II Timothy 3:2 says, "The overseer must be above reproach."
I just thought it might be healthy and helpful to share some of the accountability measures that we have put in place for me as Lead Pastor of National Community Church. With some of the writing and speaking opportunities that have opened up in recent years, my life is much more complicated than it once was. But I think it's a good complication as long as there are healthy boundaries in place.
Being above reproach means having well-defined boundaries that we are held accountable to. I never want to do anything to compromise my calling at NCC so I submit my speaking opportunities to our stewardship team. I decide what invitations to accept. But I am alloted 30 speaking days. That helps me in two ways. First of all, it helps me say no. And that is something I have a very difficult time doing! And it keeps me accountable. I'm grateful for the opportunities to influence the kingdom of God at large. And I don't take it for granted. I want to make sure I'm a good steward of every opportunity.
The other policy we've instituted this year is that we pay a lump sum of money back to NCC to cover personal incidentals. For example, our staff helps me book travel for speaking engagements and they have shipped out thousands of books. And I realize that I get an honorarium or royalty from those things. So we pay back the church so there is never a conflict of interest. Our Stewardship Team estimated the number of hours and calculated the pay back amount.
As NCC gets larger, the stakes get higher. And it means you better pay attention to the little things. All the enemy wants or needs is a foothold. And part of the reason we've put these measures in place is simply because I'm human. None of us is ever beyond temptation. But hopefully healthy and holy boundaries can keep us one step removed from temptation. And they help keep our lives in balance!
I just thought it might be healthy and helpful to share some of the accountability measures that we have put in place for me as Lead Pastor of National Community Church. With some of the writing and speaking opportunities that have opened up in recent years, my life is much more complicated than it once was. But I think it's a good complication as long as there are healthy boundaries in place.
Being above reproach means having well-defined boundaries that we are held accountable to. I never want to do anything to compromise my calling at NCC so I submit my speaking opportunities to our stewardship team. I decide what invitations to accept. But I am alloted 30 speaking days. That helps me in two ways. First of all, it helps me say no. And that is something I have a very difficult time doing! And it keeps me accountable. I'm grateful for the opportunities to influence the kingdom of God at large. And I don't take it for granted. I want to make sure I'm a good steward of every opportunity.
The other policy we've instituted this year is that we pay a lump sum of money back to NCC to cover personal incidentals. For example, our staff helps me book travel for speaking engagements and they have shipped out thousands of books. And I realize that I get an honorarium or royalty from those things. So we pay back the church so there is never a conflict of interest. Our Stewardship Team estimated the number of hours and calculated the pay back amount.
As NCC gets larger, the stakes get higher. And it means you better pay attention to the little things. All the enemy wants or needs is a foothold. And part of the reason we've put these measures in place is simply because I'm human. None of us is ever beyond temptation. But hopefully healthy and holy boundaries can keep us one step removed from temptation. And they help keep our lives in balance!
6 Comments:
I lover this post Mark! I think it's easy to lose sight of being "above reproach" as our schedules get busier and busier. It becomes the norm to cancel a lunch with an accountability partner because you have a scheduling conflict or fail to show up at a meeting with other church leaders because it's going to kill your schedule.
My schedule has been growing like crazy lately and I needed this reminder today...thanks Mark!
From someone who works alongside you, I want to say thanks for being a leader who goes above and beyond to live above reproach. Thanks for setting a great example of integrity and for modeling financial responsibility with the opportunities God has given you!
This is the problem I have with what I call "SuperStar Christianity". As our culture has become more and more oriented around celebrity with the absurd expansion of media in the last 100 years the Church has unwittingly jumped on that wagon. The role of "pastor" as we now know it is NOTHING like what we see in the Bible. We have given ordinary people an extraordinary amount of POWER. We have massive "churches" that are, in most cases , to most people "cults of personality". Evangelism is DEAD as Pastor John Doe wants us to bring people to the next series where the band plays on and he does everything but preach and confront SINNERS with the Gospel and the enormous COST of discipleship.
Read John 15: 18-27 and think about the MASSIVE ministries crowning each American town and think about just how many slaves are now somehow reaping a much better time of it than our Master did. We get slaps on our backs by the city fathers.... he got stripes on his.
Great post as always. Do u have any thoughts on what a pastor can do to stay accountable morally?
Ewald,
One of the personal boundaries I've placed in my life, and this is descriptive not prescriptive, is that I'm never alone with a woman besides my wife. Occasionally, I'll have meetings with female staff. Or I'm caught in a situation I cannot control. But I'm very careful about trying to set boundaries that are one step removed from temptation.
Hope that helps.
Mark
Jud and Amber,
I definitely believe God wants to use our personalities for His glory. You can see it in the New Testament writers, but personality cults are certainly dangerous. I think you can even see it addressed in I Corinthians with Paul and Apollos. So thank God for our unique personalities, but I think we need to guard against it. One way we try to do that at NCC is via a teaching team. I think it's healthy for people to hear different voices.
On the massive sides of things, I'm going to suggest that we need larger churches that are reaching far more people. Think about it, 3000 were baptized on the day of pentecost. That is massive! But we need to grow smaller as we grow larger by the way we structure. At NCC we do that via small groups.
Thanks for the comment.
Mark
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