Jon Petts

Category: Career & Calling

  • Spiritual Defilement: The Enemy’s Tactic When All Else Fails

    Spiritual Defilement: The Enemy’s Tactic When All Else Fails

    Another Inside Job

    Over the past few weeks we have watched the enemy try to distract us from the mission, sow doubt in our hearts, pull us into the pit of despondency, and drive a wedge of division between us. Finally, we approach a topic none of us believes will happen to us: spiritual defilement.

    Before we look at our final tactic, let’s acknowledge that this list of five “D’s” is not exhaustive. The Devil’s Playbook is thick. We haven’t even touched on his plays of fear, which paralyses a leader’s potential; shame, which convinces us to hide from God; or guilt, which tries to anchor us to a past that Jesus has already forgiven. The enemy has a vast arsenal, but by learning how to spot the strategies in this series, you will develop the spiritual discernment to recognize the rest.

    Last week, we looked at division. That was our first look at an “inside job”—a strategy where the enemy uses our own people to crack the structure from within. But what happens when an organisation, a marriage, or a church is so focused, so faithful, and so united that they refuse to divide?

    The Playbook has one final, devastating internal play: defilement. I place this as a last resort, although it may not always be so. However, in the case study we’ll examine here, it was the enemy’s final weapon against God’s people who seemed impervious to being cursed. We’ll see how Balaam was unable to even speak against Israel, but he didn’t give up there. He infiltrated the ranks with defilement, dilution and desecration.

    If division is about cracking the structure, defilement is about rotting the foundation.To understand it, we can look at the strange, cautionary tale of Balaam the “mercenary prophet.”

    The Consultant Who Sold the “How-To”

    In Numbers 22–24, a Moabite King named Balak is terrified of the rising power of Israel. He does what many desperate leaders do: he hires a high-level consultant. He brings in Balaam, a famous Mesopotamian diviner, paying him handsomely to put a spiritual “hex” on Israel.

    But there’s a problem.

    Every time Balaam opens his mouth to curse Israel, God hijacks his tongue. In Numbers 23:11-12, Balak complains,

    “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!”

    Balaam tries three different times from three different mountains. Three times, the “external attack” completely fails.

    At this point, most stories would end with a victory. And as a preacher, this goes down well: You’re un-curseable! Whatever angle the enemy tries to hit you with his lies, he cannot win!

    But in the Devil’s Playbook, if you can’t defeat an enemy from the outside, you defile them from the inside. Balaam’s story doesn’t end here.

    Equally, the Devil is relentless.

    He won’t give up.

    But now we can see inside his playbook, we know what to do and he is fighting a losing battle.

    The “Balaam Counsel” – Spiritual Sabotage

    While Balaam couldn’t curse Israel with his words, he provided King Balak with much more dangerous counsel.

    The “secret sabotage” wasn’t fully revealed until Numbers 31:16 and if you think I’m pulling ideas from a random story buried in the Old Testament, you’re wrong. Later in Revelation 2:14, where Jesus Himself warns the church:

    “You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality.”

    Balaam essentially told the enemy,

    “You can’t fight them on the battlefield; God is protecting them. So, just invite them to your parties. Send your women into their camp. Get them to compromise their standards. If you can get them to defile themselves, their God’s own holiness will force Him to deal with them.”

    It worked.

    In Numbers 25, Israel fell into a deadly plague at Peor because they traded their distinction for defilement.

    They cursed themselves.

    The Modern Balaam

    The enemy’s goal with defilement is to take what is “holy” (set apart for God) and make it feel “common” (just like everything else).

    The Balaam counsel rarely arrives as an outright demand to abandon your faith. Instead, it often sounds like an advisor assuring a Christian business owner that tweaking expense reports isn’t lying, but merely playing the game, convincing them they can have both God’s blessing and the tax loophole.

    In ministry and leadership, this counsel justifies toxic, cut-throat ambition under the guise of “holy hustle,” where leaders adopt ruthless, secular corporate structures to run a church under the delusion that the ends justify the means.

    In our personal lives, it manifests as the slow, gradual lowering of our standards regarding the media we consume or the gossip we entertain, all rationalized away as simply staying culturally relevant.

    In organisational leadership, this phenomenon is known as “cultural drift.” It is the slow lowering of the bar until your prophetic voice sounds exactly like the surrounding secular noise.

    Consider a modern parallel to Balaam’s strategy: a thriving, faith-based charity is offered a massive, multi-year grant by a secular corporate sponsor. The sponsor doesn’t ask the charity to renounce its faith, they merely suggest the charity “soften” the biblical language on their website and invite the charity’s leaders to a corporate gala that conflicts with their core ethical values, just to “keep the relationship strong.”

    Like the Israelites at Peor, the organisation is invited to the party, the boundaries are blurred for the sake of financial reward, and the foundation is quietly desecrated from within.

    We can see the devastating, macro-level effects of this drift when we look at our own history. Many of the most prestigious universities in the UK were originally built on a solid Christian foundation, established explicitly to train leaders and pursue truth through the lens of Scripture.

    Today, that foundation has been almost entirely lost. They weren’t conquered by an external enemy; they simply underwent centuries of slow dilution, trading their theological distinction for secular approval, academic funding, and cultural relevance until the original mission was completely forgotten.

    Three Vital Lessons from the “Outsider” Prophet

    Balaam’s life offers three stark warnings for modern readers about how defilement takes root:

    1. Gift vs. Fruit

    Balaam proves that you can possess authentic spiritual gifts, sharp intellect, and high-level skills without having spiritual character. Jesus warned in Matthew 7 that we would recognize false prophets not by their gifts, but by their fruit.

    This is a vital distinction because in business or ministry, we often mistakenly hire for “skill” (the gift) only to get fired for “scale” (the lack of character).

    The enemy loves a highly gifted leader with a hollowed-out heart.

    If you’ve ever had to work under a leader like this, you know exactly how hard it is. It creates a toxic environment, leading to constant frustration and ultimately pressuring you into doing things you know aren’t right, just to keep the peace and keep up the pace.

    2. Manipulation vs. Submission

    It is crucial to clarify that Balaam was not an Israelite. It can be tricky for modern readers to wrap their heads around someone completely outside the covenant “seeking God,” but as a recognised diviner, Balaam had genuine access to the unseen, spiritual realm.

    But he “sought God” not to find the truth, but to find a loophole.

    He repeatedly asked God if he could go with Balak, hoping God would eventually change His mind so Balaam could get paid.

    Although we are part of God’s New Covenant, nothing like Balaam in that way, there is still the temptation to treat God in a transactional way rather than coming to him in reverence.

    While we are sons and daughters and can enjoy beautiful intimacy with God, he is not there to be manipulated. True seeking is about aligning your will with God’s.

    “Balaam-style” seeking is negotiating with God until He gives you a “yes” for a bad idea, treating prayer as a business transaction rather than an act of submission. 

    3. The Mercenary Mindset

    The New Testament writers Peter, Jude, and John all remember Balaam as a man defined by greed. Jude 11 says they

    “have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error.”

    He was a mercenary who sold the “how-to” of deception to the highest bidder. 

    Ultimately, if your “book of business” or your ministry is built on profit at the expense of purpose and purity, you are running the Balaam play. You might get the “fee,” but you will inevitably lose the “foundation.”

    And when you lose the foundation, everything built on top of it is living on borrowed time. A business or life built on compromise will eventually collapse under its own weight. If we have skyscraper faith for a towering legacy that impacts nations and generations, we must first build on firm foundations.

    Putting profit and personal gain above God’s plan is no foundation for a lasting legacy.

    The only legacy Balaam left is being remembered for his error.

    A close-up shot of a businessman in a dark suit with a loosened tie, holding a glass of whiskey with ice at an evening event. He is looking down and listening intently to a female colleague with long wavy hair who is speaking to him closely. The background shows a dimly lit, upscale social gathering with blurred city lights.
    The Balaam Counsel in action: The enemy rarely attacks from the outside when he can subtly invite you to lower the bar from the inside.

    The Counter-Play: Protecting Your Distinction

    While we’ve seen above the errors Balaam made, it’s equally important to recognise how to stop the “slow defilement” and actively live out Romans 12:2:

    “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

    For me, it requires more than just good intentions. I need a structural “Firewall” around my soul and around any organisation I am part of.

    Here’s how:

    1. Audit the “Counsel” (The Voices)

    The Balaam trap relies on the voices you invite into your inner circle. If your primary advisors are people whose only metric is profit or speed, you will eventually mirror their values.

    Perform a quarterly audit of your “Kitchen Cabinet.”

    Are your closest advisors those who encourage you to hold the line of holiness, or are they subtly teaching you how to “seduce the system” for a quicker win? 

    If your council lacks a “prophetic check,” you are vulnerable.

    2. Identify the “Peor” Moments (The Temptations)

    “Peor” is rarely a mountain-top temptation. It is usually a mundane invitation to a “party” where you eventually feel comfortable trading your identity for acceptance.

    Map your week.

    Where are the moments you feel the internal pressure to “soften” your language, compromise your integrity, or blur your ethical boundaries to “keep the peace” or “win the contract”? These are your Peor moments. 

    Name them. Pre-decide your response so you aren’t negotiating in the heat of the moment.

    3. Seek His Face, Not His Permission (The Heart Posture)

    Let’s not treat prayer like a business transaction. “Balaam-style” seeking is trying to twist God’s arm into a “yes” for a bad idea.

    Adopt the “24-Hour Cooling Off” rule. 

    When a high-stakes opportunity arises that feels “grey,” refuse to act until you have spent a full, silent period in prayer without asking for a specific outcome. Let peace be your guide.

    Here’s a good prayer: “Lord, does this align with Your Kingdom, or am I building my own?” 

    If you find yourself hunting for loopholes in the Great Commission, you know you’ve stopped seeking His face!

    4. Build the “Firewall”

    Defilement thrives in the absence of structure. If you do not have a defined standard of “holiness,” you will be dragged down to the standard of the culture.

    Establish three non-negotiables for your life and work that you will never trade, even if the reward is massive. When you have a hard line, the enemy’s invitation to “just a little compromise” loses its power. 

    Examples of some of my “Firewall” non-negotiables:

    • I refuse to use over-exaggeration to win people over or to make things sound better in my life than they already are. If I can’t back something up with real experience or fact, I’d rather be honest than risk the credibility of the Kingdom I represent.
    • I keep a 24 hour Sabbath every week. That means anything that ‘feels’ like work is off-limits on that day. This builds a wall against the anxiety that drives “holy hustle” and reminds us that the world spins perfectly well without our constant intervention.
    • I won’t make promises I can’t keep. If it’s in the diary, it’s happening. If I’m unsure, I won’t guarantee my presence. When I do show up, it’s because I’m 100% available to be fully present. I won’t promise finance I don’t have. I won’t borrow money unless I know how I will pay it back.

    Maybe you have your own non-negotiables. These are just 3 of mine that came to mind as I write this. When you know where the boundaries are, you’ll know when you’ve crossed them! 

    Conclusion: The Race Marked Out

    We have completed our interrogation of the Devil’s Playbook.

    • Distraction tries to stop you starting.
    • Doubt tries to stop you believing.
    • Despondency tries to stop you feeling.
    • Division tries to stop you standing.
    • Defilement tries to stop you being holy.

    But remember the scripture we started with: We are not unaware of his schemes. 

    By identifying these “Ds,” you have already taken the first step toward victory. 

    You are a leader called to love God, love people, and make disciples. 

    You have the power of the Resurrection behind you.

    As we established in the introduction to this series, our ultimate counter-play to every one of these tactics is found in Hebrews 12:2: 

    “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” 

    STAY CONNECTED: Sign up to my mailing list, as the new book, The Devil’s Playbook, will be announced there very soon!

    About Jon Petts

  • When Your Lateral Career Move is Actually a Divine Setup

    When Your Lateral Career Move is Actually a Divine Setup

    The Move

    You are staring out of the window on the morning commute, looking at your schedule for the day, and wondering if any of it actually matters in the grand scheme of things.

    In Christian circles, we often talk about “calling” as if it is a booming voice directing us to a dramatic, sacrificial life. Meanwhile, in the real world, most of our major life decisions feel decidedly unspiritual.

    • We relocate to secure a place in a better school catchment area.
    • We take a lateral career move because the pension scheme is better.
    • We network with people we do not entirely agree with because it is commercially strategic. (*cringe*)

    At the end of 2023, I found myself in a similar place. I had handed in my notice, sensing a profound prompting that it was the right time to leave my current employment. I had absolutely no idea what was coming next. It was simply a step of faith for both my wife and me, letting peace, and the counsel of those around us, be our guide.

    With just three weeks to go before my final day, a text message arrived. It was an invitation to cover for an absent teacher. The catch was that it meant leaving the beautiful South Coast of Devon UK and relocating to the north of England (also beautiful in its own way!).

    In many ways, while I always look to see God’s hand at work, it felt like a purely practical, logistical career decision. Logistically it wasn’t an amazing choice as I had to stay in our my in-laws’ spare room for what turned out to be 18 months. Love ’em to bits but not an ideal situation for any of us!

    But the point is, that temporary cover was a catalyst for a life upheaval.

    It is easy to look at our pragmatic, spreadsheets-and-mortgages lives and worry that we have somehow sidestepped the grand adventure God had planned for us.

    A closer look at one of the more obscure characters of the Old Testament suggests something entirely different:

    Often, your most calculated, practical logistics are exactly what God is using to set the stage for something historic.

    A Biblical Lateral Career Move: The Pragmatic Entrepreneur of Judges 4

    If you read Judges 4, you will briefly meet a man named Heber the Kenite. The Israelites were in a state of national crisis. For twenty years, they had been brutally oppressed by a Canaanite king named Jabin and his ruthless military commander, Sisera. The Canaanite dominance was built on terrifying military technology: nine hundred iron chariots that dominated the flat plains. 

    The situation was so desperate that God raised up a prophetess named Deborah and a general named Barak to lead an unlikely, under-equipped Israelite rebellion.

    And buried in the text of this story we meet, Heber, a ‘Kenite’ usually glossed over in sermons and Sunday schools. The Kenites were traditionally allied with Israel. But Heber made a controversial decision to relocate. The text gives us the exact geographical logistics:

    “Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law, and pitched his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.” (Judges 4:11 NIVUK)

    Heber had left the Kenites. For some reason that grabbed my attention.

    Why would he leave his family and pitch his tent by a prominent landmark near a major trade route? The historical clues point to a classic business move, further confirmed by his subsequent networking:

    “…there was an alliance between Jabin king of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite.” (Judges 4:17 NIVUK)

    I’m told (by Google, obviously) that the name “Kenite” has linguistic roots linked to metalworking. It’s not stretching the narrative to assume this particular Kenite did work with metal, as we will see from some of the items in his tent.

    But first, note that King Jabin (the Canaanite ruler brutally oppressing the Israelites) built his military dominance on 900 iron chariots. Is it possible that Heber essentially moved his family to the ancient equivalent of a booming tech hub to secure highly lucrative government contracts?

    We know he was successful because of the details hidden in the Song of Deborah in the following chapter. When his wife Jael later entertains a guest, the text highlights the sheer wealth and professional standing of their household:

    “He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk. Her hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman’s hammer.” (Judges 5:25-26 NIVUK)

    Heber had acquired the luxury goods of the Canaanite elite (“a bowl fit for nobles”) and possessed the heavy-duty artisan tools of a master contractor (“the workman’s hammer”).

    He thought he was just making a smart lateral move. He found a neutral location, secured a lucrative market, and built a comfortable life for his family.

    The Illusion of the Secular Strategy

    Had Heber spent years under that tree at Zaanannim congratulating himself on his political savvy and business acumen? He had after all built a safe, neutral bubble in a volatile world.

    But God had other, deeper plans.

    When the Israelite army finally clashed with the Canaanites at the River Kishon, God intervened. A sudden torrential downpour turned the battlefield into a swamp. Sisera’s terrifying iron chariots were instantly bogged down in the mud, rendering his military advantage completely useless. 

    The Canaanite army was routed, and Commander Sisera was forced to flee on foot. Exhausted and running for his life, he spotted the landmark tree and remembered the business treaty with Heber’s successful household:

    “Sisera, meanwhile, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite…” (Judges 4:17 NIVUK)

    He stepped into the tent expecting diplomatic immunity. Instead, he walked precisely into the trap God had been setting for years.

    Heber provided the logistical framework, but it was his wife, Jael, who possessed the clarity and bravery to act.

    She did not need an army.

    She took the very tools of her husband’s commercial success (the high-status bowl to lower the commander’s guard, and the heavy workman’s hammer from the business) to deliver a definitive victory for Israel, just as the prophetess Deborah had foretold.

    “But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.” (Judges 4:21 NIVUK)

    Am I Heber?

    Sometimes we can divide our lives into the “spiritual” and the “practical”. We think our church involvement is the spiritual part, while our career moves, house purchases, and professional networking are just the practical necessity of paying the bills. 

    I think Heber’s story dismantles that divide. It tells us that God is the master of repurposing our logistics.

    When my wife Andrea and I look at our own recent relocation, something about this story rings true. That initial temporary cover in the North of England led to further work. And after an excruciating 18-month separation, we finally sold our house in Devon, and Andrea was able to join me (thank you, Lord). We still had to live with family for a while but we have now finally bought a new home and are settling into a church that our adult kids were already part of. 

    I sense we have been divinely relocated for a purpose we have not yet fully seen. So I’m choosing to see this story as prophetic for us as a couple. The logistics of the move might have been driven by the tools of my trade at the time, but I believe God uses the practical moves of one partner to position the other for extraordinary impact.

    Re-evaluating Your Logistics

    We tend to divide our lives into the “spiritual” and the “practical”. We think our church involvement is the spiritual part, while our career moves, house purchases, and professional networking are just the practical necessity of paying the bills.

    Heber’s story dismantles that divide. It tells us that God is the master of repurposing our logistics.

    • That job you took just because the hours suited your family better.
    • That neighbourhood you moved into purely because the property prices made sense.
    • Those professional skills you have spent a decade honing in a distinctly secular environmen.

    You might think you are just managing a career, but you might actually be setting the stage. God routinely uses our most ordinary, self-interested decisions to place us (or our families) in the exact geographical and professional locations required for His purposes.

    Four Ways to Repurpose Your Professional Life

    If you want to stop feeling like your 9-to-5 life is a spiritual waiting room, it is time to look at your practical logistics through a different lens. Here is how to start:

    1. Map your “Zaanannim”

    Acknowledge where you are right now. Take a piece of paper and write down your current practical logistics. Note your office location, your neighbourhood, and your kids’ school gates. Stop apologising for the practical decisions that brought you there. Acknowledge that God has allowed you to pitch your tent exactly there for a reason, even if that reason is not yet visible.

    2. Audit your “workman’s hammer”

    What are the professional skills you use to pay the bills? Project management, cleaning, financial forecasting, cooking, corporate communications, or contract negotiation? Stop viewing them as purely secular tools. They are assets for the Kingdom. Dedicate them to God today so they are ready to be picked up when a moment of crisis or opportunity requires them.

    3. Look for the hidden “alliances”

    Who are you networking with? Heber had an alliance with King Jabin. You might be interacting daily with clients or colleagues who share none of your values. Do not assume you are compromising just by being in the room. You might be the person God is keeping in place for a future intervention, a moment of grace, or a crucial shift in workplace culture. Yes, your presence can make a difference to the atmosphere in the room.

    4. Prepare for the divine interruption

    Sisera arrived exhausted, desperate, and completely unannounced.

    The Kingdom of God rarely sends a calendar invite.

    Be spiritually awake enough in your daily routine to recognise when a standard Tuesday afternoon suddenly turns into a divine appointment. When the moment walks through your door, have the moral clarity of Jael to act.

    5. Look for the shared calling

    If you are married, pay close attention to how your career moves impact your spouse. Do not assume a relocation is just about your paycheck. Your lateral career move might actually be the logistical setup for your partner’s greatest season of kingdom impact. Pray about it together.

    6. Let peace lead your logistics

    When I quit my job, I had no backup plan, only peace. Sometimes God asks you to leave a space before He reveals the destination. Do not be afraid to step out in faith. The text message that changes everything might only arrive three weeks before your deadline.

    Your current position is not a compromise. It is a setup. Be ready.

    Who is Jon Petts? Find out here...