I was thinking yesterday about how various people and organizations tend to set up one or more Christian practices, commands, or gifts as extremely important.  Some choose Biblical knowledge, fasting, healing the sick, evangelism, feeding or helping the poor, missionary work, or sexual purity.  Others are a little less (or even anti) Biblical, such as following a strict set of Bible-based rules or dietary restrictions (usually pulled primarily from the Law of Moses).  None of these are necessarily wrong in their own right, and most are something that most if not all believers should engage in at some time or another, and usually should engage in often.

But my thoughts turned to the fact that many – if not all – of those who have spectacularly fallen in recent years were part of ministries that harped on the very sin that these leaders fell into.  Why, I wondered.  What is it about fixating on a part of Christian discipline or practice that brought these leaders into that specific sin?

For example, one leader taught extensively on theology and doctrine.  Yet he also lied and covered it up extensively.  Another leader more or less created a culture in his ministry around denying oneself and self-sacrifice.  He was caught indulging in sins, himself.  A third minister had an entire ministry around sexual purity.  He failed in this respect – and not just once.  I could go into other examples, but you get the idea.

Part of the problem with harping on or building a culture around any specific Christian discipline or practice is that it removes the glory from the Lord and moves that glory to following the rules or displaying that discipline well.  For example, if healing is super important to the organization, then spectacular miracle healing testimonies will be valued by those around you, including the leadership.  It can also become an obsession to prove to yourself that you have worth: If I feed the poor well, then I know I’m ok with Jesus.

Of course, as soon as your eyes are off of Jesus, it’s not too hard for the devil to make that discipline into an idol in your life.  Also, since your eyes aren’t on Jesus, your life is no longer satisfying.  So you start looking elsewhere to fill the boredom or the lack through sin.

Eyes on anything but Jesus also makes that thing an obsession in your life.  When you look at something long enough, it gets worked into your psyche.  This is especially visible in sexual sin coming out of sexual-purity ministries and organizations – the leaders have thought about this type of sin, written books about this type of sin, and fixated on this type of sin for so long that it’s in their psyche whether they like it or not.  Once in their psyche, it’s not a very big jump to fall into the very sin they are condemning.

I also believe there is a bit of a pride issue that can play here.  For example, if self-sacrifice is highly valued, it can be easy for the devil to whisper, “You’ve given up so much.  You’re doing just great.  But you’ve given up so much.  It won’t hurt to just do this little sin.”  And then once it’s just been a little sin, pride kicks in, so instead of repenting in humility, the sin gets covered up, making the person more likely to sin again – probably just a little more this time.

So what can we do about all of this depressing blog post?  Here are a few ways to make sure your Christian disciplines aren’t becoming obsessions and idols that will lead you to fall into sin:

1. Take a look at your life.  What disciplines, gifts, and practices are extremely important to you?  Do you obsess over them, or are they second to your relationship with Christ?

2. Are you teaching and thinking about solutions or “don’t do’s?”  You’re a lot less likely to, for example, fall into a self-sacrifice sin when your perspective is on what you pick up through the sacrifice rather than on the giving up and giving up and giving up.  Think about a parent – their perspective will be much better if they think of meeting their child’s needs and raising them well rather than fixating on everything that they are laying down day after day for their kids.

3. Ask God for help.  At the end of the day, He’s the only one who can make us stand – and He will! (Romans 14:4)