SHOULD CHRISTIANS STUDY ETHICS FOR MINISTRY (3)

By James Quansah, Pastor

WE HAVE been discussing the necessity for Christians especially leaders to study ethics for ministry. A question is often asked as to how a Christian minister can offer sound guidance in ethical situations if he is ignorant about what God considers morally good and ethically acceptable. When a minister studies ethics, he is exposed to deep knowledge of ethical principles and standards with which he can serve others to make Godly decisions.
 
Various valid points have already been raised in the previous editions including the fact that the study of ethics helps Christians especially pastors to know how to conduct their lives and order their priorities in relation to their assistants, women, visiting ministers, giving and receiving gifts, church service and others. In fact, ethics is important for everything in ministry.
 
Paul, the apostle, was an ethical Christian leader who knew how to relate with different people.
He studied it, knew it and lived it. Thus, he could advice Timothy on how to relate well in the church. Paul wrote to Timothy, “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.
 
According to Orera Matata, “adults are mostly regarded as the married group. Ages vary for marriage from twenty-four to over thirty. Adults, like the youth, have their own problems and happiness raging from marital to parental. They are normally enthusiastic to discover new things and feel the need to progress in all areas of their lives. In some situations, they find themselves at a crossroad and may seek assistance. Whether a couple is Christian or not, church pastors are the first to be contacted for assistance.”
 
The study of ethics also stimulates a person’s moral growth. Ethics provides a standard by which one can measure his own moral development. In the light of this standard the individual may see what he or she ought to be in terms of what he or she is. This creates a tension and discontent, driving him or her toward the goal of perfection which God demands of his children.
 
Thus, Richard Gula notes that “if there is any profession where the medium and the message are so closely tied together, it is ministry. We judge the effectiveness of ministers in terms of the congruence of their beliefs, personal life, and performance with the Christian message. The moral character and virtues of ministers are revealed in their moral responsibilities they assume and in how the act…so the first step in constructing an ethical framework for pastors is to give careful attention to character.”  
 
It is, therefore, not surprising that most organisations and associations including ministerial councils and churches have developed ethical codes to guide their practices. The codes which are developed based on the teachings of the Bible serve as the standards of ethical behavior. For example, the National Association of Evangelicals notes that “Ethical success or failure can make or break a pastor’s ministry.
With a desire for pastors to make sound ethical decisions and to flourish, the National Association of Evangelicals developed the NAE Code of Ethics for Pastors designed to provide a consistent code of ethics that crosses denominational lines.”
 
It is important to reiterate in conclusion that ethics plays an important part in the Christian ministry. Firstly, Asiedu-Amoako points out that the study of ethics prepares the mindset of a person to avoid common errors of ethical reasoning. A person imbued with ethical knowledge will, for example, shun the error of reducing Christian morality to a mere set of rules.
 
Secondly, a  minister of the gospel ought to be informed about the fact that he is a member of the community of believers who are described in Scripture as the light of the world (Matthew 5: 14-16); the whole world lies in darkness (1 John 5:19). With this knowledge, the Christian ought to be greatly informed about the thing which gives him light in making good decisions.
 
Moreover, it is important to study ethics because the teaching of Jesus, the Head of the Church, by which Christians live their lives, is ethical as well as theological. The study of ethics also helps Christians especially pastors to know how to conduct their lives and order their priorities in relation to their assistants, women, visiting ministers, giving and receiving gifts, church service and others.
 
It is not surprising that several theological institutions have been teaching it to prepare ministers to live up to expectation. Thus, most churches and Christian associations and councils have developed ethical principles and standards to make sound decisions in accord with the Word of God.
 
The worth of ethics cannot be underestimated. It should guide Christians to make judgment in every moral situation. However, it must be pointed out that studying ethics is useless if those who studied it do not live by it or fail to make ethical decisions. Samuel B. Adubofuor is, therefore, right when he writes, “So then ethics should help choose the most reasonable course of action in any particular moral situation.
 
He continues that, “But the mere study of ethics does not necessarily make us good men or women, much in the same way as the study of Political Science does not make us good statesmen or politicians. So, apart from knowledge and reason, there are other incentives and forces that predispose a person to take a particular course of action against what he knows to be good.”