Nothing is going to come to you easily. You must consider your life to be one long series of tests, trials and temptations. There is a purpose for each test that God takes you through. Because spiritual tests do not take place in a classroom they are not easily recognized. Many things that happen in our lives are actually tests! Your desire to have a mega church will lead you to a road that has many painful testing experiences.
Many things in a pastor’s life look like coincidences but they are not. Many people you meet and interact with look like they just happened to come by. Indeed, they did not just come by; they were sent by the Lord. Some people you meet today are the newly arriving tests, trials and temptations of your life. You will be expected to pass the tests of relating with them. So what are the tests that a pastor of a mega church should expect to go through? What trials will a pastor desiring church growth experience?
Twenty Tests
1. As you build a mega church, you will be tested so that you can be promoted. Without these tests you cannot be promoted.
In school, you cannot move to the next level unless you pass your tests. The scripture says that you become perfect and complete after you have successfully gone through trials, testings and temptations. O mega church pastor, don’t you want to be perfect and complete? Don’t you want to be fully qualified for all the increase that is coming to you?
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:2-4, NASB
2. As you build your church, you will suffer persecution because you want to do something so godly as to build a big church. Expect persecution from your friends, relatives, colleagues and bystanders. Don’t complain because you are being persecuted. It’s part of the package. Expect to be persecuted because of your mega church.
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
2Timothy 3:12
3. In your quest for church growth, you will go through tests that are designed to humble you. You need to be very humble to be a pastor of thousands of people. You must not think too highly of yourself. Expect troubles, persecutions, difficulties that will bring you to your knees.
Expect situations that you cannot do anything about to break you down, and bring you to your knees. O mega church pastor, these things are intended to help you remember that you are but a man.
And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
Deuteronomy 8:2
4. In your quest for church growth, you will go through tests that will reveal what is in your heart. No one knows what is really in your heart. You don’t even know. But there are circumstances that can bring out what is in your heart. God will allow those tests to reveal what is in your heart. You may say, “I love the Lord” but you really love a man. When the man is gone you will find out whether you really love the Lord.
And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
Deuteronomy 8:2
5. In your quest for church growth, you will go through tests that will show whether you are really obedient. “I love the Lord and I will obey Him” is the song of the average minister of the gospel. But there are certain things that will really reveal whether you are obedient to the Lord. It is easy to say, “I will go anywhere, I will do anything”. Then the command will come, “Now go to the uttermost corner of that poor country!” Suddenly, all the obedience is thrown out of the window and you realize how unwilling and disobedient you really are. I have people who call me “Daddy” and answer every sentence with “Yes, please”. They present themselves as the most humble and obedient servants. But one instruction can reveal how truly detestable and disobedient they really are.
People profess, confess and claim things, but their deeds reveal that they are actually disobedient, detestable and worthless to you. “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good deed” (Titus 1:16, NASB). These are strong words but they are true.
6. In your quest for church growth, you will go through tests to show whether you really love the Lord. Do you really love the Lord? I love Jesus! I love the Lord with all my heart! I will do anything for Him. One day, something will come to your life and that thing will reveal what you love. Do you love the Lord, do you love money or do you love the fame of ministry? It will all be revealed through the tests that are coming your way.
Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 13:3
7. As you grow into a mega church pastor, you will go through tests that are like fiery trials. Fire makes you lose everything. When you go through a trial that makes you feel that you are losing everything, don’t be surprised. Don’t think it is strange.
People have lost their wives, their children, their money and their self-respect through the fiery trials they experienced. Some people have lost as many as three wives in the fire. Some people lost as many as five children. You have to believe that these fiery trials are necessary for your promotion to a mega church pastor.
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1 Peter 4:12
8. As you become a mega church pastor you will be tested by bad winds, bad storms and floods. One day, the pastor of a large church said to me, “A bad wind is blowing on our friend.”
He continued, “We must pray for him because if that bad wind turns in our direction, it will not be good for us!”
You see, as you build a mega church and work for God, you may think that only good winds will blow in your direction. The fact that you are doing the right things and building your house on a rock does not mean that a bad wind will not blow on you.
Amazingly, the bad wind that blows on the person who is doing all the wrong things is the same bad wind that will blow on the good person’s house.
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Matthew 7:24-27
9. As you grow into a mega church pastor you will be tested with grief and sorrow. Sadness, mourning and grief are tests that will meet every man desiring to be a mega church pastor. These are things that a mega church pastor must experience. By the time you have had a few heart-rending times of grief you will be wiser and more humble. You will become an eternity-oriented pastor because you lay to heart the times of mourning and grief. Without all these experiences your mind will gallop towards delusions that only end in more deception.
It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.”
Ecclesiastes 7:2
10. A mega church pastor will be tested for his ability to withstand pressure. A pastor of a big church is under a lot of pressure: pressure from the congregation, pressure from financial problems, pressure from his wife, pressure from his children, pressure from his associates, pressure from the dropping attendance, pressure from the projects, pressure from the employees, pressure from the press and pressure from the general public.
For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
2 Corinthians 1:8
11. A mega church pastor will suffer temptations. O mega church pastor you will not be exempted from temptations because of your lofty ambitions. You will be tempted in every way on your journey to achieving church growth. You will be tempted with finances to enrich yourself and to misuse money. You will be tempted with lustful things and strange women. You will be tempted with divorce. You will be tempted with disloyalty. You will be tempted with pride. You will be tempted with discouragement. You will be tempted to give up. You will be tempted with unforgiveness and bitterness. You will be tempted to misuse your power. Do not be deceived. The higher you go in the ministry, the more you should expect to be tested and tormented.
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
Hebrews 4:15, (NASB)
12. On your road to church growth, you will meet with wicked and unreasonable men. O mega church pastor, get ready to meet unreasonable men and women who will oppose you and make things difficult for you. I have met men with an intractable dislike for us. There are people who have opposed the development of our cathedrals and church buildings. These unreasonable men are temptations and testing’s on the way to your victory.
And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.
1 Thessalonians 3:2
13. A mega church pastor will be tested by people who desert him. When people desert you, you will have to depend on the Lord. Along the journey of ministry, there will be many who will abandon you. Don’t cry too much when people leave you. I can tell you about quite a number of people who have deserted me especially as I went deeper into full time ministry.
It is not because you are a bad person that people abandon you. It is because of your calling and the tests that go with it.
For Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica
2 Timothy 4:10 (NASB)
14. In your quest for church growth you will be tested by people who do not support you. What a painful thing it is to have people withholding their support when you need it most.
At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them.”
2 Timothy 4:16 (NASB)
15. In your quest for church growth, you will be tempted with the personal weaknesses of your life. Every pastor has personal weaknesses. Some have temperamental weaknesses which lead to moodiness, depression, and poor communication. Other ministers suffer from disorganization, mismanagement of money and poor personal judgment. All these personal weaknesses show up as time goes on and present great temptations to the aspiring mega church pastor.
You will also be tempted with distressing situations. Many ministers have distressing marriages. The usual problems of marriage are heightened by the pressures of ministry and the pressures of pinnacle leadership.
Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong
2 Corinthians 12:10 (NASB)
16. To become a mega church pastor, you must pass the test of handling disloyal people.
How you handle disloyalty will determine how big your church can become. Disloyal people can scatter what you are building and make nonsense of your church growth efforts.
You will be tested on whether you can be drawn into confusion by strife-causing leaders.
Your understanding of loyalty and disloyalty will be revealed by your ability to improve or worsen complicated situations in the church.
You will be tested on your ability to silence the voice of the devil amongst your leaders. You will be tested on your ability to handle your accusers. You will be tested on your ability to dismiss people who bring division. You will be tested on your willingness to mark and avoid dangerous people.
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
Romans 16:17
17. In your quest to become a mega church pastor, you will struggle with your personal needs and the church’s needs. You will have needs that must be met and these needs and desires can become a test and a snare to you.
But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses
2 Corinthians 6:4
18. In your quest to become a mega church pastor you will be tested with your ability to fast and pray as well as your ability to watch and pray. Fasting is the painful activity of not eating so that you can pray. Watching is the painful activity of staying awake so that you can pray.
In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
2 Corinthians 11:27
19. In your quest for church growth you will be tested with your willingness to expose yourself to danger. Many people have ended their journey to a great ministry because of dangers they did not want to expose themselves to. “Is it dangerous to go there?” they ask. In so doing, many people cut off themselves from the fields God expects them to work in.
It is the poor who are often open to the preaching of the gospel. These poor people who will come to your church, often live in dangerous and deprived areas. If you are not prepared to go to these poor and dangerous areas, there is very little you can do for God.
I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren
2 Corinthians 11:26 (NASB)
20. In your quest for church growth you will be tested for your susceptibility to delusions and deceptions. As your church gets bigger and you have more money, you will be tested by the deceitfulness of riches. You will be tempted to despise small ministries and pastors of smaller churches. If you pass all these tests you will truly be ready to handle a mega church.
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2 Thessalonians 2:11
