Ministering with Integrity—Does Character Count?
- Jun 1, 2007
One of the great surprises during my tenure as president of the Southern Baptist Convention has been the contact I have had with various candidates for President of the United States. I have spoken on the phone with several and had personal interaction with several. I’ve spent time with Mike Huckabee, John McCain, and Rudy Giuliani. Other presidential candidates are seeking a meeting of some kind. Obviously, the timing of the election has coincided with my tenure. The fact that I pastor a church in South Carolina, which has one of the first presidential primaries, has no doubt had an impact as well.
During this campaign season, one hears about the leadership characteristics of character, integrity, honesty, and value systems. There is a great deal of discussion about how much character matters to the American people. Some feel that people today do not care about character as much as they once did, and I have to agree. However, even with that agreement, do I believe that it should matter? The answer to that is an unequivocal yes. To put it another way, I believe that character should matter among God’s people. In the sight of God, it certainly does matter! Recent events have called Southern Baptists to a renewed understanding of integrity among leaders. In this issue, there is a focus on many of those types of integrity, such as sexual, ministerial, parental, and financial.
There is much written today about leadership. However, much that is written about leadership comes from a business perspective. While there are many parallels between competent leadership in the business world and in the church world, there are some things that we should emphasize to an even greater extent in the world of the church, ministry, and pastoral leadership.
It would be wonderful if all ministers and leaders were super intelligent. There are several within our convention who bear that mark. It would be great if some were incredibly persistent in their personality. History tells us of the persistence of leaders like Lincoln and Churchill. It would be wonderful if all of our leaders were great strategists such as a Robert E. Lee or Eisenhower. It would be great if all leaders had strong personalities like George Patton.
However, the question that is not asked in many leadership studies is “How did those leaders exhibit the fruits of the Spirit?” A true leader who is a person of integrity and character should exhibit the fruits of the Spirit. The Bible identifies the fruits of the Spirit as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. How is that fruit exhibited in the life of the leader or the minister? Obviously, there are many ways in which the living out of that kind of lifestyle is going to be manifest on a daily basis, and I will share a few.
For example, I believe that goodness manifests itself in a lifestyle of integrity. One of the areas that many ministers seem to see as optional is whether or not to report income that is not easily traced. It is important to know that whether or not one is ever audited by the IRS, there is a daily auditing by the Holy Spirit of God. Are you keeping good records and reporting all of your income?
In the area of faithfulness, one of the ways in which this might be lived out is in a commitment to confidentiality. Are those to whom you are entrusted as a leader able to trust your faithfulness to confidentiality? Do they know that that which is said to you will stay with you? Many Christians seem to feel the freedom to share confidential information as long as it is done within the concept of a prayer concern. God wants His people to be people of faithfulness in every regard.
One of the great fruits of the Spirit is self-control. How we need to see this fruit of the Spirit exhibited in the area of sexual ethics! In a day and time in which leaders are falling left and right, there is a need for renewed vigilance in the area of morality.
As stated earlier, many leaders are expected to be very aggressive, strategically adept, incredibly persistent, and super intelligent. The example of our Lord Jesus shows the living out of the fruits of the Spirit. His leadership was powerful, and the followship was incredible. This occurred because of His ability to show the love of God, the joy of God, the peace of God, and the patience of God in a powerful way. I pray that we will encourage all ministers and leaders to seek the spiritual fruit that God grants to each born-again believer. May we see the fruit of the Spirit become the primary description of our leadership styles.
I believe that character does count! The type of character we need today is the character of our Lord Jesus. That character is expressed powerfully in this list of the fruits of the Spirit. As you look at the list below, does your leadership reflect these attributes?
Leadership Inventory
• Love: a willingness to love people regardless of status
• Joy: a commitment to the task, independent of circumstances
• Peace: a commitment to an inner calling that is unshakable
• Patience: a willingness to see beyond the horizon of trouble and obstruction; a gentle spirit that is kind to those who oppose your leadership
• Kindness: the kind of spirit that children see and are drawn to in an adult
• Goodness: a lifestyle of integrity at every level
• Faithfulness: becoming a person of absolute dependability and consistency
• Gentleness: the ability to be strong at the right time and transparent at all times
• Self-Control: the ability to be angry at the right time and to be exceedingly patient at the correct times
Dr. Page is pastor of First Baptist Church, Taylors, South Carolina, and current president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Further Learning
Learn more about: Faith, Pastoral Integrity