Pride traps
There are a lot of things that could lead to failure in ministry, but essentially two things would be at the top of the list. One is sin. Sin is going to lead to failure. And I’m not talking so much even about behavioural sin, I’m talking about sin on the inside. We have to deal with the heart. That is the issue. James writes that sin is conceived in the heart, it comes out of the heart, and it leads to death. When you see somebody fail in the ministry because of sin, that isn’t the beginning. That is the end of a long history of losing the spiritual battle on the inside. That is why it’s so critical for people in ministry to guard their conscience. As a believer, your conscience is the mechanism God has given you to excuse you when you're doing the right thing or accuse you when you’re doing the wrong thing. You want to listen to your conscience. The Apostle Paul defended himself to the Corinthians by saying in 2 Corinthians 1:12, “I have a clear conscience.” You’re s