Who Is the Apple Full of Worms?

"He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm." (Proverbs 13:20)

Okay, so how do you know that the individual you see in a leadership role in the church is a "fool." Especially when you are new to the church. There will always be people in a church who seem to have your best in mind, but in reality they only desire to tear you down and see you fail. So, how can we as leaders better know who is the fool and who is wise?

I have heard some stories of pastors who put their trust in some individuals only to find out that when the going gets tough those individuals begin to turn on the pastor. Now, I don't believe their is any type of "smell test" for those individuals who will stink in the future, but as I have mentioned before I think one the of the main focuses we can to avoid this type of individual is to put our total trust in God and not the people around us. What I mean by this is that we need to ask ourselves this question, "Why am I doing this?" The "this" in that question can be ministry in general or a specific type of ministry. But the why should be the most important part of that question. Am I doing this for God's glory, my own glory, to increase the population in the pews, or because someone else wants it done?

"He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm." How do we know who is wise and who is foolish? There is one test that always works with apples. An apple may look ripe on the outside, but once you take a bite you will know whether the inside is good or full of worms. An individual's character will always come out with time.