It seems that in recent times there have been more ministry scandals than I can remember in years gone by. Especially among long tenured ministers.

But why?

When ministry becomes one’s career, it is very easy to lose the passion for the call of God that led you into the ministry in the first place. When ministry becomes an occupation rather than obedience from the heart, one might be  more inclined to cover sin than to deal with in head on.

Obedience to the call of God demands that we walk with God and seek his face, while keeping our hearts and lives clean so that we can do his will. This is what burns in the heart of every person who senses the call of God to any real ministry. We want to be right with God so as to please him and fulfill what he has called us to do.

When a called person loses this, they lose the ministry to which they were called. Real ministry is to be done from a pure heart and a clean life. Too many paid ministers have lost their calling and are now serving for a paycheck.

Those who are called by God while working for a living outside of ministry don’t tend to have the same issues with covering up sin as those who are ministers by profession. I am sure there are exceptions, but for the most part those who feel called by God desire to obey him and tend to seek God’s face and shun sin and ungodliness.

Their ministry depends on their devotion to God (their prayer time, study of God’s word, and commitment to service unto the Lord). If they fall into sin, they either repent and make things right or stop ministering altogether.

When ministry becomes a job for a paycheck, it’s easy to lose the passion for the call of God in your life. If the truth were known, I think we would find that many “professional” ministers have very limited skills, if any beyond their ministry career. They would be completely lost if they had to rely on a non ministry job to pay their bills.

Professional ministry tends to cover sins because exposing sin is bad for business. In other words, it could affect the pay check. When a paycheck is not in the equation, it’s much easier to stay focused on what the Lord would have you do, and to take a break if you need time to get things in your life right with God.

While there is nothing wrong with being supported in ministry, we must always remember that ministry is a calling and not a business opportunity. Whether you are a salaried minister or you minister with no financial support, make sure to serve God from the heart as one who has answered the call of God and will give an account to Him.