Dag Heward-Mills - Loyalty and Disloyalty

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For a complete list of titles by Dag Heward-Mills in English and other languages, visit us at www.daghewardmills.org

Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Loyalty and Disloyalty

Copyright 1998, 2005 Dag Heward-Mills

First and second editions published by Parchment House 1998, 2005

Published by Lux Verbi.BM (Pty) Ltd. 2008

Published by Parchment House 2011

Find out more about Dag Heward-Mills at:

Healing Jesus Campaign

Write to: evangelist@daghewardmills.org

Website: www.daghewardmills.org

Facebook: Dag Heward-Mills

Twitter: @EvangelistDag

EBOOK ISBN: 978-0-88270-167-7

Dedication:

To Rev. E. A. T. Sackey, my friend and associate in ministry.

Thank you for many years of faithfulness and loyalty.

All rights reserved under international copyright law. Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book.

Why teach on the subject Loyalty and Disloyalty? I believe the Lord has laid on my heart this practical subject for various reasons. First of all, I have seen the relevance of this subject in the Word of God. The Scriptures are replete with accounts of faithful and treacherous people. There is a lot to learn from these accounts in the Bible.

My few years in the ministry have also made me very aware of loyal and disloyal people. I have noticed the impact that it has on churches and ministries. In the next few pages I will share with you a few reasons why the subject of loyalty is such an important one.

Seven Reasons Why the Subject of Loyalty Is Important

1. Loyalty is the principal qualification for every minister.

An inexperienced person is likely to think that the more gifted you are, the more qualified you are for the ministry.

My little experience has shown me that it is the faithful and loyal people in church who are most qualified to be leaders.

Friendly and Flashy!

An inexperienced person would think that a friendly brother would make a good pastor. He may also think that someone with good oratory skills would make the best preacher. Do not make that mistake. The Bible teaches us that the cardinal requirement for leadership is faithfulness and not anything else.

it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

1 Corinthians 4:2

I have many wonderful pastors who work with me. Many of them are not overly friendly, flashy or particularly gifted. But time has proven that they are the best gifts that God has given to His church and me.

2. To fight the 5th column

Very early in my ministry I realized that the devil is an expert at destroying the church from within. If you are a good minister, called of God and doing the right things, the devil will have very little opportunity to fight against you from outside. Like Jesus said,

the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

John 14:30

You will realize that Satan often does not have the occasion to launch deadly attacks against you from outside. Jesus was saying that though the enemy was coming after him, he did not have any grounds to destroy him. There are many anointed preachers in this same category. Satan has no basis for which to overcome them so he has to use someone from within. In the case of Jesus it was a traitor (Judas) whom Satan used.

I recall reading the story of an army general who surrounded a large city with the aim of conquering it. This city was heavily fortified with a high and imposing wall and gate. The army general surrounded the city in readiness to attack.

One friend of the general came along and asked him, Sir, how do you think you are going to overcome the defenses of this city? No one in recent history has been able to conquer this great city.

The army general smiled and said, Its my 5th column. Im depending on them to do the trick.

The generals friend was very interested and asked, What is this 5th column? I thought you only had four columns.

The army general replied, I do have a 5th column.

Oh, I see. Is it a special commando unit or are they airborne paratroopers? the man asked.

I Will Fight from Within

The general laughed, No, its none of these. My 5th column consists of my spies, agents, friends and supporters who are already within the city. You just wait. They will open those big gates from within and my armies will rush in.

This is the only way the enemy can destroy a successful and powerful ministry that is doing all the right things. It has to come from within. The 5th column comprises the disloyal, double-faced, double-tongued and discontented people within every ministry. If these people are allowed to wreak havoc as they so very well can, they will destroy the church.

I Had a Disloyal Associate

I remember years ago when I started out in the ministry, I experienced the effect of having a disloyal associate. This person although officially standing on my right-hand side, did not believe in me and was murmuring against me all the time.

His home was the meeting place for all the discontented people in the church. Every time they gathered, they would discuss and criticize me. At times, they would talk about the way I preached. At other times, it was the way I sipped water in the middle of my sermons. Yet again, some felt I was not friendly enough. But the Lord revealed all these things to me. I prayed about it and asked the Lord what to do.

God told me, Get rid of that guy.

I said, Lord, do you mean he must leave the church?

And the Lord said, I mean exactly that! Dismiss him otherwise you will never have peace and your church will never grow.

So I called for a meeting of the elders of the church. At the meeting I said, I realize that Brother X is not in support of me. Hes constantly full of bitter criticisms.

I said to Brother X, I know that you do not believe in my leadership anymore. I trained you. I brought you up. And today you are too big to remain under my authority.

I asked, What do you think we should do?

Then the brother said, Lets work things out.

But the Scripture that the Lord had shown me came floating up to my mind.

Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.

Proverbs 22:10

I spoke up, pointed to my assistant and said, You know as well as I do that its not going to work. You dont believe in me anymore.

I went on, From today, I have relieved you of all your duties in this church.

He sputtered, What! Then he said, I will continue coming to church even though I may not have certain responsibilities.

You Must Leave This Church Now!

But I said to him, No! You must leave! You are not part of us. Your presence in the church will only be destructive.

I tell you, it was no easy thing to dismiss a friend and associate of many years. But it had to be done. The Bible tells us that when Abraham was in conflict with Lot he directed Lot to go somewhere else! Abraham was saying, If we are apart there will be peace and the work of God can go on.

A disloyal person breeds strife, hatred and murmuring. These disloyal sentiments are like smoke that fills an entire house. The only way to get rid of the smoke is to get rid of the fire.

If we want to have a large church, we need to minister with love and with oneness. If we cannot be one, lets stop pretending. You see, I encourage people to walk out of my church if their hearts are not with me.

He that is not with me is against me

Matthew 12:30

I will beg you to leave, if I have to. I am serious about this. I will even give you money to pay for your transportation and snacks as you leave us! So that those of us who love one another and are confident about each other can stay together and continue working.