7 WAYS TO ELEVATE YOURSELF, SUBVERT THE GOSPEL, AND UNDERMINE THE CHURCH
DAYTON HARTMAN
Lies Pastors Believe: 7 Ways to Elevate Yourself, Subvert the Gospel, and Undermine the Church
Copyright 2017 Dayton Hartman
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Print ISBN 9781683590385
Digital ISBN 9781683590392
Lexham Editorial Team: Elliot Ritzema, David Bomar
Cover Design: Brittany Schrock
Love truth and reject lies.
“Jesus has called me to lead a movement”
“No one has ever fed them like me”
“Jesus loves me, this I earn”
“I’m called to be a pastor”
“My perceived holiness is more important than my pursuit of holiness”
“I must sacrifice my home life for my ministry life”
“I’m the only one on this island”
The Invention of Lying
Appendix 1: Elder Qualifications
Appendix 2: Recommended Reading
I owe a great debt of gratitude to Brannon Ellis and Todd Hains for their belief in this book. Additionally, Elliot Ritzema’s efforts toward refining the content of this book made it much better than it otherwise could have been. Moreover, I’m very grateful for Josh Wester working through my initial manuscript with me and for Erik Harris giving me his chapter-by-chapter feedback. Finally, I thank my wife for her constant encouragement to be honest regarding my own failures as a pastor.
LIAR, LIAR
We all believe lies. Not only do we believe lies, but we lie to ourselves constantly, endlessly.
Perhaps this affinity for lies is nowhere better demonstrated than the 1997 hit movie Liar Liar. I remember watching this movie at a friend’s house using a filtering service that screened out morally questionable scenes and vulgar language. Of course, watching Liar Liar this way made it a very short movie. Still, I managed to get the gist, and aside from the (fragmented) humor what struck me the most was its stunning portrayal of the human heart’s love of lies.
In the movie, a young boy makes a birthday wish that his dad, a chronic liar (played by Jim Carrey), would be forced to tell the truth. Miraculously, the wish comes true. The boy’s father is forced to speak and act with total honesty at all times. What follows is a comedic montage showing the horror and pain of being forced to tell the truth—and the utter misery of being regularly confronted with the truth. While telling the truth ...
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About Lies Pastors Believe: 7 Ways to Elevate Yourself, Subvert the Gospel, and Undermine the ChurchFor many pastors, the lies we’re tempted to believe have to do with our identity: that God has called us to lead a movement, that we must sacrifice our home life for our ministry life, or that our image as holy is more important than our actual pursuit of holiness. In Lies Pastors Believe, pastor and professor Dayton Hartman takes aim at these and other lies he has faced in his own ministry and seen other pastors struggle with. With a winsome and engaging style, Hartman shows current and future pastors why these lies are so tempting, the damage they can do, and how they can be resisted by believing and applying the truth of the gospel. |
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