Respectable Sins in Christian Ministry
By Jen Oshman, TGC.
When our family served as missionaries overseas, the sins of our host cultures were easy to diagnose. Street corners in southeast Asia were filled with temples, shrines, and sacrificial offerings, revealing the worship of false gods. In some places in Europe, brothels and illicit drugs weren’t hidden from view but grievously peddled in broad daylight. It took little effort to see the darkness around us.
When we moved back to the U.S., the sins there were obvious too. We set out to plant a church in a nation that celebrates greed, drunkenness, and sexual immorality, just to name a few sins.
These blatant sins are big reasons why those in gospel ministry answer the call. We see the darkness and set out to be a city on a hill (Matt. 5:14–16). But while we easily diagnose the sins of others, we too often gloss over the evil within us. We see the specks in others’ eyes but not the log in our own (7:3–5). As Jerry Bridges explains in Respectable Sins, “We can readily identify sin in the immoral or unethical conduct of people in society at large. But we often fail to see . . . the ‘acceptable sins of the saints.’ In effect, we, like society at large, live in denial of our sin.”
Bridges rightly points to what’s common among all Christians. But what if we applied this truth specifically to those in ministry both at home and abroad? If we’re honest, church leaders must admit we’re prone to certain “respectable sins” in ministry. We grow so accustomed to these sins that we often think they’re normal and acceptable.
1. We Worry
Ministry is costly and risky. Church leaders are often short on needed funds. Fear surrounding finances often leads us to serve from a scarcity mentality. We hoard our resources.
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