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3 Lies That Will Wreck Pastor’s Lives

A man passes a lie detector test

Saturday night, I started a series on 2 Peter. One of the themes of 2 Peter is combating the lies that we believe.

All of us believe lies in our lives, and those lies shape us.

Lies that we aren’t good enough, strong enough, that I owe God, that we can be in control, that God doesn’t love us. Lies like these shape us.

Pastors believe lies as well.

I know that might be a shock, but as I was standing in front of our church, I shared for a few minutes some of the lies that I as a pastor combat.

Lie number 1: What happens at Revolution is because of me.

All pastors know this isn’t true, but we easily believe it is.

You can tell by their mood after they hear how many people were at church, what the offering was like, how the kids’ ministry went.

Much of what they feel about their sermon is based on what they can read on people’s face, the connection they feel or lack thereof.

Lie number 2: God loves me more when I preach.

It’s getting closer to summer, and I always take a few weeks in a row where I don’t preach.

As I get closer to it, this lie is starting to creep up. I love preaching. I feel like God has gifted me to do it, and I love using this gift for His glory. It is an honor.

But it is easy for me to feel that God loves me more because I preach or that I feel his presence more in my life when I am preaching.

Lie number 3: If I’m not at church, it will fall apart.

As a church planter, you will battle this.

Will people care about your church as much as you do? What happens if your church completely falls apart when you aren’t there?

While many struggle with this, I’ve never actually heard of a church closing because a pastor was gone for a week.

Revolution will not fall apart if I’m not there, but like lie #1, it is easy to fall into.

As a pastor, you need to do what you challenge your church to do. Wrestle with what these lies reveal.

When you believe these lies, what does that say about you, about your belief in God and the gospel? What is the truth of those lies?

As a pastor, what lies do you believe and easily fall into?