The 3 Temptations Every Leader Must Confront: Overcoming the Love of Money, Sex, and Power
When I first encountered Timothy Keller’s book Counterfeit Gods in my early twenties, it was as if a light had been turned on in a room I didn’t know was dark. Keller’s words exposed how easily the heart bows to the idols of money, sex, and power—how even noble ambitions, like the desire to lead, can become distorted when they cease to serve God and begin to serve the self. That book didn’t just challenge my thinking; it quietly reordered my loves.
Every leader will face them: money, sex, and power. Not as crude moral failures, but as subtle spiritual distortions. They are not just temptations; they are counterfeit gospels—each one promising salvation in a different form.
Money says, “I will keep you safe.”
Sex says, “I will make you whole.”
Power says, “I will make you significant.”
And yet, each of them lies.
The world applauds leaders for pursuing success, influence, and growth. But what few realize is that leadership itself magnifies temptation. The higher you rise, the easier it becomes to justify compromise. You tell yourself you’re not being self-indulgent, you’re just “protecting the mission,” “rewarding hard work,” or “carrying the burden no one else can.” But somewhere along the way, you stop leading from dependence on God and start leading to secure yourself.
The ancient idols have simply learned to wear business attire and ministry language.
1. Money: The Idol of False Security
Most leaders never think of themselves as greedy. They see themselves as responsible. Prudent. Faithful stewards of the resources God has entrusted to them. But beneath that admirable diligence can lurk something dangerous: the belief that money guarantees safety.
Money becomes the measure of whether the work is “blessed.” Leaders tell themselves that a strong bottom line proves God’s favor. When giving dips or markets shift, anxiety flares—not because the mission is failing, but because control feels like it’s slipping away.
The subtle danger is not in possessing wealth, but in finding identity in stability. You begin to depend on what’s predictable rather than on the Provider. Financial growth becomes a barometer of faithfulness, when in truth it may simply be feeding fear.
Scripture reminds us that “You cannot serve both God and Mammon.” (Matthew 6:24) Jesus didn’t say it would be difficult to serve both—He said it would be impossible. The love of money whispers that with enough in reserve, you can finally rest. But the gospel whispers something far better: you can rest now, because your Father knows what you need.
Generosity becomes the great rebellion against this idol. When you give first—when you lead with open hands—you reassert who your true provider is. It’s not the market, the donor, or the customer. It’s God.
2. Sex: The Idol of False Intimacy
If money tempts leaders through control, sex tempts them through loneliness.
Leadership is isolating. You stand at the top of an organization, a team, or a church, admired by many but truly known by few. You carry secrets you can’t share and burdens others don’t see. Over time, that isolation begins to ache—and in that ache, temptation whispers: You deserve this. You’ve earned this. You need this to feel alive again.
But sexual sin—whether acted out in private fantasy or public failure—is rarely about pleasure. It’s about trying to fill the void of not being known. Leaders under stress reach for intimacy without vulnerability, affirmation without accountability, pleasure without permanence.
It is, at its root, an attempt to escape.
Yet sex cannot carry the weight of the soul. What we really long for is connection that affirms our humanity—not as performers or achievers, but as people loved without condition. That kind of love can’t be earned or purchased; it can only be received.
The gospel meets leaders in that lonely place with stunning grace: You are fully known and fully loved. You don’t have to seduce or succeed your way into acceptance. Christ’s affection satisfies the hunger that drives you toward false intimacy.
Chastity, then, is not repression; it’s redemption. It’s the refusal to let your body tell a lie about your soul. It’s saying with your life, “I am already loved. I don’t need to take what God has already freely given.”
3. Power: The Idol of False Control
Of the three temptations, this one may be the most deceptive, because it disguises itself as service.
Leaders crave power not always to dominate, but to protect—to hold things together, to ensure things are done “right.” But beneath that desire for excellence is often fear: If I don’t stay in charge, everything will fall apart.
That is not faith; it’s idolatry in disguise.
Power promises significance—the illusion that you matter because things depend on you. It makes you indispensable in your own eyes, which is precisely what makes it dangerous. You begin to believe that your voice, your vision, your leadership are essential to God’s work.
But Jesus offers a radically different vision of authority. “The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them… Not so with you.” (Matthew 20:25–26) Greatness, in His kingdom, doesn’t climb upward—it bends downward.
True power is not about control but surrender. It is cruciform. Christ wielded the greatest authority in the universe, and He expressed it by washing feet. The cross remains the truest picture of leadership the world has ever seen: divine strength poured out in sacrificial love.
When leaders embrace that posture, their power becomes healing rather than harmful. Authority turns into service. Ambition becomes stewardship. The throne becomes a towel.
The Gospel That Redeems All Three
Each of these temptations—money, sex, and power—is not just a moral danger but a theological one. They distort our picture of God.
When leaders idolize money, they doubt His provision.
When they idolize sex, they doubt His love.
When they idolize power, they doubt His sovereignty.
And in every case, the gospel answers with the cross.
At the cross, Christ gave up wealth, intimacy, and authority—not because they were evil, but because we had made them ultimate. He became poor so we could become rich in grace. He was forsaken so we could be known and loved. He emptied Himself of power so that our authority could be redeemed.
That’s the pattern of the Christian leader: crucified ambition, resurrected purpose.
When we lead from the cross, money becomes generosity, sex becomes covenant love, and power becomes service. Leadership itself becomes worship—an act of grace rather than self-assertion.
Because in the end, the greatest temptation in leadership is to believe you can lead without divine grace.