Posted: 3/03/06
Imperatives sum up pastoral ethics
WACO—A Lubbock minister summed up pastoral ethics in three simple imperatives: “Follow Christ. Keep your integrity. And be nice.”
Pastoral ethics represents a “widely ignored but badly needed emphasis” in Christian life, Philip Wise, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Lubbock, told an ethics in ministry conference at Baylor University’s Truett Seminary.
Wise suggested pastors establish parameters for ethical behavior by following three principles:
• Follow Christ. Don’t focus on problems or follow unworthy examples, Wise urged. Instead, follow Jesus’ example. “It’s difficult to be unkind and un-Christian when your eyes are on Jesus Christ,” he said.
• Keep integrity intact. Too many pastors surrender to pressures to “avoid controversy, fit in and not rock the boat,” Wise said. Sometimes integrity demands a minister take unpopular stands, he insisted. “When it comes to your personal integrity, no one can take it away from you. You have to give it away.”
• Be nice. Pastors should practice humility, realize they don’t have all the answers and recognize other people’s ideas matter, he said.
“Apply the Golden Rule in relationships with others,” Wise said.
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