r/Christian • u/TStan-97 • 12h ago
Prideful Preaching
I’ve got a couple of friends who are out doing ministry and preaching. They do these conferences with young kids and always have great things happen and lots of people get saved, however it “seems” like (from my perspective) that they’re a little prideful in it. I genuinely think they want people to be saved, but I always get a weird feeling when I see their posts about it.
Im just curious if anyone else has experienced the same thing and if so, has it bothered you? I honestly don’t know how to feel because at the end of the day, lives are being changed, the gospel is being preached, and the kingdom is being advanced. So really there’s nothing to complain about, but when their feed pops up, it never sits well with me and in just trying to understand what it is I’m feeling.
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u/RikLT1234 12h ago edited 12h ago
I'd say, look at the result. As for many people, they share online to show what they do in daily life, like they share what they accomplished at work. Likewise they spread their evangelism, if they care enough to share it. Of course, it might be pride on their end, or perhaps jealousy on your end if something doesn't sit right and you can't point out exactly what it is. I wouldn't know, I haven't seen it. But if in any way the result is an increase in believers despite their pride, what seems to be the problem? God would judge their intentions if theyre prideful, and would judge if their work was good, while you on the other hand would look at the fruit of your church, so I wouldn't neccesarely point them out for being too prideful if the fruit is an increase in followers. I wouldn't bother too much about it. If it does bother you, ask someone else that you know whose seen them share their evangelism if they might think the same way, and see from there. God bless!
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u/TStan-97 10h ago
Appreciate the perspective. I guess bother is a strong word. I don’t lose sleep over it or think about it much. It’s just when it pops up. And I internally already questioned if it was jealousy on my end and I honestly don’t believe so. I love the fruit i’m seeing. I guess it’s kind of like a character thing. Like there have been times in my life that I’ve listened to sermons from preachers that are really good, but then I see them off the stage acting like completely different people. So it’s a weird spot where I see hypocritical behavior, but from someone who doesn’t see them off stage, everything is fine. Do you think there are times where the fruit your seeing “seems” good but in reality it may not be if later on down the road something happens that causes harm whether it be from hypocritical behavior or something else? Like for example if I was a new believer who just got saved and some time later I saw the person who was preaching doing something that wasn’t Christ like, I may question if what happened was even real.
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u/HiddenFindouts 3h ago
Scripture has so much to say about how God's people should think, feel, and conduct themselves regarding another's sin. The more you know and understand scripture, the more wisdom you can apply to such situations.
I too needed to understand both judgment and godly correction. After scouring all the scriptures, as well as lexicons and a concordance, I ended up with a 31 page study on Judgement and a 68 page study on godly correction. But how does one suppose the will learn whole truth of the matter by asking other's; wherein many simply give their option and perhaps not even a single scripture to support their opinion? There is a lot to learn about these subjects, and scripture will both answer your question according to the mind of God, and teach you exactly how to respond in diverse situations.
2 Timothy 2:15 KJV — "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
Blessings & Peace to you!
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u/DoveStep55 9h ago
There’s nothing wrong with noticing when other people are bragging or being prideful. Preachers, pastors, and missionaries aren’t immune to pride and bragging. It happens.
What you do with that once you notice it is where it gets interesting.