It has been said that there are three things in the world that are most likely to destroy a person: money, power, and sex.
After assuming leadership, a pastor became out of control, but a new leader eventually took his place.
Following the previous article titled "Pastor's Downfall: Money Is Satan's Most Conventional, Powerful Weapon," we share a story about a pastor's downfall due to power.
Many years ago, Pastor Enyi was serving with a large house church network team that used to have hundreds of pastoral staff who served over 100 churches and even more believers.
In the team, there were many factions, each of which was pursuing its own interests, not the interests of God. He once proposed at a meeting, "Some young members are placed in a higher position. We should believe this is not an artificial arrangement; behind it is God's will. Moreover, some seniors are in lower positions, but we also have to believe that it is allowed and guided by God. Maybe God lets us learn about humility in this way. Isn't it a wonderful thing that the older humble themselves to serve the younger?"
But after some effort, Enyi found that the results were not good—they continued to quarrel and even occasionally came to blows. In the end, he had no choice but to leave it alone.
Because there were too many internal disputes, some of the core leaders of the team chose to withdraw voluntarily, and some leaders took some members out of the team and grew independently. At this time, someone suggested that Pastor Enyi be the new leader of the team.
Led by this pastor, the team carried out many reforms. Internally, the team restored its vigor and vitality; externally, it began to regain its influence.
After the big reform, Pastor Enyi changed from being unknown to being a person with great power. He was not fully prepared for this; he was used to the simple, rude, and efficient way of dealing with the chaos before. Since he made all the big decisions, the resolution could be passed as long as he agreed, even if others did not. And even if all the people agreed with one thing but he didn't agree, this thing couldn’t be carried out.
At this time, he was a far cry from what he had said before: "Pastors should be like the Lord, humble, and sacrifice themselves like a grain of wheat." He began to use or squander the power in his hands casually, even seeking benefits for himself, his family, and his relatives.
Finally, when he came up for re-election, within expectations, he lost the election, becoming an ordinary staff worker again, with another one selected as the team leader.
This pastor couldn’t accept the reality, as he thought the new leader was not as qualified as him. The new one was younger, so why should he listen to him? So, no matter what the new one said, Enyi chose not to listen.
The new leader could accommodate him, but the team and the church were fed up with him. They kicked him out and didn’t allow him to continue to work on the team.
Being an ordinary person at first, the pastor sought his own downfall after seizing the power, though he once served as the team leader with vigour and vitality.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
