Ethics and the Church in today's culture

Ethics and Church in Today's Culture

ethics and the church in today's culture: a pastoral perspective

Ethics involves applying universally valued principles such as honesty, fairness, objectivity and compassion to one's behavior. The church is an institution that is perceived as having a high level of integrity and responsibility. The people in its service, including pastors are also highly regarded in the community and carry a great religious and spiritual responsibility in their shoulders. It is imperative that they demonstrate ethical conduct to inspire their community members, more so in an environment where religious intolerance and bigotry are becoming important social problems.

Ethical Conduct and Professionalism of the Pastor

Pastors and ministers of the church bear a very responsible duty towards the welfare of the people in their community. They are under an ethical duty to make sure that they remain healthy and capable of performing their role effectively. They should avoid any such acts that might put their life in danger. Along with physical health, pastors have an ethical duty to take care of their emotional health. Pastors have to perform a role of greater responsibility than other people in society. This greater responsibility may become a cause of stress among the pastors. Therefore, pastors need to be careful about their emotional and mental health as well. They need to avoid taking such stress or anxiety that might prevent them from exercising their role according to the standards set by the Church. The pastors are also ethically bound to take all precautionary measures to guard themselves against disease and to visit a doctor for regular checkups. Pastors should also take part in healthy activities so that they remain physically and mentally fit. They should take care of their diet and their body to avoid any problems in discharging their duties.

Since pastors are required to lead the spiritual life of their community, they are ethically bound to devote time to prayer, study and reflection. In the words of Arnold (1982, p. 86), "to guide persons in their response to God in their lives"

is a major function of the pastor. They need to invest in their own education so that they can guide the people in their community by offering them appropriate counseling and advice. The people depend on the advice of the pastor. Therefore, the pastors have an ethical duty to be well-versed in the Scripture and other religious matters so that they can give the best advice to their community. They should also regularly attend seminars, lectures and conferences to share their learning with other pastors and to learn from them in turn. They should apply their learning to their duty as a preacher and as a counselor so that the community may also benefit from what they have learned.

Pastoral conduct should also follow ethical principles in the professional environment. It is natural for there to be differences in the opinions of several pastors. However, pastors need to differ with one another respectfully and dispassionately because these differences are based on specialized knowledge in an area where ordinary people cannot make judgments. They will rely on what their pastors say. If pastors do not cooperate with one another and emphasize on differences instead of points held in common, it will serve to divide the community and endanger co-existence. Pastors have an ethical duty to cooperate with one another and offer appropriate advice and counsel. Pastors are advised not to view each other as competitors to make progress in their careers. Irrespective of experience, all pastors need to treat one another with respect and their arguments as valid and worthy of consideration. Whether in public or in private, pastors should refrain from speaking poorly of one another. At times, a pastor may be succeeded by another in the church. In such cases, the outgoing pastor should respect the jurisdiction of the succeeding pastor and should avoid interfering in his or her work. The former partner should only participate in the services of the church he or she has formerly served, only if he or she is invited to do so by the new pastor. Similarly, the new pastor should behave ethically and respectfully towards the former pastor upon such visits. Every new pastor should treat former and retired pastors with respect that is professionally due to them. When recommending any pastor to a position in the church, pastors should give honest and unbiased assessments and opinions.

Ethics in Family Life

Pastors are entitled to lead a balanced and healthy life in addition to performing their religious duties. Pastors are ethically bound to devote the necessary time to their personal needs and to the needs of their family. They should not ignore family members and the duties they have towards them. They should strive towards achieving a balance between their service to the church, the community and their duties towards their family. They should spend time caring for family members who are sick or those who need their attention. They should consider the financial, emotional and physical needs of their family members and should discharge them fairly. They should also be sensitive to the needs of their spouse as a marital partner and should not ignore those needs. The spouse also has a role in the Church as an assistant to the pastor and they should also discharge their duties towards them as assistant to the pastor. Pastors should also be sensitive towards the needs of their children and should not neglect their education and moral development. When doing so, they should take care not to put undue influence over them with regard to their goals in life. They should not discriminate among their children on the basis of gender and should treat all children fairly.

The Pastor as a Role Model

Pastors are a role model to people in their community and even people outside the community. As stated by Johnson (2000, p. 146), "Being a role model to other is more than a perquisite of church office. It is required of all those who would follow the scriptural and constitutional guidelines for the conduct of ministry."

Therefore, the pastors are under an obligation to display the highest level of ethical and moral behavior in their dealings with people. They should avoid accepting any personal favors that might cause them to compromise on their duties as a pastor. They should treat people within their community and even people from other religions with fairness and equality. They should not discriminate among people because it goes against the ideals of Christianity. Especially in today's culture, there is a great need for creating understanding and tolerance among various religions of the world. Pastors have an ethical duty in this context to strive for peaceful relations with all religions. While performing their duties as a pastor, they should be accurate in referencing the works and ideas of other pastors and ministers. They should avoid plagiarism and should identify the originator of a work or an idea when quoting them.

While performing their religious duties, pastors are under an ethical duty to act as servant-minister of the church and to follow the example of Christ in their personal conduct and their religious role as spiritual leader of their community. In addition to their preacher role, pastors also have an administrative role to play in the running of the church. They have to manage the finances and other resources of the church. They should perform these duties ethically making sure that accountability is maintained at all times. When pastors have authority over distribution of some resources, they are ethically bound to avoid practicing discrimination among the likely recipients. They should make such distribution fairly and objectively. Pastors being responsible for the moral and spiritual development of the community have an ethical responsibility to engage in a thorough study of their topic. They should prepare a sermon that is well-researched and based on the Scripture so that it bears credibility among the community members and provides guidance and enlightenment to them. They should also make sure that all references are authentic and that quotations from Scripture have been interpreted in the right context. In addition to their preaching role, pastors also perform the function of counseling. Pastors are ethically bound to maintain strict confidentiality of the information that is disclosed to them. In the words of Bush (2006, p. 106), "A duty of pastoral confidentiality is commonly held by many -- clergy and laity alike -- to be generally applicable in pastoral relationships and nearly absolute in its moral stringency."

However, an ethical dilemma may be created if withholding the information from authorities could endanger the life of a person. Therefore, the pastor is under an ethical duty to share information with authorities that he or she is legally bound to and that which could prevent a person from losing his or her life.

The ethical duties of pastors are not limited to their interaction with professional peers. They are also required to fulfill their duties towards the community with utmost integrity and honesty. Their primary duty is that of guiding the spiritual and religious aspects of the lives of their community members. They should give the highest priority to their duties towards the community including church service, counseling and other ceremonial functions required by their profession. As part of their professional and ethical duties, pastors are also required to show an interest in community development and increase their participation in community activities. This has become a necessity in modern culture because people expect institutions to take an interest and an active role in the community development efforts. Institutions cannot expect to benefit from the resources of the society and not give back. This is why business organizations, universities and even political parties make community development a part of their organization's commitment to the society and the people they serve. Religious institutions like the church are also expected to follow this example. The pastor, as leader of the church and the community has to take a leading role in the community development efforts.

Ethical Conduct in Public Life

The pastor has to take an active role in upholding the moral values of society by identifying and discussing issues which endanger the social and moral fabric. The pastor should sensitize people to such issues and encourage them to take steps towards eradicating moral problems from society. Under such circumstances, the pastors should not incite people to take the law into their own hands and should not do any such thing themselves. Professional ethics does not allow the pastor to encourage vigilantism or disrespecting the law of the state to achieve any end. This has become important in current times because people in general have become reactionary and have taken to bypassing the state laws to protect what they perceive as moral and ethical values. The murders of doctors who perform abortions by vigilantes are an example of the social problems that can arise when pastors and other church leaders fail to exercise their ethical duties. This ethical duty can be extended to avoiding becoming involved in political issues and practical politics at any times. They should not undertake any political activity that would create divisions in the community and prevent peaceful relations among the people. If the pastor finds that he or she has to take part in political activities of any sort, they should make it a point to strictly avoid any activity that causes them to become involved in illegal or unethical activities. Upholding this duty is extremely important because pastors have to demonstrate an upright and morally high character so that they may continue to inspire the trust and confidence of the members of their community.

For historical reasons, people involved in politics do not convey such impressions to the public because it is common knowledge that corporate interest and monetary concerns can and usually do influence the decisions people make. Pastors involved in political activities should strive to avoid becoming tainted by any such negative impressions about their character or their activities.

The Cause of the Church and its Administration

Despite being inclusive and accommodating of all people, the pastor should also be dedicated to his or her religious cause and uphold the interests and values of the faith community as required by the tenets or doctrine of the church that they serve. They should acknowledge the respect and well-being that the church and the community has caused them to enjoy and should strive for the progress of their denomination and its religious mission. They should undertake their best efforts to promote the ideology of their denomination and take the message out to the people by attracting them towards the church.

An associate or assistant to a senior pastor is under an ethical duty to respect and obey the instructions and jurisdiction of the pastor. In their eagerness to progress in the church, they should not undermine the authority of the pastor and that of other assistants who share the same position as they. They should strive to their best at serving and following the interests of the pastor of the church. If they feel that they are unable to perform their ethical duties, they should seek to dissociate themselves from the service instead of continuing in their profession without any conviction or commitment. Heward-Mills (2011, p. 434) suggests, "Let your associates be aware that in as much as they are important to you, they are not indispensable."

They should also be respectful to other church officials and ministers taking care not to undermine their authority or expertise. They should also exercise sound judgment in their personal and social lives so that their personal activities do not reflect poorly on their professional image. This might endanger their prospects for career progress in the church and they might even have to leave the profession if a gross misconduct has been reported.

In the current times, means of communication have advanced to a level where individuals may not even know when they are being monitored and their activities exposed to the public. Interactive communication and data capture technologies make it simple for someone to take a photograph and disseminate it to a large number of people. The proliferation of social networking websites in recent years means that people can share information with thousands of people within a few seconds. This can create controversy for the people involved, especially when the people belong to a highly respected profession such as the church. Therefore, pastors should be careful even in their personal lives and should display high ethical standards in their personal conduct. This requirement is even more necessary when the young pastor is involved with someone from the same religious community served by the pastor as it could raise questions about whether professional influence was used to influence the other person.

The pastor is a spiritual guide for the community. In addition, he or she is also required to provide counseling services to the community members and help them resolve their ethical dilemmas and spiritual conflicts. However, no person is equally capable in all areas and it may be equally possible that the pastor himself might need counseling and advice to solve their problems. It is the ethical duty of all pastors to have their own counselor in the church that can help them solve their problems. The pastors should not try to solve a problem for which they feel that they are poorly equipped to solve. Such problems may be problems relating to their own self or problems brought to them by their community members. When a person from the community comes to them with a problem that they feel they do not fully understand or do not possess the mental capacity or resources to help out the person, they should avoid trying to propose help to the person. Such an act would not be in the best interests of the community and should hence be avoided. As stated by Wiest & Smith (1990, p. 71), "Professional self-understanding includes idealistic self-components…and yet is always accompanied by the awareness that no person can altogether surmount individual limitations."

In such a case, the pastor is under an ethical duty to consult a senior pastor for advice. In an alternative case, the pastor may refer the person to an expert who might offer better help at solving the matter.

The pastors are under a strict ethical duty not to exploit clients who discuss their problems with them, either financially or sexually. Clients impose a high level of trust in the pastor and expect their matters and problems to be handled with privacy and confidentiality. Pastors are under an ethical duty to respect these standards and demonstrate high levels of confidentiality and privacy when discussing matters with their clients. They should avoid holding discussions in the presence of a third person or insisting that children or teenagers bring their parents along to discuss their problems. The pastors should be accepting of all those who come to them for counsel. They should not use their personal standards or preferences to judge a counselee or when offering counsel. They should treat all persons fairly and should listen to all their problems objectively and dispassionately.

If the pastors feel that they cannot offer the best counsel in a given case, they should immediately refer the counselee to the best person in their opinion who has an expertise in the area. They should not try to offer an advice in matters that they are not well-versed with. Instead of trying to appear competent, pastors should work for the best interests of their community members by allowing them access to the best counsel and advice. To achieve this end, the pastors should establish links with such experts in the community including psychological therapists, psychiatrists, marriage counselors, lawyers and so on. They should also not consider personal friendships and obligations when recommending one among several therapists or professionals. The foremost obligation is to serve the counselee and the pastors should use objective standards to recommend one professional or the other. If they do discuss a matter with a client, they should do so in private ad should refrain from discussing the matter with other pastors or with people in the community. They should also not disclose information to the family members of the client unless it is a matter that they are legally required to disclose or one that has life or death implications for the client or for any other person.

Just as it is important for a pastor to have a fellow pastor as counsel in time of need, it is equally important for pastors to provide good counsel and sound advice to ministers and pastors who come to them to seek advice. They should provide unbiased and unprejudiced counsel to such fellow ministers and to their family members, taking care to uphold the standards of integrity, confidentiality and privacy at all times. Pastors should also update their skills continuously by attending courses, workshops and training sessions so that they may be adequately prepared to offer counsel to their community members.

Another important ethical duty for the pastor is to refrain from using the opportunity to offer counsel as a means of propagating and imposing religious convictions and doctrines not shared by the counselee. They should avoid saying things that place the counselee under a moral pressure to agree or assent to the religious beliefs of the pastor or the church. This is an exploitative act because it makes use of the counselee in a vulnerable and weak position by the pastor who is in a dominant and powerful position to impress upon the counselee religious views of a certain nature. As stated by Gula, (1996, p. 66), "A significant moral dimension of the pastoral relationship is the inequality of power.

When offering advice or counsel, the pastor may use references from past church service sessions or form Scripture to make a point. However, these references should only be used with the purpose of providing consolation, relief or moral support to the client rather than as a means to proselytize the counselee or to change his or her views. They should also follow this principle if they are in a position where they have to provide advice to a person from a different religion. They should not try to use their influence to affect their religious beliefs. Instead, they should only try to solve the particular problem of the counselee.

At times, a pastor may find himself in the service of the military acting as a military chaplain. In such a situation, the duty of the pastor is to put their religious duties foremost in the mind. They should offer their religious service to the military personnel in a partisan manner. They should avoid questions that may cast doubt in the minds of the military personnel as to the legitimacy of a certain military act. They should act in the best interests of their duty and should adhere to the military code of conduct. They should also demonstrate confidentiality of information that is shared with them as not doing so could endanger the national interests and could also result in a loss of morale in the military unit.

The pastor also needs to pay appropriate attention to his or her main duties of preaching and counseling. The pastor's primary duty is that of the religious and spiritual guidance of the community. Counseling is also a very important part of the pastor's role in the community and church but it does not have to result in the primary duty of preaching to be compromised. The pastor needs to spend hours of religious study and reflection to develop clear ideas that can be shared with the community to guide their spiritual and religious lives. The pastor should allocate specific portions of the available time to study and counseling. In this way, he or she is not obligated to compromise one duty for the other. They should afford the greater priority to study of religious texts so that the development of the maximum numbers can be achieved. Counseling activities affect individuals while addressing the concerns of the wider community is the main responsibility of the pastor. The pastor may therefore, limit the number of hours spent on counseling each day. The pastor may even limit the number of sessions to be spent with a particular counselee. There is also a reduced likelihood of neglecting some cases in favor of others. In this way, the pastor can ensure that there is adequate time for both counseling and study, and that each client or counselee receives equal attention and priority from the pastor.