People Spots Online
Produced by James W. Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants
Provided as a service by New Life Ministries

Professional Jealousy

by James W Moss, Sr

I was a young pastor, just a few years out of seminary. I went to pastor two small churches. The pastors of the two largest churches in the community would snipe at each other. They would be catty with each other in public. They would talk about each other when the other wasn’t around. They were not being kind. That was the first time I heard the term and actually experienced “professional jealousy.”

I shared in the last article the story about Pastor Hull Byers and another pastor who encountered professional jealousy from their colleagues. That thought prompted this article. Does professional jealousy exist in the church today? You betcha. Talk to any pastor who has experienced significant success in ministry. They will tell you some interesting tales of abuse from fellow clergy. That is true from Bill Hybels and Rick Warren on down to a humble pastor successfully serving a church of less than 100 in a rural area.

This ought not to be. The Ten Commandments give us some insight: "You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor (Exodus 2:17). We can go further. We should not covet a fellow pastor’s success.

I have experienced those feelings. I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t say that. As I’ve gotten older, I truly rejoice and celebrate when someone is successful in ministry and the Kingdom of God is being advanced. I praise God for them. I pray that the Holy Spirit will build a fence around them and protect them. It doesn’t matter if they are doing things differently than I would. It doesn’t matter if they are using a style different from mine. If they are glorifying God, I praise him for their success.

Even Jesus experienced professional jealousy.

Now it was the governor's custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him. While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him." But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed (Matthew 27:15-20).

Christian leaders need to function at a different level than the religious leaders who out of envy had Jesus placed on the cross.

Paul’s instruction to the Corinthians also applies: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud" (1 Corinthians 13:4).

Identify three of the most successful pastors in your regional body and in your community. Covenant with them to pray for them on a daily basis. They will experience temptations and difficulties beyond anything you can imagine. They don’t need your criticism. They need your prayers.

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Read about Jim's seminars and books.

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March 14, 2008. Volume 11, Issue 3. People Spots Online is prepared by James W. Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants. It is provided as a service by New Life Ministries, www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org. Articles may be duplicated and reproduced in any way with proper credit. A new article is produced about every two weeks. To be added to a list to receive these messages directly by e-mail, send a request to churchconsultants@yahoo.com.

Professional Jealousy

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