Guard Your Heart

It is very difficult to live a transparent life when we are in a church "leadership" situation. In my last piece I mentioned the Jimmy Swaggart problem from several years ago. Jimmy, I once read, came to the Lord as a youth of 10, was "filled with the Spirit" at 11 and was "called to be a preacher" at 12.

This means that he was placed in a position of moral and spiritual "leadership" as a pre-teen. That is contrary to good sense, scripture and psychological wisdom.

1 Timothy 3
1 Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?)

6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.

The part here about "rearing his children with respect" uses the term that means "a balance between assertiveness and servanthood". In order to rear children with semnotes or dignity we must have it ourselves, and that takes a lot of time and experience. This means that we need to be in our forties or fifties-elders- before we become leaders.

By that time a spiritual person has an opportunity to develop transparent, open, mutually vulnerable relationships with others, including his wife and kids. This means that he is able to share his temptations and carnal desires openly so God can change them. Keeping our hearts covered and the soul hidden is the most dangerous thing we can do.

Find someone you can trust to speak with. "Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed." James 5