Common Sense

A news report is talking about a children's writer who is in trouble for telling a child to take her clothes off. He insists that they were in a public setting and there were so many people around that it was obvious that he was kidding. Regardless, the school system has cancelled his other appearances.

I don't know if this was said in jest or not, but I wonder if he has ever heard of Don Imus. One must be careful about the comments that one makes, and this is just not something that should be said by an adult to a child.

Ministers must be careful today about the things they say, and the things they do. When I began my pastoral ministry in 1981 no one thought anything about a pastor visiting in the home of a woman or being behind closed doors in a counseling session. That is not the case today. Several years ago I made the decision to not be alone with a woman who was not my wife, and a few years later I decided that I would also not be alone with a child of either gender. If I had an appointment with a woman I made sure my wife was in the proximity of our office and that our door was cracked open. A better option now would be to install a window in the door that would enable a person to see anywhere inside the room.

Some judicatories offer Clergy Misconduct Prevention training, and I would highly recommend every clergy person to go through that training. The suggestions made in the training is all common sense stuff, but we need to be reminded of those things from time to time. If we let down our guard we may find ourselves in a position where we cannot defend our actions, and we may find ourselves involved in situations that will end our ministries and create other problems for ourselves.

I encourage everyone to find a Clergy Misconduct Prevention training session that is being offered and attend. Set down with your spouse and set some common sense guidelines and boundaries that will protect your reputation and keep you from making choices that could lead to problems. Watch the words you say to others to ensure that nothing you say might be misunderstood and cause offense. Let's use the common sense God has given us to ensure a long and productive ministry.