4. Don’t lie to us about finances.
If you turn in your mileage for reimbursement, make it accurate. When turning in expense receipts, make sure they are what they claim to be. And if some of the items are questionable, err on the side of conservatism.
Ten years from now, you will have none of the money the church paid you for expenses. But if you can look back with a clear conscience and know you did right, that confidence is worth more than gold.
I once knew a pastor who served on a denominational board which required him to fly to a distant city several times a year, with the board covering all his expenses. When the church leadership discovered that he had also been turning in those same expenses for the church to reimburse him, they quietly sent him on his way.
They could abide the occasional boring sermon or uninspired leadership, but dishonesty in finances crossed the line.
He who is unfaithful about money can be counted on to transgress in other, bigger ways also (see Luke 16:10-12).
Give us pastors whose integrity is blameless.
Let us take seriously Christ’s honor, the people’s respect and our personal integrity to the point that we always do the honorable thing.
May we who are called to shepherd the Lord’s people so live that if someone is looking for dirt to use against us, they will have to hire people to lie about us.
“Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. But some men … rose up and argued with Stephen. And yet, they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly induced men to say, ‘We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.’ And they stirred up the people. … And they put forward false witnesses” (Acts 6:8-15).
Falsehood belongs to the attackers of the faith, not its citizens nor its defenders.
Let’s get this right, preachers. Everything depends on it.
Everything.
