Some time ago, a good friend of mine disqualified himself from ministry due to an inappropriate relationship with a woman in his church.
I want to try to redeem this tragedy by offering the following seven thoughts in an effort to spare us, our families and our churches from a similar fate.
7 Steps to Avoid Sexual Sin and Stay in Ministry
1. Don’t say it can’t happen to you.
While most of us readily nod our heads in agreement, in our hearts we can still live in functional unbelief of this fact. We need to constantly remind ourselves of Paul’s warning to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 10:12:
Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
That means it can and could happen to us, and we must be vigilant in this area and all others. The world is broken, our enemy is against us and our flesh is weak.
2. Repent of your pride and self-righteousness in this area.
The Bible clearly teaches:
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall (Prov. 16:18).
Every pastor I’ve ever known who has fallen into sexual sin was one who at one point believed he never would.
So often, it is our pride that allows us to “push the envelope” and think we are the exception to the rule. It is also pride that can keep us from getting the help we need so we could have avoided this particular fall in the first place.
Most affairs don’t begin on a whim. The seeds are sown in the soil of an unhappy or tumultuous marriage.
Brothers, if there are currently problems in your marriage, please reach out to someone and deal with them now so you don’t become a statistic later.
3. Put all the needed safeguards in place—and keep them there.
The highway of the upright avoids evil; those who guard their ways preserve their lives (Prov. 16:17).
All of us know this is true, but are we living as if it is true?
We know we shouldn’t be alone with a member of the opposite sex, but do we keep our rule faithfully?
We know we should have working porn filters on our computers, but do we?
