Thursday #2: Response to Ethics

Oh how much questions can help us.  I think so many of these ethical issues could have been solved if the poor minister involved had asked a few questions at the start of his job or situation.  I know that at my internship this past summer, before I was given a church credit card I was told the basic policies, and then I asked questions about anything questionable that came to mind.  Before I would take a student out for lunch, I made sure that my lunch was also a part of that budget as well.  Assuming I didn't have an ethical opposition to the church's policy, if my actions were to come into question, I could be confident that they lined up with the authority of the church.

But what do we do when we haven't asked the right questions beforehand?  I think in this case, we have to stick with the idea of being "above reproach."  That is, what we do is so ethically pure, that no one would even call our actions into question.  I think sometimes this could result in us spending money we shouldn't necessarily have to, or getting the short end of the stick so to speak, but from there we know what questions to ask in the future.  In the ministry, being perceived as something is just as bad as being it.  We don't have to practice shady financial habits to get into trouble with the body.  The body just has to think that we are engaged in less than ethical practices and it might as well be true.  When in doubt, we have to take a step above what could even possibly be called into question.