Speaking of Purity and Ministry...

I am heading to the western part of the state this morning to speak with some student/youth pastors. I have been asked to speak specifically about sexual sin and my pastoral commitment to purity. When I spoke about this topic many months ago in Worship, a pastor friend in the crowd approached and asked me to come and share this with other pastors under his care.

This is a serious issue for all of us, pastors and laity alike. Since this topic was on my mind again this morning, in prep for later today, I thought I would re-post this covenant. If you want to use, borrow, or steal any of this, go for it. Leader, do whatever it takes to keep you faithful to Christ and free from sin.

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Knowing that any sex outside of marriage is a sin against my heavenly Father, I establish and commit to the following boundaries/pathways/guidelines that I hope and pray will help me maintain a pastoral promise of purity before Almighty God and faithful to Amy Lynn and my children. This is my pastoral promise to purity:

1. I will keep my relationship with Christ front and center, remembering that any sex outside of marriage is a sin before Almighty God.
2. I will keep my relationships with Amy Lynn and my children the highest priority of my life.
3. I will remain keenly aware of the fact that any form of sexual sin and adultery can ruin my marriage, bring shame and hurt to my children, devastate my calling as a minister of the Gospel, destroy this church, and bring harm and shame to the larger body of Christ.
4. From this day forward, I will not offer counseling to women. There are other women on our team who can counsel and if they are not qualified for the particular situation at hand, we will pay for the newhoper to get professional counseling outside the walls of newhope church.
5. I will not talk with another woman about my marriage, unless it is to praise Amy Lynn and/or discuss how blessed I am to be married.
6. I will not participate in or even occasionally flirt with pornography because it is sin (Matthew 5:28), cheapens women, and causes unrealistic expectations.
7. When at all possible, I will not ride alone in a car with a woman.
8. I will strive to make sure my wife and/or assistant ALWAYS know where I am.
9. I will not eat in a restaurant alone with another woman after 5 pm. (A working/ministry related lunch/coffee during “business hours” is the only option available)
10. When at all possible, I will not travel alone in ministry, preferably taking my wife or one of my children with me as I represent Christ and newhope church.

In short, this is my humble and earnest attempt to “Flee from sexual immorality.” (I Cor. 6:18)