30 Reasons Why Pastors Fail to Seek Counsel for Issues in Their Lives:
Notes from Kenneth Maresco, “Accountable Pastors/Accountable Churches,”
2005 Sovereign Grace Pastor’s Conference
- I don’t need help on this one; I know what to do.
- Do I really need help? After all, I am a pastor.
- I’ll confess it when I’ve repented completely.
- I’ve got the Bible, I’ve got the Holy Spirit, I ought to be able to handle this myself.
- It was not a “big” sin, so it’s not that big of a deal.
- It’s not a besetting sin, just occasional.
- They’re just going to tell me what I already know.
- I can change on my own. I don’t really need the help of others.
- This is something I’m working on.
- I’m making progress, so I don’t need to share this.
- I can just apply the counsel I’ve already received.
- It’s not a strength of mine, but it’s probably not really a sin either.
- I see the heart issues clearly already.
- Others know this is a problem, so I don’t need to confess it again.
- I’ve already repented and made changes.
- I’ve confessed it to God and my wife.
- I’ve already confessed it to people who know me better.
- Other problems in the group are bigger than this.
- They don’t really understand my struggle.
- I’ve got so much work to do. I need to be a good steward of my time and responsibilities.
- This is more serious than these folks can handle.
- I don’t know if I can trust them with this information.
- They will lose all respect for me if I share this.
- They are busy, too busy to hear my confession right now.
- I don’t know that I’ll ever really change in this area.
- I don’t think folks in my group are strong in this either.
- They won’t respond well if I confess again.
- What would happen if they really knew about this in my life?
- I want a reputation of having my life under control and people to think I can handle all of life’s challenges and discern my own sins.
- I don’t want to look bad, I don’t want to look bad, I don’t want to look bad.
