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Navigating the Minefield: 10 Common Distractions Pastors Face and How to Overcome Them

8. Poor boundaries. 

In an effort to “minister” to people, I know too many pastors who fell into a trap because they didn’t have proper boundaries in place. The enemy enjoys a door of opportunity.

9. Neglecting friendships. 

Most pastors struggle knowing who to trust, but because of that they have few people really get to know them. Therefore, they often have no one who can speak into the dark places of their life. And pastors have them too. So they put on a good front—but inside, they struggle alone. It’s dangerous.

10. Abusing power.

The pastor holds a certain amount of power just because of position. It has been said, “Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it.” One of the more dangerous things I see churches doing these days is giving a pastor too much power, without enough built-in personal accountability. (That’s coming from a church planter’s heart—and one who is prone to lead strong.) By the way, I’m not for controlling the pastor or forced relational accountability—and I haven’t discovered the perfect system here—but there needs to be one that balances truth and grace equally. Again, I don’t know how to systematize that, but it is a dangerous distraction. My challenge would be to the pastor or ministry leader to build this system into his or her own life absent a system within the ministry.

Those are some that I have seen. These distractions are displayed in a number of ways—and all of them are not fatal, thankfully—but all of them are real. And all of them are dangerous.