Ps.127:1 – Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it.

It’s been distressing lately to read and hear of so many once revered Christian leaders who have fallen in such a surprising and shameful manner. Oftentimes the details of their misdeeds are downright shocking and span years, and sometimes even decades before they are eventually exposed and brought out. As it states in Num 32:23 – You can be sure your sin will find you out! Many such ministers, who maybe once did truly good and useful things for the Lord, end up in complete shipwreck, bringing reproach to the name of Christ and go to their graves in disgrace. Like a house built on the sand, perhaps glorious and impressive from the outside, it all comes tumbling down to nothing.

The questions that come to mind are: How could they go on for so long continuing to play the part with such glaring, un-dealt with sin in their lives? How could they delude themselves into thinking the Lord would just overlook those things and give a  blessing and anointing on their ministry? And what is wrong with the modern day church that such ministries can continue to grow and even seem to flourish, in that environment? These are questions that we should be asking.

I think a big part of the problem is that we elevate “the ministry” to an unhealthy level. Too often we regard the value of the ministry itself above the character of those who lead it. As E.M. Bounds so wisely said in his book Preacher and Prayer:

We are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, new organizations to advance the Church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or organization. God’s plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than anything else. Men are God’s method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.

A ministry is not an entity to itself, it is built on the character of the ministers who conduct it, no other aspect of the ministry is more important than that. That is why scripture teaches that a minister of the Gospel must be blameless and above reproach….and STAY that way, there is no room for compromise and impurity in their lives. By far, the best thing a person can do to “prepare for the ministry” is to be first and foremost, focused on their own personal relationship and walk with the Lord, following His lead daily in all holiness, purity and godliness. The Apostle Paul, speaking of honorable and fruitful ministry, said this in 2 Tim 2:21 – Therefore, if a man CLEANSES HIMSELF from these things (speaking in the context of any sin and iniquity), he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, USEFUL to the Master, prepared for every good work.

If a leaders’ personal walk with the Lord begins to suffer and crumble and they find themselves beginning to stumble and fall into any particular sin or impurity, they should be ready and prepared to walk away from their ministry and tend to what is more important, even if it means letting the ministry itself dissolve. The Holy Spirit will not remain and work within a ministry that has corruption in its ranks, but will depart unless those issues are dealt with. Sadly, many such ministries continue on for years oblivious to the fact that the Spirit has left them while they continue to “build the house”. Undoubtedly there are countless huge Christian ministries, churches, seminaries, etc. built by men that appear to be growing and flourishing, but are nothing more than wood, hay and stubble. Many will not stand in the day of judgment when the quality of it is tested, and that quality will be no better than the character, both seen and unseen, of those who lead it. Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it (Ps 127:1). It doesn’t say they won’t “labor”, it is just saying that all that labor will be in vain.