Leadership & Morality

I wanted to share a portion of an email I sent to Living Hope's staff and elders today. It was my response to hearing about another pastor who resigned his church last weekend due to a moral failure. I think it's a good reminder for all of us!

I take this stuff very seriously and try to put multiple layers of accountability into place to prevent this sort of thing from happening to me. I want to encourage you all to do the same thing. Satan would love to upset our momentum by defeating one of us with this sort of thing. I honestly believe the more our church grows, the more our staff/elders will be attacked with temptations like this. We must be clear-minded and vigilant.

--Don't assume you're above a sin like this. If you're thinking that right now, you are putting a huge target on your back for Satan to hit.

--Eliminate or severely limit your one-on-one meetings with the opposite sex (not just in church, but in the other areas of your life as well). If I need to have a meeting with a female, I bring Jamie or one of the kids with me. If that's not possible, I meet in a very public place like Starbucks, which is usually pretty crowded (and even then, I make sure Jamie's aware that I'm having said meeting).

--Install accountability software on your computers (like X3WATCH). Monthly reports of any questionable internet activity I might have are sent to Jamie and my former pastor, Joe Wilson. I obviously don't want to have that difficult conversation with Jamie, and I know for a fact that if it ever becomes a problem Joe will get on a plane and come to Dixon and publicly kick my butt. I haven't slipped up in this area in several years, but let me be honest with you all---it's not because I haven't been tempted. Occasionally there are days that the only thing keeping me from looking at questionable content is knowing I have that software installed on my computers. My point is this: know your weaknesses and deal with them!

--Date your spouse regularly and give them the attention they need. If you don't, someone else might!

--Stay close to God! Don't let a day go by where you haven't spent time in prayer and/or the Word.

You know I love leaders and I especially love Living Hope's leaders. It breaks my heart when leaders fall. Join me in doing whatever it takes to make sure one of us doesn't become the foothold that Satan needs to hurt God's work here in Dixon.

I love you guys!!!