Trust the Lord to work things out! Let God work in His heart!

Conclusion…

Yes, pastors mess up and commit the wicked sin of jealousy. It is prevalent in our day. Usually, God’s men do not see it as it can be very subtle. No matter how bad it is, jealousy will corrupt preaching. In view of this truth, all of us should pray for the pastors whom God has placed into our lives. Above all, we who are pastors should be extremely careful that we do not infect ourselves with jealousy!

The New Answers Book: Over 25 Questions on Creation/Evolution and the Bible By Ken Ham / Master Books One can either take the Bible as the basis for scientific truth or use ever-changing evolutionary assumptions as the foundation for your biblical and scientific knowledge. The Bible-as-base model resolves contradictions and gives concrete answers; the evolution-as-base model is as unsure as building a house on sand. Ken Ham knows this, and wants to provide families and individuals with the answers to questions raised by the media’s wholesale acceptance of evolution, be it human or cosmic. Unafraid to take on the tough questions, Ham and the other authors he has assembled eviscerate notions of millions of years, gap theory, dinosaurs turning into birds, and a local flood. Moreover, they give the basic facts behind the Ice Age, distant starlight, carbon-14 and radiometric dating techniques, and the supposed proofs for evolution. Perhaps best of all, and what sets this book above others of its kind, are the final two chapters which are instructional to evangelism. Showing how this information can be used in witnessing and how dinosaurs can be used in spreading the Gospel message as given in the Creation narrative. Adults, kids, believers, nonbelielvers, creationist and evolutions can all benefit from this resource.

This sermon outline on Moses shows how meekness was characteristic in his life, and how it’s absence was his undoing. He endured a lot of hardships and battles, but meekness made him effective as a leader. We can learn from this and seek to be an good example in this area of meekness.  

Title: “Moses; A Man Of Meekness!”

Text: Numbers 12:3

Introduction:

•    This chapter falls after the turmoil of the children of Israel complaining about their environment.
•    They were tired of the manna, and they were crying & greatly upset because they did not have the luxuries of Egypt anymore.
•    God is upset and Moses as well. Moses complains about the heavy burden placed upon him. (11:10-15)
•    God helps Moses by appointing seventy men to leadership. After this God sends the quails into the camp and the people got sick as a result.
•    What’s more, we find in the beginning of chapter twelve that Moses’ own family rises up in rebellion against him.
•    Then we see that blessed word for the first time in our Bibles: MEEK
•    God’s testimony of Moses is that he was the meekest man on the earth.
•    As we say that, one must consider that Moses was under a lot of weight and was depressed by that weight (not mentally deficient) for it took a toll on him physically, emotionally and spiritually!
•    The virtue of meekness does not shine as the gem it is except in the light of adversity!
•    One can say they are meek, but until they are put to the test, it is impure gold.
•    God placed Moses in the crucible of suffering to remove the impurities of character from his life.
•    From this Divine refinery, Moses shone brightly above his peers, to the glory of God, in the area of meekness.
•    All of us need to be meek as well.
•    In this message I want to show you what meekness is, and how it is needful for today.
•    We are going to see that this great virtue which once gave off a sweet smelling aroma in Moses’ life did prove to be the very area in which Moses failed God; resulting in the loss of his entry into Canaan.

Proposition: There are three things I want us to look at that should help us this evening in the area of meekness!

I.    What Is Meekness?

A.    It has been defined in many ways:

     a.    To remain calm in the face of abuse. – Kittle’s (Volume VI page 646)
     b.    “not easily provoked or disposed to complain, not proud of self-sufficient, but humble, patient, and submissive.” – Family Bible Notes – Power Bible CD
     c.    “1. patient and mild; not inclined to anger and resentment. 2. a) tamely submissive; easily imposed on. B) too submissive; spineless; spiritless. 3. gentle or kind. Synonym – humble” – Webster’s New World Dictionary

B.    What plasma is to blood is what meekness is to godliness.

C.    Meekness gels in its exhibition of what Christ did when he was beaten for you and I, yet He opened not His mouth.

D.    Christ did not come as a barbarous, self willed king, but as a Prince of Peace, a meek Messiah.

E.    Christ declared that because of His meekness we could find help!

(Matthew 11:28-30) “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  (KJV)

F.    Meekness is a tranquil room in the midst of a bustling hotel, it is a placid spring beside a six lane superhighway.

G.    Meekness is a characteristic of a Christian’s life!

(Ephesians 4:1-3) “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  (KJV)

(Colossians 3:12-13) “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”  (KJV)

II.    Why Is Meekness Needed?

A.    There are numerous reasons why meekness should be in a child of God’s life!

     a.    Jesus placed great stock in it through His words in the Sermon on the Mount!

(Matthew 5:5) “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”  (KJV)

     b.    Paul stated that it was a fruit of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian. Token evidence that the Holy Ghost is leading the believer!

(Galatians 5:22-23) “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”  (KJV)

     c.    It is needed to effective reach lost people!

(2 Timothy 2:24-26) “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”  (KJV)

(1 Peter 3:15) “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”  (KJV)

(1 Peter 3:4) “But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”  (KJV)

     d.    It is hospital emergency room for the fallen believer!

(Galatians 6:1) “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”  (KJV)

     e.    It should be a virtue of a spiritual leader!

(1 Timothy 6:11) “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.”  (KJV)

(Titus 3:2-3) “To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.”  (KJV)

B.    When meekness is avoided or misunderstood, then a Christian is very apt to be rendered ineffective in their walk with God.

C.    It is like fighting fire with a bucket instead of a pressurized fire hose; it is like doing surgery with plastics knives instead of instruments of the trade; it is like chopping down a tree with a dull spoon, instead of a sharp axe.

D.    Thus we can see how serious we should be about this virtue of meekness. IT IS NEEDED!

III.    What Happened To Moses?

A.    Moses, who will forever be known as the meekest man, lost his temper one day and it cost him the blessing of God!
B.    Consider:

(Numbers 20:7-15) “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them. And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us: How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers:”  (KJV)

C.    Moses was to speak to the rock this time instead of smiting it.

D.    Moses had to view Canaan, which to us is the picture of the blessings of God, from a distance.

E.    So it is with you and I; we abandon the arena of meekness and embrace resentment, bitterness, and anger. We find ourselves viewing the blessings of God in other’s lives and not experiencing them to a greater degree in our own lives!

Conclusion:

To The Sinner:

•    Be saved!

To The Christian:

•    Meekness is the order of the day!

Looking back over the years, in which I have had the blessed opportunity to serve in a pastoral position, I can think of several who seemingly sought occasion to be an enemy of the pastorate. Some were very open about their deeds, firing shell after shell into the work I was trying to accomplish. Still others were striving against the current, lurking below the radar of others in the congregation. It did not take long to realize that church members can be very hard to deal with!

Paul’s Enemy

(2 Timothy 4:14-15) “Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.”  (KJV)

The Apostle Paul, in his “last will and testament”, wrote about an individual named Alexander. In 2 Timothy 4:14-15, we find that he did Paul a lot of harm. Not so much in the physical realm, though he could have certainly been influential by his words to further his execution, but in a spiritual and practical sense of the term. Alexander must have been a very malicious and devious person for Paul to have called him out by name.

Alexander’s Background

Many commentators believe that there are two other references to this Alexander of which Paul refers to in 2 Timothy. One is in Acts 19:23 where he (Alexander) spoke for, and in the defense of the Jews. Many times the Jews and Christians alike were cast into the same lot. In this uproar, of Acts 19, the Jews were not about to be placed into the same likely punishment as Paul and his companions. The other reference is that of 1 Timothy 1:20. Here an “Alexander” was excommunicated because of false doctrine and such.

Though, we are not for certain who this Alexander is that Paul refers to in his last letter to Timothy, we can rest assured that this man was not saved! If we assume that all three instances are the same Alexander, then we can surmise that Alexander was a man on a mission of revenge! 

What Can We Learn?

In light of what we have studied thus far, I would like to warn of three dangers we must avoid if we are to deal with the enemies of the pastorate in a godly and successful way!

Danger #1 – Stereotyping

One of the more common mistakes that young pastors make is that of stereotyping folks. Paul states that “Alexander the coppersmith” did him much evil. If we were to make application for us today, we would say something like this: “Alexander the deacon”, or “Alexander the treasurer”, or “Alexander the song leader”, etc. I think you see where I am heading with this. Everyone we deal with must be dealt with upon their own merits. Family relationships, occupations, ministry positions, and such like are not to be used to analyze how one will behave towards our ministries. We would do well to learn from the mistake of the Psalmist, for he hastily said that all men were liars (Psalm 116:11).

Danger #2 – Bearing The Sword

I was going to say that only younger pastors bear their own sword and fight their own battles, but older ones do the same as well! Two verses come to mind as I think about this danger. Moses reminded the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 1:30 about how God would fight their battles. We must be reminded about this as well!

In the garden episode, Peter, without reservation, pulled a sword and cut Malchus’ ear off. Jesus warned Peter that those who take the sword will perish with the sword. Of course, Jesus was speaking of fighting in the physical realm. However, I believe that we can make an application here. If we take up a spiritual sword, not the Word of God, and smite our enemies, then we can expect a massacre. We should let God handle things. Consider:

(Romans 12:19) “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”  (KJV)

A lot can be said for how Paul dealt with Alexander. He simply said that God would reward his deeds and actions. May we keep this perspective. By the way, I do not think that Paul was saying that in a boastful way, but probably with a broken heart!

Danger #3 – Dwelling Upon The Actions Of Others

A third danger we can make is that of spending way too much time meditating upon the past victories, the current strength, and the perceived battle plans of our so-called enemies. Paul did not do this as is evident in his writings  to Timothy. One time, at most two, Paul mentioned Alexander by name. In his last letter, he warned Timothy about Alexander and moved on.

Life is too short, the cause of Christ too great, God’s people are too valuable to sit around and sulk about what may or may or happen as a result of your enemies. Yes, we should pray and be on guard, but that is NOT the only thing on our plate each and every day! Relatively few are against us at any given time. There multitudes who need us and want us. May we focus our attention upon them!

Conclusion

I feel confident that far many more pastorates self destruct than are leveled to the ground by their enemies. Many times pastors fall into these dangers and subsequently leave themselves wide open for a fall! Practical Christianity will many times, by default, keep one from making these common mistakes in dealing with enemies. May God help all who read this to handle their enemies the right way!

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