Have you ever wondered why you see a small church that is supposed to have grown and broken-through in their season yet they remain stagnant all the way? The answer is stubbornness and the energy of the flesh in doing/running a church. Have you ever seen and wondered why a Christian who is supposed to be mature in the Lord acting like he has not seen the gate of a church before? The answer is still stubbornness and the energy of flesh in serving God.

The flesh – this is your carnal views and desires, and the literal understanding of God’s Word.  

Profits nothing – it would not be of real need to man.

I don’t believe that most people who start up a church or a ministry do so in flesh but when the pressure of laying the foundation sets in gradually, some ministers will begin to act based on their feelings or outcome of the day (the advice they get from a friend or an interested member). Sometimes this stubbornness and energy of the flesh start when a handful of people start attending service and it seems like the church is growing. No potter can do anything whatever with clay that continually resists the potter’s attempt to shape it. If the potter cannot make the kind of vessel he wants to make, the reason is that there is something in the clay that resists his touch (Jeremiah 18: 1 – 4). So it is with your life and mine. If God is going to use us for His honour and glory, if He is going to bless our evangelistic and soul-winning ministry, then our lives must be placed absolutely at His disposal (2 Timothy 2:21). As long as we want to have our own way – by the energy of the flesh rather than be led by the Spirit of God in the ministry, then be sure that God will do little with us. Many, struggle in ministry because they go by the way of the flesh.

For since the world through all its (earthly) wisdom has failed to recognize God, how and why should we depend on this same wisdom to produce the best out of what God has called us to do? God is Spirit and those who worship Him must do so in the Spirit and in truth (John 4:24). God in His wisdom was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached (regarding salvation) to save us who believe (in Christ and welcome Him as Saviour). Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. When a pastor loses sight of this he loses sight of everything. Dear servant of God, why are you in the ministry if not to live and glorify our Lord Jesus Christ? Or are you in the ministry because of the money, or because it is a respectable thing to do and because it will give you prestige and influence? I pray that you will return to the right path, the highway of salvation (Isaiah 35:8).

Deal with sin and not just the fruit of sin (jealousy, rebellion, stubbornness, bitterness, greed, etc). When you deal with sin (the root cause of man’s fall) by crucifying the flesh daily (Romans 8:13; Galatians 5:24), you will live a victorious life. Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh (guided by the situations and the way the world reason); but those who live according to the Spirit (guided in faith by the power of God) set their minds on the things of the Spirit (God’s will and purposes).