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Overcoming Common Temptations to Ministers
As a Christian leader, one has to show a significant amount of strength in overcoming common temptations. With extensive power to exert over their students and parish members, a minister may fall prey to several temptations, the key ones being the urge to be relevant, the temptation to be spectacular, and the need to be powerful (Mulholland, 2016). The described temptations are very easy to overlook since they are often misconstrued as the logical extension of the willingness to assist those that need guidance and the help of a minister.
However, as a pastor, one has to be irrelevant, contain their power, and stifle the urge to show any sign of being spectacular. The described temptations can be overcome by following the virtues of humility and honesty, as well as viewing the nature of God’s love for His children as an entirely unconditional notion.
The temptation to be relevant is likely to affect the life of a minister in case they forget that serving the Lord and following His Word should be the focus of their efforts and, instead, concentrate on the extent of their power and influence in the community. Although asking oneself a question of how one can help those in need, including the starving and the poor, may seem noble, it, steers a minster away from the needed humility and piety. Therefore, the temptation of relevance as the incentive to an action that may elevate a Christian leader in the eyes of the public represents a serious threat to a minister’s spiritual growth.
Similarly, the temptation to be spectacular leads to one developing hubris and straying away from the path of spiritual growth. Instead of accomplishing an action for the sake of hearing people’s praise, a Christian leader has to focus on doing good and following essential Christian principles. There is a common misconception that being spectacular is the need to expand the influence of the church and spread the Word of God (Barton, 2006). However, the specified misconception leads to developing dangerous attitudes that will prevent a Christian leader from gaining spiritually and serve as an example for their student and parish embers. In the same vein, the temptation to be powerful may lead to a minister usurping power and developing egotistic tendencies, which is inadmissible for a Christian leader.
Exploring the scripture, one will realize that the temptations in question have direct Biblical correlates. For example, the story of Nebuchadnezzar represents a case of falling to each of the three temptations (Mulholland, 2016). By focusing on his ego and dismissing crucial Christian values, Nebuchadnezzar became a tyrant that ultimately had to face his demise (Macchia, 2012). Haman is another example of focusing on power and being spectacular instead of following the principles and values of Christianity. As Mordecai refused to bow to Haman, the latter was filled with rage, which showed that his arrogance ousted his spiritual values (Mulholland, 2016).
To fight the three temptations mentioned above, a minister should consider several crucial disciplines, which include Contemplative Prayer, Confession and Forgiveness, and Theological Reflection. The identified disciplines will allow one to recall the idea of God’s first love, thus addressing the temptation to be relevant and powerful. The focus on a confession as an important discipline, in turn, will help one to handle the temptation of being spectacular due to the subversion of one’s alleged heroism (Barton, 2006). Finally, theological reflections will lead one back to the idea of being humble and pious.
Blessings for Ministers in their Spiritual Formation
The process of spiritual formation is quite difficult for a minister to undergo since it required a vast effort in addressing personal flaws and shaping one’s perception of Christian values and notions. However, God gives blessings and gifts to all of His children, and these blessings and gifts are essential for one’s spiritual development. Exploring the role that a minister plays in church and the opportunities that they can pursue in the promotion of Christ’s teachings, one may say that collaboration has a huge potential that a minister can explore. The support that community members give to each other and those in need when following the ideas of Christian unity and sharing God’s Word and love has a profound impact on the spiritual formation of each participant individually and the entire community, in general.
To accentuate the blessings of sharing God’s love and His Word, as well as strengthen people’s Christian beliefs and support them in their spiritual growth, a minister will need to focus on the notion of unity and introduce people to the idea of a spiritual vision. Taking historical retrospect, one will realize that the promotion of a closer dialogue between a parish member and a pastor has already been explored and implemented successfully.
John Wesley introduced the notion of “band meetings” as the strategy for making the communication between a minister and their parish members closer to ensure personal spiritual development in every participant (Barton, 2006). As the described experiment has shown, the proposed approach fosters the enhancement of Christian unity within a parish and reinforces the influence of a Christian leader.
Specifically, the use of band meetings convinces every participant to follow the essential Christian principles and accept the notions of a preached word and a spiritual vision. The focus on unity and collaboration, including interdisciplinary cooperation within church members, a collaboration between parish members, and the dialogue between a minister and the community, is the ultimate path to a blessing in the work of a Christian leader (Calhoun, 2015).
By pursuing the notion of unity in the Christian environment, one will multiply the experience of each individual and create premises for everyone to accept the Word of God. Therefore, to reinforce the idea of a spiritual vision within a community, a minister should focus on turning it gospel-centered, as well as multiplying the notion extensively. It is critical to introduce the target population to the idea of becoming disciples and following the Word of God.
Personal experiences also need to be examined to shape one’s spiritual development as a minister and ensure that the qualities of a Christian leader are built properly. Among the key personal experiences that deserve to be mentioned, the family background has had the most profound effect in shaping personal beliefs. Being a child in a Pentecostal Christian family involved participating in every Christian tradition and ceremony, as well as studying the Bible and gaining insight into its meaning. Representing rather conservative Protestant views, my family has been encouraging me to pursue Christian values and develop Christian virtues since early childhood.
As a result, the opportunities for developing the attitudes and principles that allowed evolving spiritually and affected the vision and philosophy were discovered. Among the key beliefs that were established since early childhood was the notion of unity across Christian believers and the importance of Christlikeness as a crucial part of a Christian person’s life. Furthermore, with the support of the Pentecostal family, resisting temptations on the way to spiritual growth was accepted as a challenge that one has to overcome as a future spiritual leader (Macchia, 2012). The knowledge of Aviation, Psychology, Criminal Justice Administration, and Bible Theology was also helpful in shaping the qualities of a Christian leader.
The Rule of Life
Introduction
Seeking spiritual maturity is one of the crucial stages on the path of a Christian leader’s progress. Therefore, one should focus on examining the ideas that will allow one to discover the rule of life and pursue it in one’s endeavors at becoming a better Christian leader. The described objective is of especially high urgency for a minister since they have to provide spiritual guidance and support to their parish members and the Christian community, in general (Johnson, 1999). By practicing three key disciplines, which are praying, fasting, and studying the Scripture, one will build a strict Rule of Life and follow it closely to exert a positive influence in the Christian community and promote unity across its members, thus spurring their religious development.
Analysis
The idea of the Rule of Life as a series of beliefs and standards that will allow one to grow spiritually is central to being a Christian leader. Approaching the notion from a personal perspective, one may define the Rule of Life as a series of principles that guide one’s spiritual practices and introduce order to their implementation (Macchia, 2012). Therefore, in the case under analysis, the Rule of Life will imply the focus on close reading of the Scripture regularly at least twice a day.
However, fasting as a process of cleansing one’s soul and mind might not seem to be suitable for scheduling (Mulholland, 2016). Indeed, several resources indicate that, as a spiritual leader, one should use fasting when feeling the need to do so or when the Holy Spirit leads one to reconsider one’s physical urges, including the desire to consume food (Killian, 2017). Similarly, praying as a spiritual discipline does not necessarily have a particular deadline.
However, to fit the described spiritual practices into one’s life without disrupting other essential aspects thereof, such as communication with family members and the community, scheduling should be considered as a necessity. It is also worth noting that, to enact the described Rule of Life, the approval of the administrative board in the congregation will not be required since the target environment is the Sunday school for adults.
As stressed above, three key spiritual disciplines have been used to advance Christian values and the notion of Christian unity in the target setting. These include close reading of the Scripture, fasting, and praying. Being a teacher at the Adult Sunday School, I had the opportunity to engage in the described disciplines at my office, using solitude as the means of exploring my spiritual strengths and weaknesses, as well as seeking ways of advancing as a Christian leader.
Moreover, observing Sabbath has been an important part of the rituals that one has to follow as a spiritual leader. Every first Saturday of every month as a holy day in the Baptist tradition has been devoted to spiritual growth. By abstaining from mundane activities that take a significant part of one’s daily routine, one can partake in praying and reading the scripture, thus expanding one’s knowledge of the Bible and Christian ideas and philosophy.
However, the process of following the selected Rule of Life was rather challenging due to the tight schedule that a Christian minister typically has to meet. With the constant focus on the needs of the community and other essential responsibilities, one may encounter impressive challenges in finding time to implementing the Rule of Life. As stressed above, rescheduling and reconsidering the approach toward time management were the key strategies for handling the described situation. With the help of elaborate planning, success was achieved in integrating the critical principles of the Rule of Life into daily life without distorting interpersonal relationships, reducing the quality of work, or depriving parish members and students at the Adult Sunday School of communication and consultations on religious and spiritual issues.
The selection of the disciplines mentioned above can be justified by several important factors. The importance of the dialogue with God as a part of spiritual development has defined the presence of praying in the list of the key disciplines that constitute the described Rule of Life. Since praying allows one to expand one’s relationships with God and develop an insightful understanding of one’s spiritual needs, it has to be incorporated into the Rule of Life principles.
Similarly, fasting as a means of performing a spiritual cleansing was integrated into the Rule of Life principles. However, the significance of moderation in performing the described practices and placing them in the context of one’s life also had to be taken into account. Thus, the notion of the trellis as a path to an emotionally healthy spirituality was incorporated into the Rule of Life mentioned above.
Thus, it is necessary to ensure that the Rule of Life should not be interpreted by general audiences as a set of rigid principles that will absolve their lives of any joy and compel them to follow a preset schedule in a robot-like fashion. On the contrary, the notion of the word “rule” as a part of the Rule of Life has to be perceived by viewing its Latin etymology. According to Scazzero (2006), a trellis is only a tool that one can use to start developing their system of religious beliefs and philosophies that will guide one to Christian life. Specifically, Sullivan (2015) explains that the Rule of Life is a platform based on which one and build the life with which one will be perfectly content and happy: “As a reminder, a rule of life is like a trellis that guides us toward growing in our relationship with God, ourselves” (Sullivan, 2015, p. 99).
Therefore, the Rule of Life has to be promoted organically to every believer to ensure that Christian practices take the required amount of time without enhancing the notion of asceticism to the point where it becomes the source of personal unhappiness.
Reinforced by the notion of the trellis as a ritual that allows structuring one’s life and imbues it with spiritual sense, the Rule of Life based on the idea of fasting, praying, and reading the Scripture will allow one to introduce a unique spiritual rhythm into one’s existence. As a result, the processes of praying and fasting will acquire additional meaning and produce a new impact that will help one to study one’s relation to Christian values and philosophy.
Thus, the Rule of Life will become one’s trellis that will guide one to becoming a better person and gaining Christian virtues. Simultaneously, the application of the Rule of Life as a personal trellis and a path to spiritual growth will help one to remain untainted by temptations that will surround one in their spiritual development. The described issue is particularly important for a minister to address given the need to represent a positive example and promote unity across the congregation.
The Rule of Life mentioned above will also require one to follow a set of specific standards for the Sabbath. Being a crucial part of the life of every Christian person, the Sabbath is critical for a Christian minister, who needs to incorporate meditation and quiet contemplations into the process of personal spiritual growth. A close reading of the scripture and praying are the primary disciplines that should be the focus of Sabbath activities.
Thus, one will incorporate rest and meditations into the Rule of Life to advance in one’s spiritual evolution. Worshipping God with prayers should also be seen as an inseparable element of the Sabbath practice since the day is expected to be the time for promoting peace and unity across the world (Barton, 2006). For this reason, the incorporation of praying and reading of the scripture should be the main choice for someone practicing the Rule of Life.
It is also worth mentioning that there has been a continuous misconception about the notion of the Sabbath and the purpose thereof. A significant number of people perceive Sabbath as the time during which one has to restrain oneself continuously to avoid any semblance of physical labor and not to inflict God’s wrath upon oneself for performing the labor in question (Barton, 2006). However, the implicit meaning of the Sabbath is, in fact, entirely different and has nothing to do with the concept of punishment or idleness. Quite the contrary, the Sabbath tradition suggests that one should focus on worshipping God and exploring one’s spirituality, thus, engaging in the activities that will allow one to evolve and reach a new stage of development.
Moreover, the idea of the Sabbath practice also involves emotional upheaval and calls Christian people to rejoice and celebrate God (Vardy, 2016). Therefore, the focus on praying and reading the Scripture on Sabbath should not be deemed as an activity that drains the joy from the lives of believers. Instead, the process needs to be seen as an opportunity to regain the connection with one’s true self and the chance to focus on relaxation and meditation as important aspects of spiritual growth.
To support the idea that the Sabbath encapsulates joy and delight, one may need to consider the teachings of Jesus and His attitude toward the Sabbath. For instance, Scazzero (2015) explains that “On Sabbath, something of God’s holiness and goodness is revealed, not simply in the way he works but in the way he rests” (p. 168). Therefore, the Sabbath practices should be regarded as an important and joyful aspect of Christian practices.
In addition to engaging in several crucial spiritual and religious practices that allow one to gain the skills of a Christian leader, a minister should also consider setting attainable goals for spiritual formation and locating key milestones that will have to be reached to maintain personal growth consistent and effective. For this reason, key physical and spiritual practices need to be reconsidered and reevaluated as the strategies for reaching the required goal and gaining the necessary strength. Thus, the use of inward disciplines as the source of strength should be seen as the most important aspect of the Rule of Life presently.
As a result, the significance of humility, kindness, and other essential Christian values that would help later on to gain the skills needed for a Christian leader are recognized and integrated into the process of personal development.
Therefore, the goals of the spiritual formation process currently include mostly the objectives associated with inward disciplines of Christianity as the gateway to understanding one’s personal needs for the promotion of spiritual growth. The key objective is to explore the current weaknesses as a minister and a Christian to continue working on addressing them. Being a Christian leader and a teacher in a Sunday School for adults, one cannot afford to make mistakes that were caused by personal flaws and may come at the price of other people.
The current level of spiritual maturity seems to be quite high, as the previous assessment has shown, yet more effort should be put into focusing on avoiding temptations, particularly, the temptation to be relevant. Thus, it is crucial to continue identifying weaknesses and problems in the current management of temptations, especially the temptation to be powerful and relevant.
While the described characteristics ostensibly seem to serve one in assisting those in need, they will ultimately lead to the cessation of one’s spiritual; progress and the ultimate failure as a Christian leader (Oswald & Kroeger, 1992). Therefore, locating the existing weaknesses and managing them so that they could not lead to any harm made to the Christian community is listed among the top priorities. In addition, enhancing the strengths that will allow encouraging unity in the target environment is also among the key goals.
Furthermore, maintaining physical well-being at the desired level by following fasting principles is another one of the objectives to be pursued. The use of fasting assists not only in spiritual cleansing but also in maintaining the required physical shape, which a minister needs to have to focus on humility, avoid excessive consumption, and lead a humble life. Therefore, the selected spiritual disciplines help in setting measurable and attainable goals that a minister should reach to exert positive influence within a community.
As explained above, reading the scripture is a crucial stage of the spiritual development of a minister. While every single part of the scripture bears a special meaning to its reader, specific parts can be seen as especially important for establishing a personal connection to God and at the same time embrace the corporate aspect of spiritual development. The idea of being connected to God relationally is one of the crucial aspects of building one’s spirituality and embracing the notion of Christian values.
These include the concept of Christlikeness and the acceptance of Christian virtues (Hamm, 2017). The described perspective also allows facing temptations of relevance, power, and being spectacular since it provides a minister with a chance to foster the qualities such as humility and Christlikeness. Thus, to improve one’s relationships with God and establish a strong connection, a close reading of the Holy Scriptures, specifically, the Epistles, is an essential component of the spiritual practice.
Furthermore, introducing order to these practices by timing them and scheduling the key activities should be seen as the main step in creating an appropriate environment for establishing the Rule of Life. The described activities are believed to assist one on one’s journey to becoming an effective Christian leader and keeping the focus on the important aspects of leadership. The promotion of unity and the focus on increasing well-being, at the same time resisting temptations, should be deemed as the key objectives to be accomplished.
Conclusion
Using Christian practices such as fasting, praying, and studying the scripture, one will discover the rule of life and become able to follow its principles to offer parish members guidance while retaining humility and resisting temptations. The introduction of the described elements into the process of following the Rule of Life is essential since it helps one to embrace one’s Christian nature.
Though the concept of the Rule of Life is often interpreted as restrictive of reducing one’s life to ascetic values, thus depriving one of a range of essential activities, this could not be further away from the truth. Instead, the Rule of Life allows one to develop a system of principles according to which one can fulfill oneself as a Christian leader and a believer. Thus, applying the Rule of Life to one’s everyday activities and especially the spiritual practices that are expected to assist one in their spiritual growth, will lead to becoming a better Christian.
References
Barton, R. H. (2006). Sacred rhythms: Arranging our lives for spiritual transformation. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Calhoun, A. (2015). Spiritual disciplines handbook: Practices that transform us. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Hamm, O. E. (2017). Incarnational life: Being light to all creation. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Johnson, R. (1999). Your personality and the spiritual life: Understanding who you are can deepen your relationship with God. Gainesville, FL: Center for Applications of Psychological Type, Inc.
Killian, M. (2017). Religious vitality in Christian intentional communities: A comparative ethnographic study. New York, NY: Lexington Books.
Macchia, S. A. (2012). Crafting a rule of life: An invitation to the well-ordered life. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Mulholland, M. (2016). Invitation to a journey: A road map for spiritual formation. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Oswald, R., & Kroeger, O. (1992) Personality type and religious leadership. New York, NY: The Alban Institute.
Scazzero, P. (2006). Emotionally healthy spirituality: Unleash a revolution in your life in Christ. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.
Scazzero, P. (2015). The emotionally healthy leader: How transforming your inner life will deeply transform your church, team, and the world. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Sullivan, M. B. (2015). Living the way of love: A 40-day devotional. New York, NY: Church Publishing Incorporated.
Vardy, P. (2016). The puzzle of Christianity. London, UK: HarperCollins UK.
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