The scandal of our MPs' expenses continues to dominate the headlines and conversations in the UK. Each day brings fresh revelations of systematic abuse and downright dishonesty. It has even reached the Speaker of the House of Commons, who is facing calls for his resignation (the first in over three hundred years).
In these past days, as the reputation of our elected representatives and even Parliament have been torn to shreds, I have been reminded of the wisdom that was drilled in to me when I came into ministry almost twenty five years ago. It came from my friend and fellow worker Bryan Shutt. He sat me down and told me the importance of integrity and transparency for any leader of God's people. He told me about the three Gs: three areas where the devil attacks leaders, and which need to be dealt with.
The three Gs are: Girls; Gold; Glory.
Girls: the man of God has to keep himself morally pure in the way he behaves towards ladies (the same is true for a lady in leadership in her behaviour towards men). Far too many servants of God have fallen morally, or been accused of improper behaviour. That is why we have strict codes of practice concerning the counselling of the opposite sex, for example.
Gold: leaders have access to money, lots of it. It's very easy to become wealthy on the backs of God's people. Again, we here at All Nations have financial systems where every penny spent has to be approved and accounted for. No leader has an expense account; we don't even decide what we are paid. Our accounts are audited and subject to Charity Commission investigation. These are steps we consciously took to be seen to be transparent.
Glory: pride was the issue of Satan's rebellion and fall. Once we replace the glory of Jesus as the sole motivation of our ministry with the promotion of the ministry itself, that ministry is finished. It's all about Jesus. All we have is from Jesus and for Jesus. Ministry brings prominence and in some cases, fame. That is a good thing, and a man like Billy Graham is an excellent example of a ministry who exists for the glory of Jesus (in fact, he scores high on all three Gs).
I'm grateful for what Bryan instilled into me as a young man starting out in ministry. By the grace of God, they have kept me and many other people in ministry, who live by the same principles. In these days when confidence in our government, our politicians, our banks and financial systems, have all been shattered, it's vital that the credibility of Christian leaders is seen to be the real thing.
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