Here is a great post by Perry Noble, lead pastor of New Spring Church in So. Carolina. He wrote all of this, I give him full credit, I just cut and pasted it for you!
10 Reasons Why I Believe Leaders Flame Out! July 27, 2010
#1 – They feel like have something to prove…and so instead of becoming obsessed with God’s greatness they become obsessed with their own.
#2 – They have a hard time accepting Gods grace…thus throwing themselves into an achievement based mentality. They think the more they accomplish the more God loves them – despite what is written in Ephesians 2:8-9
#3 – They feel like rest is sin…despite the LONGEST command in the 10 commandments being the one on rest! (Leaders…Isaiah 30:15…READ IT NOW!!!)
#4 – They do not trust the leaders around them…thus they feel like they need to do it all. (We were not called to do life and ministry alone!)
#5 – They are unwilling to ask for help…thinking that doing so is a sign of weakness, when in actuality it is a sign of strength!
#6 – They fear man way more than they fear God…thus becoming obsessed with “their” expectations rather than HIS! (SEE Proverbs 29:25)
#7 – An unwillingness to repent of sin…instead of doing so they become obsessed with pointing out the sins of others!
#8 – They do not allow their identity to be established in Christ but rather in how many people they having attending/giving to their church/ministry.
#9 – They refuse to care for their own family and begin to recite the ridiculously stupid phrase, “I take care of the church and God will take care of my family.” Dude…the church is HIS bride, not yours!!!
#10 – They get consumed with fighting the wrong battles. Christian leaders fight over the most ridiculous things…and doing so ALWAYS drains the life out of them! We should fight for what Jesus fought for–period–and leave the rest alone.
Feel like have something to proveHard time accepting Gods grace.Feel like rest is sin.Do not trust the leaders around them, thus feel like they need to do it all.Unwillingness to ask for help.Consumed with the expectations of others…fear of man.Unwillingness to repent of sin.Refusal to set up manageable boundariesNot allowing our identity to be established in ChristNot caring for their own family.Consumed with fighting the wrong battles.
Nate; at the risk of starting something I don’t want to fight I have to admit that I am not a big PN fan. HOWEVER, he hit a homerun on this one. I am 57 and look back at the young bucks and pray they learn things earlier than I did, that they take advice I was too arrogant to take, and listen to things like PN is talking about here. I came via Scott’s blog.
Understand Bill, thanks for sharing. This is one of his best.
This guy is on target. I think that the list extends and applies far beyond those who are called to ft ministry. It is true….and the reminders are needed more frequently than not. Thanks PN.