Here’s the email I sent church leaders today, 4/17:
Today, we continue working through Dangerous Calling as weekly reminders of the high calling of local church leadership. We are getting into Chapter 9 “Dirty Secrets”. I think we probably all resonate with Tripp’s 4 Debilitating Pastoral Fears: 1) Fear of Me – illustrated in Gideon’s fear of Gideon, 2) Fear of Others – illustrated in Peter in Galatians 2:11-14, 3) Fear of Circumstances – illustrated in Abraham and Sarah’s situation, and 4) Fear of the Future – being paralyzed by the “what ifs.” The remedy? 1) Humbly own your fears. 2) Confess those places where fear has produced bad decisions and wrong responses. 3) Pay attention to your meditation. (what are you thinking about?) 4) Preach the Gospel to yourself.
Let’s engage our fears so that we may be men of faith who courageously lead our people to deeper expressions of faith.