Pastoral Integrity
The debacle over MPs' expenses must teach Christian workers an important virtue: integrity. As one letter writer to the Times yesterday pointed out (correctly), the MPs' expense guide (the so-called Green Book) states, as the first principle:
"Claims should be above reproach and must reflect actual usage of the resources being claimed."
Therefore, when any "outed" politician has the gall to stand up and say "what I did was within the rules" they are simply not telling the truth. "Above reproach?" I don't think so. It's a salutatory lesson for us. In the olden days when I was a Chartered Accountant, my professional rules (to which I still sign up every year) said that independence was, in effect, not just being independent, but being seen to be independent.
So, I would go one step further. Pastoral integrity is not just about having integrity but about being seen to have it. As I shepherd the flock I must not just think about my actions, but the effect my actions will have on others, even if I consider them defensible myself. This is a heavy burden, but for the sake of unity, holiness, and harmony, one which is worth bearing.
It is essentially 1 Cor 10.24, Phil 2.3 and 1 Peter 5.1-4 in practice.
Go think.
Posts
