Integrity Matters

     

Discarded and disillusioned, destroyed and disenfranchised, hurt and helpless, angry and abused, there are many words that could be used in an attempt to convey some of the emotions that I have come face to face with over the past several weeks. Yet, none of them will ever even begin to scratch the surface of the deep rift that has been formed and will continue to be formed between leaders and former followers when there is some form of impropriety, and abuse from spiritual leadership. This past week has been an eye opening delve into world of church hurt. Whether there is financial, spiritual, sexual, mental, or physical abuse and manipulation from leaders, they all have equally devastating consequences for both the victim and the perpetrator. 

There must be moral purity within the leadership of a church. If I were to define the term moral purity, I would define it as lacking of blemishes, being morally clean and upstanding, walking after holiness, above reproach. As I look at what has come to light within the world of church leadership, especially this past week, I see the fallout from the direct moral failings of a church leader. Church leaders should conduct themselves in a manner where there is no question of their morality.  Over the past couple of years, as I find myself going deeper and deeper in ministry, I have begun to wrestle with moral purity as it pertains to my personal life and ministry. Around four years ago, I found myself interacting with several friends, and in the process I came to the realization that there were certain aspects of the friendships that I would have to extract myself from, not because there were bad things happening, but because there was the potential for me to find myself in an environment that would reflect negatively upon my ministry and reputation as a minister. As a minister, we cannot afford to have our reputations tarnished with moral failings or even the hint of rumor of moral impropriety. We should be the very epitome of moral purity for our churches, our families and the world around us. We should have the basic boundaries in place to protect ourselves that all christians have, but we as ministers should and must take it even further, and pursue absolute moral uprightness. In his book “Integrity; principles of christian ethics”, Richard Davis states; “Why should we care what others think of us, especially since we cannot directly control it? We do everything within our power to safeguard our reputation because it is a reflection upon the reputation of Christ and His church.”¹

There is also a need for integrity within the leadership of the church. In his book “The Remnant” Larry Stockstill says “In ministry, to have integrity means to be whole and sound. Ministerial integrity thus inspires confidence…”² I have seen firsthand the impact that a minister lacking in integrity has on the people that have been under him. They will always struggle with trusting the ministry, they ruin the confidence in all other ministers for those people. Larry Stockstill in his book also said “My father in law once made a statement that has guided me in the areas of integrity discussed in this chapter. He said, “Integrity is like virginity. When it’s gone, it’s gone.”² We as ministers must use integrity in every aspect of our leadership and personal lives. Because the moment we fail to, we then ruin our reputation and an entire life’s worth of integrity is gone in a flash. 

In my opinion, there is nothing worse than hurt and suffering caused by moral failing and a lack of integrity by church leadership. There are hundreds, thousands, and maybe even millions of people that have been eternally scarred and have potentially had their entire walks with God ruined by leaders who lacked moral purity and integrity. I would hate to one day find myself standing before God, and having to answer for the lives I destroyed by my selfish immoral actions. We must be morally pure and live lives of integrity. 

Bibliography 

1. Davis, Richard M.. Integrity: Principles of Christian Ethics (pp. 136-137). Pentecostal Publishing House. Kindle Edition. 
2. Larry Stockstill. The Remnant: Restoring the Call to Personal Integrity (Kindle Location 650). Kindle Edition.