A small error in the beginning is a great one in the end.
Thomas Aquinas

Perhaps you have read this far with a sense of relief: no drug problem, your initial pastorate went smoothly, nobody yet has tried to take your scalp, you get along with your co-workers, and the family appears content, even if they do grumble some now and then.

Maybe mistakes are for other, less fortunate, leaders. You've scanned the horizon without sighting any torpedoes.

Beware the barnacles!

Most of us aren't spectacular in our error. For every sudden fiery wreck exist numerous slow sinkings brought on by years of negligent maintenance. A popular Christian writer divorces, and people everywhere register shock. Twenty drained pastors quietly resign, and it is hardly noticed. Yet in either case, the damage is considerable.

Or a minister pockets part of the offering — and creates a stir. But many other ministers slowly deplete their spiritual substance — and cause a wider loss. The insidious mistakes can sink us almost ...