"Not another fallen preacher!"

Are you as shocked, saddened, and disappointed as I am whenever yet another spiritual leader shows feet of clay?

 

The God-denying media enjoys stomping those clay feet into powder afterwards too, don't they? Sensational fodder like that is irresistible.

Louis and I call it "yet another loss of innocence." (We have collectively lost so much innocence by being in ministry and seeing too much, that we are probably guilty of pretty much everything by now.)

 

For many years that was my fear. I said to myself, "Don't become well-known, because everyone eventually falls, and when you fall from a negligible elevation, no-one will notice, but when you fall from a big stage, you'll do so much damage to people's faith."

 

Stage or no stage, I did come to the precipice of a spectacular fall, and a wise man I asked for prayer, said, "Is it money, an addiction, or a man?"

"Is it that simple?" I asked.

 

I've thought about it so much since. When we know someone's feet are crumbling, and we know them well, it truly is that simple.

 

In nature, every tree has its natural pests. Borers love peach trees, while crabapple trees are resistant to them. Tree-type personalities are no different. We're "bugged" (the British may add "buggered") in the area of our pride. The overuse of our strengths becomes our vices.

 

The latest fallen preacher did not know his bugs. His fall was predictable. Nobody with that much Palm Tree warmth, charm, and access to excessive resources, is safe to have that amount of freedom!

 

That's why the trees. When you see the tree type, you can see the good works prepared for them as well as the designer trap made in their size.

 

This unfortunately is just a sample of each tree's underbelly, and truly, with God's help, none of this ever needs to trip you up!

 

Roses may abuse power and control, and proudly dismiss and demean others; Pines may overindulge in comfort or addictions and enabling addictions in others; Palm trees tend to be sensual and may lean toward excess, compromise for popularity or gain, or eat forbidden fruit; while Boxwoods are sometimes tempted into self-righteous bitterness from where they may destroy unity and goodwill.

 

Determine to be vigilant where your tree type or combination is vulnerable. It's one thing to fall; it's another to walk into a trap eyes wide open!

 

by Hettie Brittz
www.talltreestraining.com