The Minister’s Community: Obligations And Opportunities

By Joe E. Trull

While I served as pastor of First Baptist Church in El Paso, Texas, a community crisis arose. Unknown to business and professional leaders of the city, a state senator secretly met with Chamber of Commerce officials to solicit their support for legislation. Two days later the senator introduced a bill that would legalize casino gambling in this community bordering Mexico. Rumors spread that organized crime was involved because this urban sprawl of over 2 million people would be an ideal international location.

What should the minister of the largest and oldest Protestant church do? The risks were real. Powerful business and professional leaders believed casino gambling would be a boon to the city’s struggling economy. The gambling industry mounted an aggressive campaign. Opponents were threatened. I received phone calls suggesting I disappear. Our church did not need a new battle — we were engaged in a major outreach and did not need this diversion.

Nevertheless, the religious community needed to respond. Within a few hours, ministers representing all major Protestant denominations, a Jewish rabbi, and an envoy from the Roman Catholic archbishop met at our church to construct a joint statement. Before that first Friday was over we held a press conference and read a statement signed by all the clergy. The religious community unified to oppose a threat to the moral and social well-being of its citizens.

This incident raises several questions about the minister’s ethical responsibilities to the community in which he serves. Some clergy believe the pastor has only one responsibility — to minister to the members of his flock. His calling is from God to proclaim the gospel and build up the church. All else is superfluous.

In addition, some would reject community service or involvement on the basis of their skewed view of society. “Love not the world” (1 John 2:15) is their theme song, believing any participation in secular activities is a compromise with a culture sold out to Satan and sin.

Richard Niebuhr in Christ and Culture analyzed the struggle of Christians through the centuries to choose between their loyalties to Christ and the demands of society.¹ Although there is evil to be avoided in the world, Niebuhr accurately noted that this isolationist attitude does not reflect the challenge of Jesus for disciples to be positive influences in a morally dark society (Matthew 5:13,14).

One fact remains. The church is in the world, and the world is also in the church. The minister can see the world as a threat or as an opportunity for ministry. It is no accident that all codes of ethics for ministers have included a section listing the clergys’ responsibilities to their community.² (See the article, “A Minister’s Code of Ethics: a Higher Level of Commitment and Conduct” by James A. Reasons. A sample code of ethics is also included.)

To be God’s minister in the world is ethically demanding, for it requires of clergy the dual role of prophet and pastor. The shepherd of God is concerned about community needs and ministry opportunities, as well as public morality. Along with congregation building and pastoral caring, a cleric has a public ministry that is larger than the claims of a particular church.

Basis For Ethical Involvement

Is there a biblical basis for the ethical involvement of ministers in their communities? One of the first revelations of Scripture is that God is the Creator of all that is: “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). But God’s created order did not remain untainted for long — sin corrupted the earth and its inhabitants (Genesis 3). Yet, God, the Creator and Governor of the world, is also God the Redeemer who works and is working to transform the kingdoms of this earth into the kingdom of God (Revelation 21).

This is the major reason ministers must view society as an opportunity for ministry. God has not abandoned the world; neither should the church or its leaders.

The Old Testament prophets proclaimed the need for social justice and community righteousness (Isaiah 1:15–17; Amos 5:21–24). Micah declared, “He has showed you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

The New Testament continued this concern for social justice. Jesus confirmed His intent not to “abolish the Law or the Prophets ... but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). Christians are citizens of a new kingdom and live by a new law — the law of righteousness. Jesus’ disciples are to have a positive influence on a darkened and decaying society (Matthew 5:13–16). As God’s new covenant community, the Christian church is to be involved in doing what Jesus did, for the Lord said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21).

In teaching about an ethical kingdom, Jesus continually challenged the social order of His time.³ Jesus was crucified because He threatened the Jewish and Roman religious and political powers of the first century. He identified with the poor, the oppressed, and the outcasts.

Paul’s realization that all are equal, that “there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28), became a first-century battle cry for breaking down the social walls that divided and destroyed human worth and dignity.

In light of the teaching of Scripture and the witness of Christian tradition, modern disciples cannot withdraw from the arenas of politics and economics by saying that the world is too wicked. Neither can Christians turn their backs on the brokenness in society and say there is no need for the church to minister to any but its own.

In short, the church is to be in the world, where God put it. Conversely, the world of material and spiritual resources is in the church because God put it there. Every minister, therefore, must ask: How can I view my community as an opportunity for ministry?

Community Service

Clergy often have the competence and the professional freedom to engage in community service beyond the demands of the congregation. Public service can be a satisfying but also seductively time-consuming enterprise. A deacon in a nearby church complained that his pastor was spending 20 hours per week as a volunteer firefighter. The problem arose when he told his congregation he no longer had time for visitation.

A minister should never neglect pastoral duties to serve the general public. At the same time, a church usually affirms a minister’s unique opportunity to benefit the community. A wise pastor will make sure church duties never take a backseat to community service.

A minister can serve a community in numerous ways, such as fund-raising, civic speeches, or unpaid service on a public board, council, or agency. The motive should always be love of neighbor and selfless service in the name of Christ. A pastor who has been involved in a positive way in community service will have greater credibility when addressing moral issues.

In regard to service on boards or agencies, the minister must be careful. A minister’s power and influence should be used in the interest of the public as a whole, not for his own advantage or for a preferred few.

Methodist theologian Gaylord Noyce points out that in several respects the clergy serve as chaplains to the society at large. As ministers invoke God’s blessing and offer thanks at meals, let them guard against that bland “civil religion” that implies God’s acceptance of all things American, from labor unions to the Ku Klux Klan.⁴ At the same time, the minister must respect diversity in the audience and refrain from sectarianism. It may be wise to turn down some invitations.

Political Involvement

A remarkable increase in political involvement by clergy began in the 1960s. During the civil rights movement, many local pastors packed their bags and headed to Selma, Alabama, or Jackson, Mississippi, or Washington, D.C. Some sought approval from their congregations; some did not. More than a few were jailed. The antiwar movement followed. Ministers who took part usually came from mainline denominations of a more liberal political persuasion. Conservative ministers criticized this effort as a “social gospel,” claiming that the true gospel of Christ changed hearts, not society.

An amazing turnaround occurred in the 1980s. Led by Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority, conservatives reversed the older evangelical opposition to political social action. A new force called the Religious Right brought fundamentalist American Christianity into politics. Although this movement was weakened by its penchant for civil religion and its tendency to baptize all conservative political views as “Christian,” it did get conservative ministers involved in the political process.

On April 16, 1963, from an Alabama jail a Baptist minister wrote a letter to eight white clergymen who opposed his strategy for bringing racial justice to the South. Martin Luther King, Jr., explained why he had come to Birmingham, Alabama, from Atlanta, Georgia, saying that as Paul went out from Tarsus, “I too am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my particular hometown. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.”⁵ King wrote that his greatest disappointment was with the leadership of the white churches. Expecting to find his strongest support from ministers, instead he found “a religious community largely adjusted to the status quo. ... Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and fear of being nonconformists.”⁶

With this historical overview in mind, what can be said about the ethical obligations of a minister in regard to politics? At the level of Christian citizenship, the church shepherd certainly will obey the law, pay taxes, pray for public officials, and participate in supporting good government. But how politically active should a minister be?

The public sometimes reacts to ministers meddling in community issues by appealing to separation of church and state. Scripture does teach, by implication, that the state should not control the church, nor should the church control the state, nor should either be dependent on the other (Matthew 22:21). However, the First Amendment was never meant to separate God from government, or religion from politics.

Partisan politics is definitely a high-risk avocation for a pastor. Noyce contends, “Style is part of the answer. The minister cannot [be partisan], if his or her way of politicking is primarily to condemn the other side as evil, un-Christian, or vicious.”⁷ Ministers should focus on issues that are clearly moral rather than on partisan positions. Most congregations will support a pastor who takes a courageous stand on the basis of moral conviction.

Clergy who are active in politics should be careful about promoting civil religion. One of the great ethical mistakes of ministers in our day is confusing God and country. Civil religion is dangerous because it assumes that the United States is a Christian nation and Americans are God’s chosen people. The temptation is to align Americanism and Christianity with a certain political point of view. Like Nathan of ancient Israel, the modern prophet of God must keep a healthy distance from the king in order to say, “You are the man!” (2 Samuel 12:7).

Should a minister be involved in organized protests and civil disobedience? In a pluralistic democracy such as ours, many books, films, laws, and judicial decisions will offend Christian moral values. As citizens we can protest in many ways, including picketing, boycotting, and even civil disobedience.

In an editorial in Christianity Today, Terry Muck urged Christians to ask four vital questions before joining an organized protest:

• How serious is the issue?
• How reasonable and clear are the goals of the protest?
• How effective will the protest be and with what side effects?
• What will be the long-range consequences?⁸

A minister should always work for justice. Civil disobedience may be permissible in unique circumstances, but even then it is an exception to the norm of lawful obedience to government. The purpose of such law breaking should be to raise public consciousness, educate, and focus public concern on an unjust law.⁹ (See sidebar, “Is Civil Disobedience Ever Justified?” and supporting article “Confronting the Fear of Controversy.”)

Is it ever appropriate for a minister to endorse a political candidate? Candidates for public office yearn to list the names of local pastors among their supporters to garner support among their constituency. Members may pressure a pastor to do so. In private conversation, a minister is free to share political convictions if she or he chooses. Public endorsement, however, is rarely (if ever) the right thing to do. It alienates members who disagree and is undoubtedly a misuse of the pastor’s position.

One legal note: Given a 1992 ruling,¹⁰ churches should think twice before endorsing or opposing political candidates. To maintain tax exemption, churches and their personnel must not support or oppose candidates for public office.

Public Morality

Richard John Neuhaus is alarmed by what he calls “the naked public square” in America — the practice of excluding religion and religious values from the conduct of public business.¹¹ If Neuhaus is correct, what can contemporary clergy do to influence public morality?

Prophetic proclamation

One obvious way ministers contribute to public morality is through prophetic proclamation. The first response by ministers when confronted with the threat of legalized gambling in El Paso was in their pulpits. On the Sunday following the state senator’s surprise legislation, the pastor of First Baptist preached a televised sermon asking, “Does El Paso Need Casino Gambling?” Other ministers did the same. Congregations listened and community leaders joined the churches’ opposition to the gambling legislation. The El Paso Times claimed that the unified response of the religious community, coupled with sermons widely quoted in the media, were among the major reasons this legislation was quickly defeated.

Although prophetic proclamation involves many risks, the faithful herald of God’s Word will preach on ethical issues because of the needs of people, the demands of the gospel, and the example of the prophets and Jesus. However, before a minister delivers an ethical sermon, adequate preparation is absolutely necessary.¹²

Organized participation

Another way a church prophet addresses public morality is through organized participation in addressing community needs. Why were the various churches and ministers in El Paso able to mount a unified effort against the threat of legalized gambling? One reason was years of cooperative social ministries in the community.

Downtown churches had developed a comprehensive benevolence program that included counseling, food assistance, shelter, job assistance, and literacy classes. Along the international border all churches sponsored mission work, including numerous medical clinics where volunteers cared for the sick. Several worked with orphanages in Mexico. During the winter, clothing, blankets, and medicine were distributed across the border. Pastors who led their churches to minister to social needs in the El Paso community earned the right to be heard when a moral issue arose.

Genuine love motivates the church to engage in social ministry and social action. A minister must lead his congregation to recognize and meet human need in the community. Many of Jesus’ parables are reminders that Christian ministry often begins with those outside the church (Luke 10:25–37; 16:19–31).

Moral leadership

For the church to be a moral lighthouse in the community, the minister must be a moral leader. The issues are seldom simple. The pastor may hear two voices when faced with an issue of public morality. One voice is that of the prophet, who calls for a faithful witness; the other is the pastoral voice pleading for church unity. An ethical pastor never allows the possibility of controversy to muzzle his moral responsibility. Nevertheless, he also has a mandate to nurture the growth of the congregation.

According to Richard Bondi, the minister as a moral leader must live on the edge but remain connected to the center. There is movement and vitality at the edge where the church confronts society. The safe center is a place of power and stability, though it is often isolated from moral struggles in the world. “Leaders who live only on the edge become detached from their communities and unable to lead, whereas leaders who commandeer the center can end up protecting its interests from the dangerous opportunities of the edge.”¹³ The pastor must learn to live with one foot in the center and one foot on the edge — without falling flat on his face.

Ultimately, for a pastor-prophet to lead a church into community ministry and social action, certain essentials are needed. First, there must be freedom in the pulpit for the Spirit to speak through God’s messenger. At the same time, a minister is also part of a covenant community and always represents that larger body. Pastoral care of church members is always a top priority. The basis for social action must always be theological, not the latest political or social fad. In addition, the needs of people in the community have a claim on the pastor as they did on Jesus in His ministry.

Legal Responsibilities

Ours is an increasingly lawsuit-prone society. Gone is the day when churches and preachers were immune to legal action. Government agencies are scrutinizing churches for tax law infractions. Clergy malpractice suits are increasing. Allegations of clergy sexual abuse by priests and pastors have brought multimillion-dollar lawsuits against both Protestant and Catholic groups. Conferences titled “The Church and the Law” are listed on the program of most major denominational meetings. Although this brief overview simply defines the areas of concern, extensive materials are available.¹⁴

Lawsuits brought against churches and ministers usually involve allegations in one of five areas: counseling, sexual misconduct, defamation, breach of confidentiality, and child-care issues. The term malpractice means falling below the established standards of conduct for a particular profession. However, with our diversity of religious groups and with our doctrine of separation of church and state, there are no established standards for ministers. Nevertheless, clergy malpractice suits are being filed, especially against pastoral counselors.

Should a minister give up counseling for fear of litigation? Ministers who have had little formal training in the field should certainly question their ability to counsel parishioners adequately. Mistakes are sometimes made because a pastor knows neither the basic techniques of counseling nor the legal and ethical obligations.

Oliver Thomas, a lawyer who specializes in clergy malpractice issues, has noted that ministers are not immune from all criminal liability, nor should they be.¹⁵ The rash of lawsuits involving sexual improprieties in recent years should not be defended on First Amendment grounds, for no bona fide religious organization holds beliefs that allow seduction, rape, or other sexual misconduct.

Second in frequency to claims of sexual misconduct by ministers are those involving the publication of false or defamatory statements, usually arising out of church disciplinary proceedings. Like the press, churches and clergy enjoy a qualified privilege in regard to defamation, if the communication is made in the exercise of ministry and without malice.

Another type of ministerial misconduct suit involves the disclosure of confidential communications and other private facts. A pastor should inform all counselees that confidentiality may be broken if doing so (1) would prevent a person from harming himself or herself, (2) would prevent a person from harming others, (3) prevent a crime, or (4) is required by law.

Child care is a sensitive area in the courts today. A mother brought suit against a Memphis church and its staff, claiming that her child had been sexually molested in the day care center. The case dragged on for 5 years. The church was finally exonerated of all charges, but the legal fees alone cost the congregation over $500,000.

Attorney William Colbert told participants in the Church and the Law Conference at Stetson University that church leaders should take several preventative measures including: written policies, safeguards against hazards, parental consent and waiver-of-liability forms, appropriate church-owned vehicles and drivers, reference checks on all employees and workers with children, and adequate insurance coverage.¹⁶

Yes, social action and ministry in the community are risky. But the modern minister cannot retreat and turn the church into a medieval monastery where he simply conducts spiritual activities. The church’s spiritual leader has a unique opportunity — indeed, a biblical mandate. As both pastor and prophet, the contemporary clergyperson must be God’s minister in the community as well as in the church.

—Joe E. Trull, Wimberly, Texas, is editor of Christian Ethics Today and pastor, Baptist Church of Driftwood. From 1985–99 he was professor of Christian ethics at New Orleans Baptist Seminary. He is the author of Walking in the Way: An Introduction to Christian Ethics, and coauthor of Ministerial Ethics.

Endnotes

1. H. Richard Niebuhr, Christ and Culture(New York: Harper & Row, 1951). For a contemporary analysis of Niebuhr’s thesis as applied to the church today, see Joe E. Trull, Walking in the Way: An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1997), 81–102.
2. For a representative compilation of early and contemporary codes of ethics for ministers, see Joe E. Trull and James E. Carter, Ministerial Ethics: Moral Formation for Church Leaders, 2nd Ed. Revised and Expanded (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2004), Appendices B, C, and D.
3. See John H. Yoder, The Politics of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1972) for the proposal that Jesus’ public ministry was primarily a political statement.
4. Gaylord Noyce, Pastoral Ethics (Nashville: Abingdon, 1988), 168.
5. Richard Bondi, Leading God’s People: Ethics for the Practice of Ministry (Nashville: Abingdon, 1988), 73.
6. Every minister should read the entire Letter From a Birmingham Jail, which many claim is equal to a seminary education. See Martin Luther King, Jr., Why We Can’t Wait (New York: New American Library/Mentor, 1988), 76–95.
7. Noyce, 166.
8. Terry Muck, “Holy Indignation,” Christianity Today, 21 October 1988, 14–15.
9. See Trull and Carter, 125–127, for a discussion of justifiable civil disobedience.
10. IRS investigations of Jimmy Swaggart Ministries led to a ruling that his endorsement of Pat Robertson for President in 1986 violated the IRS Code and threatened its nonprofit status.
11. Richard John Neuhaus, The Naked Public Square (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988).
12. See Trull and Carter, 128, for a discussion of resources for preaching on ethical issues.
13. Bondi, 17.
14. For a fuller discussion of these areas and a resource list, see Trull and Carter, 130–134.
15. Oliver Thomas, “Clergy Malpractice After Nally vs. Grace Community Church: Where Do We Go From Here?” (A paper delivered to the University of Virginia Law School, 1991).
16. Jacqueline Kersh, “Attorney Cites Measures To Cut Church Liability,” Baptist Press Release, 31 May 1989.