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As Christian leaders, we must read the Bible, do what God teaches us to do and examine everything we are asked to do in the light of the Word.
When we do these things, we prove to God how much we love and obey Him and His Word. Now there is no doubt that the Lord blesses those who take His Word at heart and desire to do His will.
God’s will is that His ministers preach the gospel to make disciples of all nations, baptize them and teach them to keep Christ’s commands.
But how should ministers preach and teach? Should they serve without checking their behaviour and motive whether they are good or bad?
Certainly not! In our preaching and teaching, we must conduct ourselves well in the sight of God and men; we must serve in the manner worthy of our heavenly calling.
We must not be men pleasers, deceive the saints, lord it over them, exploit them, force them to respect us, deny them the truth of God’s Word to lead them astray and fail to pray for them.
“But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts” (1 Thessalonians 2:4).
These were the words of Paul to Christians in Thessalonica. And these words are written to us too. As ministers, we must refrain from deceiving people and pleasing them by what we do.
We must please God, and always remind ourselves that we will not be judged and rewarded by man, but by God who sees everything we do. Thus, Paul encourages us to preach the truth and avoid giving sweet talks.
Many have made it their habit to preach and teach messages that excite and meet the expectations of people rather than God. Paul warns us against this.
“For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed – God is witness” (1 Thessalonians 2:5).
All these remind us that, as servants of Christ Jesus, we must learn to show integrity in our ministries to honour the name of God and avoid criticisms from our opponents.
To achieve this, we need to serve with the exhortation the apostle Paul gave to Titus when he wrote: “But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.” (Titus 2:1).
The apostle did not end there but continued to instruct Christian leaders to “show yourself in all respect to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us” (Titus 2:7-8).
To show integrity in the context of this teaching is to show honesty, character, goodness, morality, virtue or righteousness in ministry.
It is to demonstrate sound judgment, clear conscience with right motive while ministering to God and humanity.
We can demonstrate integrity in our preaching and teaching when we consider the worthiness of the offices in which God has placed us, and live above reproach by obeying the commandments of Christ Jesus.
By James Quansah
