Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
I will tell you a secret about ministers that will help you to judge their spirits. My father taught me this, and I will pass it on to you. The secret is this: If a minister in his sermons continually harps about one issue, he is revealing his secret, personal problem. Paul condemned drunkenness, but he did not write about it in every letter. He condemned adultery, but not every time he wrote a paragraph. He warned the saints against stealing and lying, but not in every chapter of every letter he wrote. There was no sin with which his heart constantly wrestled so that he could not stop talking about it.
The minister who angrily denounces in every sermon the sin of women wearing short skirts does so not because it is the will of God for him to do so, but because he cannot stop thinking about those women and their short skirts. If Jesus ever delivers that minister from his lustful spirit, that man won't think and talk about women so often. The minister who consigns to hell in every sermon those who drink liquor or use drugs secretly wishes he could, too. He is trying, by vehemently and constantly sermonizing against drugs and alcohol, to overcome his own ungodly desire for such things.
It is, of course, necessary to speak against evil things. The saints need to be warned about specific things that are sin. But the man who has not overcome a particular sin in his own heart will not be able to cease from thinking about that sin and speaking of it. Pay attention to the ministers who speak to you. If a minister persistently condemns those who transgress against a particular commandment of the Lord, it is most likely because he has a secret desire to partake of that sin, too, and is fighting off the temptation the only way he knows how. Such a man secretly envies those whom he condemns most adamantly.
Pray for such a man. Ministers are human, but sometimes they are put on such a pedestal that it is difficult for them to confess a fault. The reputations given them can pressure them to try to maintain an appearance of confidence and righteousness, even when they feel a deep need for help from God. And by constantly sermonizing against those who partake of a particular sin, it may be that a weak and unhappy minister is trying to confess a need and is, in a subtle way, begging for help. Be kind, and stay ready to help. You may be next.