When Ministry Becomes Dangerous

Reflections on Ministry and Human Error

I’ve been reflecting a lot about service in ministry and the many nuances I’ve witnessed and learnt from over time. There are a lot of thoughts and I’m hoping I can articulate them all in a way that will edify my dear reader. 

It’s easy to slip into the cyclical nature of church work, leaving the depth of relationship with God in its wake. This, I believe, is the foundational danger of ministry or church work - serving with zeal without intimatelyknowing the One we serve.

When we are truly walking with God, the evidence is unmistakable. From what I’ve learnt, intimacy with Him refines our character. We begin to look more like Christ. We see it in the patience we show, the restraint we exercise, the way we serve others selflessly, act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8)

When divinity is poorly taught, people begin to confuse proximity to God with likeness to God. No one openly calls a leader an angel or a god. But I have seen how misguided preaching, unhealthy dependence, and the absence of accountability quietly creates a false sense of divine prestige around leaders. Over time, they are placed on pedestals that Scripture never authorised. And that… that is very dangerous.

These reflections have inspired me to write a short series – God help me. This introductory piece alone has taken weeks… but I believe the conversation is necessary.

In this series, I’ll be sharing some of my thoughts and discoveries about the dangers of ministry—particularly when servants of God, men and women genuinely called by Him, begin to miss the mark. I’ll also be reflecting on how we, as the congregation—the so-called “sheep”—sometimes enable these patterns, often unintentionally.

My hope is that this series equips us, as the body of Christ, to return to what God has primarily called us to: fellowship with Him.

I grew up in a Christian family rooted in the Methodist Church of Ghana. As a child of church leaders, church work was never foreign to me. And while my personal walk with God deepened significantly during my university years, and through the charismatic movement, I’m convinced that the values my parents instilled in my formative years have helped me recognise, respond to, and learn from the gaps I’ve seen. I’ll be sharing a few of these as well.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and reflections as we journey through this together.

See you in the next one.