After more than 30 years in the ministry, here are some battle-tested truths to consider.
1. People are always going to be angry about something.
An old warhorse of a pastor put his graying arm around me in 1981 and said, “Son, just do what is right. People are always going to be mad about something, so just do what is right so when they get mad at you they will be mad for the right reasons.” Sage advice, and proven true over the decades.
We cannot please everyone, and the goal should be to please the Lord. If the Lord is not happy with our work, then it really does not matter who else is angry. Some people will always be angry; just always do what is right and then rest because you cannot defend your own reputation.
The old saying is true, “Your friends don’t need an explanation and your enemies won’t believe it anyway.”
2. People come and people go.
When I started my own church over 20 years ago, I had an illusion. I honestly believed that everyone would stay forever.
Many years ago, I heard from someone, or perhaps even thought this one up myself, I can’t remember any longer: “In order to be disillusioned, one first must have an illusion.” I had a major illusion that was defeated within the first year of our church plant.
Over the years, hundreds of people have come and gone, and just about every one of them hurt me in some way or another. It is personal, and we must learn how to deal with it personally or it will destroy us.
I have come to the conclusion that some people will remain and become pillars in our church, some are there for a season, and some will never plug in, nor should they. God knows His sheep and where they should be pastured. Our job is to love, serve, and hold loosely to them, because they are not our sheep, we are undershepherds serving the Great Shepherd.
3. We are in a spiritual battle.
The devil hates you and has a horrible plan for your life, your family, your ministry and everything else. If we forget that we are soldiers in the Lord’s army, we will forget that we have an ancient foe and we will not survive long-term.
Many leaders have fallen through sexual failure, financial fraud, pride, depression, and a host of other wounds. In the 1970s, I had a friend that sang a silly little song that included the phrase, “It’s a battlefield, brother, not a picnic area,” or something like that. The picture of bombs blasting around oblivious people sitting around a checkered tablecloth still lingers in my mind.
Yes, I know Jesus defeated Satan, but why did Paul bother to write about deception, armor, and those who were faith casualties if there were not still dangers? Why does Jesus rebuke so many of the seven churches in Revelation for chumming up with evil? We are not to be ignorant of our enemy’s schemes, or we too will join the list of the fallen.
