HOW TO AVOID SATAN’S TRAPS
By Frank Eiklor and Cecilia Contreras
LESSON 34 Part 3
INTRODUCTION
It is always sad to hear about Christian leaders falling into terrible sins that cause many of their followers to lose their faith, or at least have their faith greatly weakened. In these last days, what is Christ trying to teach His Church in the battle to remain pure and faithful in our walk with God?
We have an enemy who wishes to destroy us. But we have our all-powerful God who promises to preserve us from each of Satan’s temptations and traps. How the Holy Spirit accomplishes this is what this lesson is all about. We can learn to avoid Satan’s traps by paying close attention to scriptural principles that provide safety and strength. In parts one and two, we covered four principles: 1) The Shaking Is From God; 2)The Seducing Spirit Of Success (Fame); 3) The Seduction Of Pride; 4) The Safety Of Accountability. I suggest you review those past two lessons along with this present study. In Part 3, we now look at the next Principle.
Principle #5 – The Specific Areas Of Accountability
First, there is nothing more important than one’s devotional life with the Lord. Isn’t it beautiful how we start out so in love with Jesus Christ that we can’t get enough of Him?! At least, that’s what happened to me. Day and night – night and day – I could not get enough of the Word, of prayer, and of just loving the Lord, sometimes with all my voice as well as with all my heart.
But then what happens? Responsibilities come. And if we’re honest, familiarity with the Lord begins to breed carelessness. We leave our “first love” (Revelation 2:4) and begin to reduce our quiet time with the Lord. Some even eliminate a daily quiet time, figuring that they will “catch up later” with time with the Lord when a better opportunity arises. It never does, and there is no catch-up tomorrow for my failing to walk intimately with the Lord today.
The Holy Spirit
So, our first area of accountability is to the Holy Spirit Himself. We are not to grieve Him by failing to listen to Him (Ephesians 4:30). A servant leader is to find and eat God’s Word daily (Jeremiah 15:16) and continue to rightly divide the Word of truth (II Timothy 2:15). After forty years as a Christian, we are to still grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus (II Peter 3:18). We are to run from the temptation to get so busy working for God that we fail to worship Him – so busy speaking for Him that we no longer speak as much to Him – so busy ministering to others that we no longer allow Him sufficient time to minister to us (or us to Him in praise and worship).
The Family
Second, there is the accountability that must come in family life. Do I as a leader spend quality time with my wife? Is she truly my best friend and confidant? Do I probe my children’s hearts and minds to ask them how they view my life and ministry? No one can give straighter counsel (even though it may hurt) than young people when they know they won’t be penalized for telling the truth.
Do I welcome correction from my mate—or put her down when she tries to tell me my faults? No one knows a man like those with whom he lives, and that’s why, though my daughter has called me her “hero,” her confidence has never been blind hero worship. She knows her dad’s faults and sins and can lay them on the line in short order.
The Opposite Sex
The third area of accountability is in one’s relationship with the opposite sex. We in Christian leadership often quote I Thessalonians 5:22, “Abstain from all appearance of evil” – but then we don’t. No one can sense a trap that a mate is about to walk into like the other marriage partner. How many times has my wife, Norma, brought me up short with “Honey, watch it.” Or “Honey, your compassion is being misunderstood.” Or “You shouldn’t be counseling with that person – better to turn her over to me or another woman.” And if a leader is single, he may be even more urgently in need of a godly friend who will keep a wary and watchful eye open in being “a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24)
Lifestyle
The fourth area of accountability is the material lifestyle of a Christian leader. I’m convinced there’s nothing wrong with wealth for those in the secular world who work hard, earn their money the honest way, and are able to purchase bigger and better things (though the Christian steward had better make sure that he’s living to give, and not to greedily store up more and more for himself—if he truly wants to “lay up in store for himself a good foundation against the time to come” (I Timothy 6:19). However, when Christian leaders in God’s service live in mansions and accept or require enormous salaries that come from widows and others who sacrifice, such is hard to justify scripturally – no matter how hard the prosperity teachers manipulate isolated verses.
While it’s wrong for people to expect ministers and missionaries to live like they are in a perpetual poorhouse, the other extreme is far more deadly – imperial lifestyles that have one resort to pleading for money from people living in humble circumstances so that the Christian leader can live in luxury. What does God think of such lifestyles that keep up with the rich and famous of the world while preaching that “our treasures are laid up for us in heaven”? It takes much time spent in long walks with the Lord to continue to see how God views the material – “…beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” (Luke 12:15)
Perhaps the Christian leader would be wise in praying for only material things that are sufficient; enough so that he does not have to beg nor steal, but not too much where he would one day deny the Lord. Proverbs 30:8,9 says, “…give me neither poverty nor riches: feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.”
Organizational Structure
A fifth area of accountability lies in the realm of organizational structure. Christian leaders who have their official boards comprised only of loved ones and family members have already planted the seeds of destruction. It’s easy to rationalize this by saying, “But my loved ones and I have paid the price for the vision and we understand it better than any.” However, loved ones are easily controlled, and that far outweighs any good that might come from their being on the board.
This is why organizations demanding financial accountability insist on the majority of board members being non-family. And no board member, no matter how flattered he is to be serving with that organization, should ever allow himself to be a mere figurehead or “yes man.” God forbid that he should be the opposite – a thorn in the side of the Christian leader or organization, always disagreeing and feeling he or she has God’s “gift of rebuke.” There’s no such gift. But there is the gift of a board member who takes such a personal interest in all matters, whether financial, practical, or spiritual, that he or she can offer wise counsel to the Christian leader. (Proverbs 11:14)
We have discussed the shaking going on, the seducing spirit of fame, the seduction of pride, the salvation of accountability and the specific areas of accountability. There are two more I wish to bring out. Watch for Part 4 of “How To Avoid Satan’s Traps” in our next lesson.
Concluded Next Lesson
