Moral Leadership in the Church: a Normative Approach

By Bishop Felix Clarence Orji

In a time of confusion, uncertainty, debate, and division regarding what constitutes right moral behaviour, the subject of responsible moral leadership in the church takes on fresh urgency. But at this critical time of need for moral leadership, too many clergy simply mirror the uncertainty or abnegate the responsibility. This book addresses this anomaly specifically by proposing a normative model for moral leadership in the local church. Pastors and leaders of all Christians traditions will find this book very informative and useful.

The book begins with an overview of the historical, theological and biblical bases for Christian leadership and more particularly, what the moral dimension of such leadership means. Various Christian traditions are surveyed for insights into the character, vision and tasks of moral leadership including the authoritative sources for ethical reflection and moral guidance. Since Dr. Felix Orji is a Bishop in the Anglican Communion, he includes a chapter on that tradition to give a sense of the ecclesiastical ethos in which presbyters must exercise such leadership. This is followed by a clear examination of Scripture in regard to what it tells us about moral leadership. This book ends with a detailed normative model for moral leadership in the church and a leadership training resource specifically designed for such leadership.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781449794712

Bishop Felix Clarence Orji

Bishop Felix Clarence Orji is the Bishop of the Diocese of the West (CANA & ACNA), USA. Dr. Orji is a graduate of Universities of Ife and Lagos, Nigeria; Regent College and Vancouver School of Theology, Canada; and Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, USA. He lives in El Paso, Texas with his wife, Lilian, and their children: Cara, John, Jadon, and Justin.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

List Of Abbreviations

Foreword

Chapter 1

Introduction

Chapter 2

Biblical And Theological Bases For Moral Leadership

Chapter 3

Reviewing The Literature On Moral Leadership

Chapter 4

Anglican Perspectives On Moral Leadership

Chapter 5

Biblical Perspectives On Moral Leadership

Chapter 6

A Normative Model For Moral Leadership In The Church

Chapter 7

Conclusion

Appendix

Appendix   

Training And Development Of Pastors As

Moral Leaders Of The Church

Endnotes

Bibliography

Bishop Felix Orji writes that the ‘major quest of this book is to develop and systematize what God is requiring and enabling Christian leaders to be and to do in their calling as moral leaders of their churches.’ In the context of the ‘moral chaos, loss of moral vision and the abandonment of biblically informed moral leadership,’ this book is timely indeed. I commend this text to the Church.

—Archbishop Bob Duncan

Primate of the Anglican Church in North America, USA.

Faithful moral leadership in the church is urgently needed as members are increasingly challenged as to what following Christ in daily life means amidst the prevailing climate of moral division, relativism, and perplexity. Bishop Orji addresses the vitally important subject in this clear, well researched, biblically grounded work. It calls clergy and lay church leaders to a deeper understanding of this dimension of their ministry and provides an excellent resource for fulfilling that calling.

—Rev. Dr. Terence R. Anderson, Professor Emeritus,

Christian Social Ethics, Vancouver School of Theology" Canada.

"A Biblicist and a Theologian, Bishop Felix Clarence Orji who is a Charismatic Prelate and erudite scholar in this book rings a bell all through that Christianity involves Creed and Conduct. The World is in a state of flux and confusion with moral crisis in the Society and in the Church.

This is a well researched, reference book and a manual for Church Leaders etc who want to toe the path of Biblical Leadership. It is a compendium work which bows to Biblical scrutiny.

The book encompasses the entire range on moral Leadership in the Church from a Normative Perspective.

The book is lucid. The Methodology employed is commendable. Apart from Church Leadership, the book offers excellent resources of very sound Biblical teaching for Researchers, Students, Lecturers, Theologians and Parishioners to broaden their horizon. Those who want to raise the bar of their Spirituality would find this book very useful.

I commend this book for everyone to read, mark, digest and internalize to be blessed and be a channel of blessings to others.

—Archbishop Ephraim. A. Ademowo Ph.D

Diocesan Bishop of Lagos and Dean Emeritus, Church of Nigeria.(Anglican Communion)

The North American Church appears lost in a wilderness of relativism and ethical compromise. Thankfully, Bishop Orji provides Christian leaders a clear way to regain their moral bearings and begin walking true North with the Lord. Dr. Orji masterfully orients us through a comprehensive work that integrates biblical, theological, and historical perspectives in a practical and convincing manner. The Bishop presents, not only a fresh framework for a truly Christian moral compass, but a compelling map for the journey ahead.

—Dr. Steven W. Klipowicz,

Director of Ministry Formation.

Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, USA.

"Divorcing morality from leadership, or selective morality in leadership, seems to be the order of modern living. While such a position may not be alien to biblical narratives, they are usually presented as anti God! The author of the book, ‘Moral Leadership in the Church: A Normative Approach’, Bishop Felix Clarence Orji, exhibits a clear evidence of a worried soul, who observes this trend in leadership, as constituting a serious problem to the fulfillment of the mission mandate of Jesus Christ. The author coming from his own background and churchmanship, Anglicanism, he acknowledges that there is a confusion that is near moral anarchy, evident in this religious leadership and goes ahead to tackle the issue biblically and ecclesiologically, quoting profusely from the Holy Bible, early and modern Christian scholars, to substantiate his orthodox moral position. The work is seen to acknowledge the issue of moral leadership in the church as having no easy answers. Having made attempts to identify the source of these problems as what he calls scientism and modernism, Bishop Felix states that the answers are not in the scientism and modernism, although sometimes, guess-work may be implored to proffer a solution, rather what we need is wisdom, grace, forgiveness, and mercy-no cut and dry solutions and Christo-centric reality of human proclivity to sin. For the author, context and culture are important for both understanding the calling of the leader and for giving a credible leadership. Yet, for these to become tangible, such leaders and community of Faith, need to examine the authority of culture in which they are socialized in order to see what is in their culture or context, that are in accord with obedience to Jesus Christ, that may be preserved, enhanced, strengthened, or set aside and abandoned because such things belong to this passing world/age, not belonging to the new creation in Christ.

The author’s insistence on personal moral responsibility of leaders, perhaps marks this work as unique, and a strong renewed wake-up call to Anglican church leadership, to return to their FIRST LOVE(Jesus Christ). A lot of what is offered as leadership to this church currently is a muddle of ideas in morality that is seen by some within and outside as close to the brinks of amorality! Undue and unbiblical focusing on the needs of people, rather than on the demands of God upon His people, may be contributory to the confusion. Bishop Felix says, ‘Focusing on needs can result in a total disregard for God’s demand that transcends the fulfilling of self-defined needs’. The Bishop goes ahead to present Christ-centred-bible inspired solutions as routes of escaping these sins and impacting our generation with the life cum leadership transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for our systems and structures for a relevant service of obedience to Almighty God.

I highly recommend this work as refreshing to a thirsty world and church perched of moral leadership exemplified in Jesus Christ."

—Archbishop Ikechi Nwosu,

Archbishop of Aba Province & Bishop of Umuahia,

Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)

To Lilian

Friend, wife, and companion in ministry

And

Our children: Cara, John, Jadon, and Justin

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It is very appropriate for me to begin by expressing my profound gratitude to God for enabling me to write this book at this time in my life as Bishop in the Church of God. God has been very good to me, for which I am most grateful to Him.

The seed for this book was sown in my heart by God in my ethics class in Seminary with the Reverend Dr. Terence Anderson. As his student and teaching assistant, I had the extraordinary opportunity to observe Dr. Anderson’s gracious and intelligent lectures, which were Christ-centred as well as socially conscious with regard to the moral life. It was during those years that my love for ethics and the sense of urgency for Christian leaders and pastors to be serious about their role as moral-ethical leaders was kindled. This book is the fruit of what God started then. I am thankful to God for Dr. Anderson’s godly influence and also for his role as my mentor. I am very indebted to my doctoral Thesis supervisor, Dr. Steven Klipowicz especially for his determination to get the best out of me during my studies in the Arrow Leadership Program and Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary.

My sincere gratitude goes to my friends and colleagues, and especially to my wife, Lilian, who typed the manuscripts and also to my children Cara, John, Jadon, and Justin who prayed for their daddy as he struggled through this project. I am grateful to my mother, Mrs Dorothy Orji (now deceased) and Mr. Charles Orji—who instilled in me the importance of moral rectitude and integrity. Their faithfulness and tenacity have borne responsible fruit—to the glory of God.

It is my hope that, through this book, our Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified, that His church will be transformed ever more into His image, and that Christian leaders exercise their role as moral leaders with courage, faith, and sagacity under the authority of the Bible and in the power of the Holy Spirit. So be it.

The Rt. Rev’d Dr. Felix Orji, OSB

Bishop, Diocese of the WEST (CANA/ACNA)

El Paso, Texas, USA.

March, 2013.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ACW   Ancient Christian Writers

BCP   The Book of Common Prayer

BAS   The Book of Alternative Services

BEM   Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry

TDNT   Theological Dictionary of the New Testament

FOREWORD

By

Dr. Terence Anderson

In a time of confusion, uncertainty, debate, and division regarding what constitutes right moral behaviour, the subject of responsible moral leadership in the church takes on fresh urgency. But at this critical time of need for moral leadership, too many clergy simply mirror the uncertainty or abnegate this responsibility. This book addresses this anomaly specifically by proposing a normative model for moral leadership in the local church.

The book begins with an overview of the theological and biblical grounds as to the vocation of pastoral leadership in relation to the mission of the church and more particularly what the moral dimension of such leadership means. Christian traditions are surveyed for insights into the tasks of moral leadership including the authoritative sources for ethical reflection and moral guidance. Since Dr. Felix Orji is a Bishop in the Anglican Church, he examines in particular that tradition to derive a sense of the ecclesiastical ethos in which Anglican presbyters must exercise such leadership. This is followed by a more detailed examination of Scripture in regard to what it tells us about moral leadership in general and the tasks, personal qualities, and methods entailed in faithful moral leadership.

In light of this material, together with current works on the subject, a normative model for moral leadership by Christian leaders in the local church is set forth. With Scripture as the primary authoritative source, a proposal is made as to the nature, goals, and guiding principles for such leadership. Six key elements of moral leadership are explored, including understanding the biblical vision of the moral life that is faithful to Christ and the social context in which leadership is exercised, the moral virtues of a good leader, personal moral accountability, the various tasks of a pastoral moral leader, and the moral significance of the liturgy.

Appendices include an outline for educating pastors and lay leaders for moral leadership in a local church, Endnotes, and a Bibliography.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.

—Martin Luther

The present battle in the church, especially in the mainline churches, rages in the area of what should be considered responsible moral behaviour as well as responsible pastoral and episcopal moral leadership of the church. This book is a positive contribution toward helping Christian leaders to follow God’s mind and to be signs of God’s kingdom and faithful moral leaders in this battle against moral evil in both church and state. Leaders of the church are sent by God and commissioned or ordained by the church to give such godly leadership. For instance, the function of pastors in classical Anglicanism is succinctly stated in the Ordinal of the 1962 Book of Common Prayer in this pungent address to priests.

And now again, we exhort you, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you have in remembrance, into how high a Dignity and to how weighty an office and charge you are called: that is to say, to be Messengers, Watchmen, and Stewards of the Lord; to teach, and to premonish, to feed and provide for the Lord’s family… see that ye never cease your labour, your care, and diligence, until ye have done all that lieth in you, according to your bounden duty, to bring all such as are or shall be committed to your charge, unto that agreement in the faith and knowledge of God, and to that ripeness and perfectness of age in Christ, that there be no place left among you, either for error in religion or for viciousness of life.1 (emphasis mine)

Consequently, O.C. Edwards Jr. correctly represents Anglicanism when he states that the object of Anglican pastoral ministry is the sanctification of the people of God.² The liturgy and liturgical seasons in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer provide numerous opportunities for clergy to carry out this responsibility. But, fundamentally,

The means for performing this ministry are ‘doctrine and exhortation taken out of the holy Scriptures’ and ‘ a life agreeable to the same’. The ordination formula itself describes ‘the office and work of a Priest in the Church of God’ as being that of ‘a faithful dispenser of the Word of God, and of His holy Sacraments."³

Moral leadership is an important dimension of the ministry of Christian leaders, especially pastors and bishops. But, in reality, Anglicanism and many Christian denominations fall short of this ideal picture. Currently, there is great confusion as to what moral leadership is and as to what it means to live and act as a moral community in Christ. And there are a number of reasons for this confusion.

First of all, since the later half of the nineteenth century due to the influence of the growing secularization of society, Darwin’s theory of evolution, British idealism in philosophy, conflict between evangelicals, tractarians, and liberal churchmen, the rise of biblical criticism, liberationist theology, feminist theology, and the pro-gay movement, Christian churches have been steadily undergoing crises in their theology, morality, ethics, and liturgy.⁴ These crises have been reflected in the formation of rival and theologically diverse colleges each of them espousing conflicting theological positions. In Canadian Anglicanism for instance, the formation of the Essentials Movement and the emergence of Integrity (a pro-gay Anglican movement) and Fidelity (a healing for gays Anglican movement) also reflect the theological and moral tensions in Canadian Anglicanism. The publication of a liturgical Book of Alternative Services in opposition to the Book of Common Prayer (1962) and the publication of The Declaration of Anglican Essentials in Montreal in 1994 are other examples.⁵ This crisis is also evident in the issue of blessing same-sex unions that, sadly, is fast becoming the norm in many churches.

For many Christian leaders, moral leadership involves relaxing and abolishing the classical and biblical moral restrictions on human sexual behaviour. For others, it is the opposite.

Second, many leaders do not have a clear theological understanding of what constitutes Christian morality and moral authority in the Church. The notion of the church or its pastors having any semblance of moral authority over the beliefs, the conscience, and the moral life of the individual is treated with extreme suspicion and caution. Stephen Ross White in his book Authority and Anglicanism wrote that . . . on the part of many people in the church there is no longer a living sense of the church as having any moral authority over their lives.

As far as some people are concerned, there is a strong feeling that the church should not have such an authority at all—that the church is there merely to do their bidding and to be there when they want it, and not to rock their comfortable boat by having the temerity to suggest anything about how they live their lives or conduct their personal or business affairs.⁶

Part of the reason for this phenomenon lies in the fact that contemporary Anglicanism has been historically dubious and ambiguous about what may considered distinctly Anglican moral theory.

Paul Elmen in The Study of Anglicanism wrote,

To ask what kind of moral theory and what kind of moral acts are distinctly Anglican is to invite a dubious answer. There is a cluster of possible replies, each heavily dependent or the type of churchmanship of the respondent, on his theological presuppositions, and also on the prejudices buried in the period in which he speaks. There is no uniform Anglican morality in theory, much less in practice. But it is also true that moralism has been a traditional preoccupation of Anglicans, and in each century Anglicans have made a contribution towards understanding the unending ambiguities of translating the love of God into some sort of appropriate specific decision or concrete action.⁷

Anglican morality seems to have focused on praxis and aurea mediocritas, the Golden Mean; that is, the measure of nothing too much. While some consider this laudable, Anglicans have experienced a significant measure of confusion and crises as a result. The increasingly postmodern, pluralist, and individualist milieu of contemporary society has exacerbated this confusion.

Third, some denominations such as Anglicanism celebrate diversity and comprehensiveness. For instance, the Virginia Report says,

One feature of Anglican life is the way it holds together diversities of many kinds. Today, for example, evangelicals, Catholics, liberals, and charismatics bring a diversity of insights an perspectives as Anglicans struggle to respond to the contemporary challenges to faith, order, and moral teaching. It also entails a willingness to contain differences and live with tension, even conflict, as the church seeks a common mind on controversial issues. At best the Anglican way is characterized by generosity and tolerance to those of different views.

However, the report recognizes the danger thereof and is quick to add that

The comprehensiveness that marks the Anglican Communion is not a sign of weakness or uncertainty about the central truths of the faith. Neither does it mean that Anglicans accept that there are no limits to diversity.⁸

Modern Anglicanism relishes its diverse theological and liturgical tribes. Anglicanism loves its vague and tolerant comprehensiveness, especially certain forms of Canadian Anglicanism.

The major reason, however, lies in the fact that most mainline churches in practice have been tentative on the authority and primacy of Scripture in leadership, ministry, morality, ethics, theology, and liturgy. Among many laity, there is clear disregard for Scripture. As a result, these churches have been unable to officially and clearly articulate for its presbyters what biblically responsible moral leadership entails.

All of these phenomena have made it a daunting task for Christian leaders to decipher what it means for the church to live and act as a faithful moral community in Christ in a biblically responsible way as well as what it means to lead the church into a life of moral faithfulness. Hence, they are incapacitated in fulfilling their role as moral leaders.

I. CLARIFICATIONS OF TERMS

The word ethics is used by some scholars when the focus is on the normative, the imperative, the oughtness, and the absolute. But when the focus is on the descriptive, the indicative, the isness, and the relative, the word moral is used.⁹

The call and ministry of the presbyter as a moral-ethical leader is to provide leadership for the church in being and acting as a moral community in Christ, a call which encompasses both the ethical and the moral. Consequently, in this book, both the ethical and moral aspects are referred to as the moral since both dimensions are assumed throughout.

Such leadership involves enabling Christian communities to embody the presence of Christ in the world today, so that we truly reflect the character of the God we profess.¹⁰ To embody the presence of Christ means to live a life of faithful discipleship in Christ. It involves encouraging believers to engage in a disciplined reflection on the question, What is God requiring and enabling me to be and do? It involves examining the morality of the culture in which we are socialized in order to see what of it is in accord with obedience to Jesus Christ and may be preserved, enhanced, strengthened or what of it needs to be set aside because it belongs to this passing age and not to the new creation in Christ."¹¹

Moral leadership entails providing everything possible and necessary for maturity and direction of a church’s moral well being according to God’s standard and will.

In this book, leadership follows the definition provided by Peter Northhouse as a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.¹² Specifically, in Christian ministry, The central task of leadership is influencing God’s people toward God’s purposes, writes Robert Clinton.¹³ Moral leadership in the Christian life and community, therefore, aims at leading people to God and to a life that embodies God in the world. The possibility of movement toward such a destination seems a hopelessly incredible task. Yet we are not without hope, for we move in the company of many others, whose stories give us more than a glimpse of the way.¹⁴

Moral leadership therefore entails the process by which the leader provides the kind of moral and ethical influence that enables the church to live and act as a moral community faithful to Christ in its relationship with the world, with God, and among its members. This implies that the context of moral leadership is internal, which is within the community of faith, and it is external, which is outside the community of faith. Vertically, the context involves God.

Moral leadership is not a separate office of ministry. Rather, it is part of who a minister is and what he or she does. As Richard Bondi notes:

Whatever a minister is, at the heart of her vocation or his vocation is the call to be a moral leader… The minister as moral leader is called to assist the restless people of God in moving ever closer to the destination of their hearts. This destination is not the endpoint of a journey but the way of the journey itself. It is the way shown by Jesus who commanded us to love God and neighbour and gave us a terrifying beautiful example of the lengths we must go in showing that love.¹⁵

Moral leadership is leadership that transforms God’s people into what God wants them to be in Christ—a holy and faithful people whose hearts are filled with faith, love, joy, hope, endurance, and self-control (Galatians 5:22). Moral leadership is not only about the morals of the Christian faith. It is about the ethics and meta-ethics of the faith. The Christian leader as a moral leader is not present just to give moral advice. He or she helps the people of God to reflect on the meta-ethical truths—the narratives, principles, and premises that ground moral truths. He helps the church to navigate the treacherous waters of culture, cult, and Christianity on ethics and morals.

As moral leader, the Christian leader challenges God’s people to a life of personal and social holiness. He challenges them to be imitators of God in the world. He walks with them, encourages them, and prays for them as they struggle to be like Christ in a Christ-less world.

The leader directs attention to the meta-grand narratives of the faith. He tells the stories of our faith and is a genuine model of integrity. He is one who not only equips and enables but who lives it within the community. The moral leader challenges the church to dare to be signs of the kingdom of God in this world. And he is challenged and enabled by the church to dare to be a moral leader by word and example.

The Christian leader is not the only one who plays a role in this. This book, however, focuses specifically on his leadership and his recognition by the people of God.

Leaders in this paper should be understood as pastors or presbyters or priests or Lay Leaders in local churches. Christian Leaders, otherwise known as pastors, priests or elders, called by God and authorized by the Church, are ordained "as ministers of the Word and sacraments, of the discipline of the Church, and as teachers of the Faith. From the beginning, the Presbyterate of the Church has shared and expressed in particular ways the ministry of Christ, who is redeemer, Lord, shepherd, teacher, high priest, intercessor, guardian, preacher, servant and master. The ministry of the presbyter should reflect his call by Christ.¹⁶

The words Christian leader, presbyter, pastor, minister, and priest, although not synonymous, are used interchangeably throughout this book and include both male and female. Followers are to be understood as the church. Both leaders and followers are in spiritual symbiotic relationship with each other and that carries reciprocal implications in matters of moral leadership. There ought to be mutual accountability to each other in this process.

In this regard, the leadership styles and strategies that have been identified are those which enhance the presbyters’ ministry of moral-ethical leadership in and for their parishes as they live out their Christian lives in the Christian community and in their world. There is no attempt to uncritically follow Anglicanism in this book, several examples are drawn from it due the fact the author comes from that tradition. Instead, the book gleans from Scripture, tradition, and reason what constitutes responsible moral leadership.

Tradition is defined in this book as follows.

In Christian thought, tradition refers to the faith, theology, and practice of the community of faith as it has been transmitted… Christian tradition may also be interpreted in a more restricted sense as referring to the dogma and moral teachings formally approved by church through its own recognized polity. These may be expressed in the form of doctrinal statements, moral and social teachings, liturgies, and basic statements of faith.¹⁷

While tradition is important, the central focus is on what the Scriptures consider normative and on how that leadership can be carried out in the church.

II. RATIONALE FOR THE BOOK

In the introduction to his work, The Moral Context of Pastoral Care, Don Browning states pointedly,

. . . there is a moral context to all acts of care… It is important for the minister to recognize this truth because it is his primary task to provide this moral context as a background to his pastoral care and counselling. The major difference between the minister and the secular psychotherapist is that the minister has a direct professional responsibility to help shape this moral universe of values and meanings… The secular therapist does not have, as part of his professional obligation, the task of forming and maintaining the larger moral universe of the society in which he functions.¹⁸ (emphasis mine)

1.   Pastoral Loss of Moral Vision and Lack of Clarity about Moral Leadership

Many ministers have become confused about their role as shapers of and maintainers of meanings. They are aspiring to fashion their ministry more and more according to the model of the secular psychotherapist. The result is a glaring loss of moral vision and moral leadership.¹⁹ This is the state of affairs in contemporary Anglican pastoral leadership. Unfortunately, this is far from the nature of pastoral leadership and care seen from the traditional, biblical, historical, and sociological perspective.

Pastoral care deals with what ministers have done to promote two principal functions: (1) the incorporation of members and their disciplines in the group goals and practices of the Church, and (2) the assistance of persons in handling certain crises and conflicts having to do with existential, developmental, interpersonal, and social strains.²⁰

The commonly recited Anglican prayer entitled A Prayer for All Conditions of Men identifies those two aspects of the pastoral care of believers in the form of a petition. The first part of the prayer refers to the first function noted above.

O God, the Creator and Preserver of all mankind, we humbly beseech thee for all sorts and conditions of men; that thou wouldest be pleased to make thy ways known unto them, thy saving health unto all nations. More especially we pray for the good estate of the Catholic Church; that it may be so guided and governed by thy good Spirit, that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life.

The second part of the prayer refers to the second function.

Finally we commend to thy fatherly goodness all those, who are any ways afflicted or distressed in mind, body, or estate; [especially those for whom our prayers are desires;] that it may please thee to comfort and relieve them according to their several necessities, giving them patience under their sufferings, and a happy issue out of all their afflictions. And this we beg for Jesus Christ his sake. Amen.²¹

The problem in modern ministry is that leaders in their pastoral care and leadership of the congregation do not seem to be paying adequate attention to the first function. The focus has shifted to the second function.

Suffice it to say that pastoral care in more recent times has had more to do with the latter goal than the former…

Counselling in recent times have seldom dealt with the first historical goal (i.e. function) mentioned above, i.e., how people are incorporated into and disciplined in the principal goals of the church.²²

Why does this problem exist? They exist because ministers and theological institutions have not taken seriously the importance of context—the specific Christian-moral-pastoral context of ministry as well as the pervasive impact of society. Browning points out four propositions that explain the larger contemporary context of the church’s problem.

1.   The major contextual fact facing both the church and its pastoral care is the modern commitment to technological rationalization.

2.   Rationalization, rapid social change, and pluralism also tend to give rise to privatism and pietism, or what one might call the split between private and public values.

3.   Certain secular practices of psychotherapy have been of crucial importance for pastoral care in recent times. They have greatly influenced and to some extent altered the ascetic-rational image of man traditionally associated with popular Protestantism.

4.   It is not surprising that modern psychotherapies have given rise to explicit ideologies somewhat at variance with the quasi-official Protestant ethic synthesis.²³

Several churches, because of their concern for cultural relevance, are becoming victims of the cultural imperialism of secular thought forms that are humanistic, experientialist, pragmatic, and relativistic. In fact, on the basis of current attitudes in the House of Bishops, it appears that the majority of many pastors and prelates have embraced the inevitable result of such thought form. The result is moral chaos, loss of moral vision, and the abandonment of biblically informed moral leadership.

The picture is bleak. It is, therefore, of utmost importance to address the moral leadership of Christian leaders in the church.

2.   The Nature of Pastoral Christian Leadership

A succinct statement of the leader’s task is outlined in Psalm 23. David pictures the Lord as the chief shepherd who has made presbyters his under-shepherds who

•   provide for his sheep (v.1,2,5,6)

•   lead his sheep beside still waters (v.2b)

•   guide his sheep in the path of righteousness (v.3b)

•   protect his sheep (v.4).

As under-shepherds of Jesus Christ, pastors are expected to follow in his steps (1 Pet. 5:1-7). A pastor engages in searching, guiding, healing, nurturing, and governing the sheep. Contemporary pastoral theology often defines the pastor’s task in similar terms when it uses the language of healing, sustaining, guiding, reconciling, and nurturing the sheep.

The pastoral task of guiding the sheep in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake involves moral and ethical leadership. In fact, every dimension of the pastoral task involves moral leadership whether it is sustaining, healing, governing, or reconciling. The evidence is in the New Testament, which is replete with moral and ethical direction for Christians and Christian leaders. Paul, Peter, Jude, and others model ethical-moral leadership. They also give pastors counsel on how to handle various ethical issues and dilemmas.²⁴

The time has come for Christian leaders to take seriously the biblical view of Christian pastoral leadership in the area of moral leadership; hence, this book.

3.   The Moral Crisis in Society

Pastors and churches are faced with the moral crises created by what some scholars call hyper-modernity; others call it postmodernity. Or, as David Tracy puts it, a confusing mixture of modernity and postmodernity.²⁵ In postmodernity, the basic presupposition of the possibility of absolutes in the area of knowledge and morals has been dropped. Truths including moral truth are to be sought in synthesis rather than antithesis since every possible position has been relativized.²⁶ It is confusing why this has become the state of affairs. Johannes A. van der Ven gives some reasons for this in the following extensive quotation.

One hears that Western society is in a moral vacuum or even a moral crisis, marked by moral confusion, relativism, laxity, and deterioration. The factors that are believed to be responsible for this state of affairs are situated at different levels of individual and social life. Some blame the decline of the individual’s moral will and convictions. Others see the main cause in the supposed erosion of primary group life within the extended and nuclear family. Still others blame the societal institutions with their oppressive bureaucracies, engendering deep feelings of social alienation and loneliness. Finally, some hold responsible processes on the scale of Western society as such. These processes comprise a cultural as well as a structural dimension. The cultural dimension refers to the epistemologically colonizing influence of scienticism as a worldview that results in a secularization which permeates every part of personal and societal life, dissociating morality from religion and removing the ontological basis of life with pluralizing values and norms. The structural dimension relates to the growing power of the market as the core of Western society and its increasing colonization of other spheres of life. Moreover, the cultural and structural processes influence each other: scientism, secularization, and pluralism reinforce capitalism, and capitalism in turn advances scientism, secularization, and pluralism.

Closely related to these structural factors are some recent events of historic significance. The migration of millions of people to the West from countries of the Third World and the former Soviet Union has led to growing multiculturality and has disrupted what are sometimes held to have been uniform patterns of values and norms in the past. The pulling down of the Berlin Wall, which symbolizes the end to the communist Soviet Empire, is generally interpreted as the victory of Western society’s structure and culture, that is, of capitalism liberalism, and scientism. This victory, however, merely results in the widening and deepening of the already existing moral vacuum of Western society, in that capitalism, liberalism, and scientism do not in themselves entail any connotation of moral beliefs, principles, values, or norms. Associated as it is with declining religious participation and church membership, this victory erodes all moral traces from Western history.²⁷

Moral leadership in our postmodern age has to contend with this phenomena of cultural fragmentation, incredulity about meta-narratives, privatization, eclecticism, and moral relativism, which are characteristic hallmarks of postmodernity. Church leaders in a postmodern context, writes Robin Gill, can no longer assume a common framework within which consensus is possible. This may apply to church leadership both within the churches and in society at large. Plurality is writ large into the postmodern condition.²⁸

More and more, the idea of the authentic, the definitive, has given way to the idea of options, variety, and choices. The interaction of these features has produced a strong sense of moral relativism and abandonment of moral responsibility among Christian leaders.

This state of affairs is summarized by Paul Jersild in his book Making Moral Decisions.

The crisis we face is the loss of common ground for the moral judgments we make. Therefore, the individual reigns supreme when it comes to ethics or moral reasoning. The tradition that has informed and shaped our vision of the good life no longer holds the authority it once did and thus no longer provides convincing support and direction for the conduct of our lives. The crisis is accentuated by the dramatic impact of science and technology, changing our world and the ways in which we relate to each other. The pace of social change, together with the weakening of our moral tradition, heightens our apprehension and uncertainty. Christians have in this unsettling kind of environment, but they also have their community of faith to provide support in meeting these challenges. While one might expect this community to provide a clear and coherent moral stance, informing and supporting the individual Christian, this is not necessarily the case.²⁹

Modernity and postmodernity have created the loss of common ground for any consensus across ideological, theological, and tribal groups. There is a culture of suspicion as well as a crisis of confidence in authority figures—especially religious authority figures. This has produced chaos in the popular conception of morality and ethos. The presence of moral chaos, however, is no indication that moral order is impossible. Nor is it indicative that pastors should pass the responsibility of moral leadership to secular counselors trained to sidestep or, in some cases, denigrate Christian morality. Christian pastors should assume their role as moral leaders.

The burning question is whether or not moral leadership is still possible in this situation. Dr. Gill claims that it is possible when church leaders providing moral leadership realize they have to give up the cherished idea of previous generations of church leaders who believed and acted as if consensus and avoidance of conflict were crucial for good leadership.³⁰ But is it necessary from the postmodernist’s perspective? The answer is, Yes.

The reason should be obvious: in these times of technological change, globalization, genetic engineering, the impact of information and electronic industries, and race, gender, and sexual emancipation, postmodernists recognize that human society cannot survive if they are not helped in addressing the new and perplexing moral issues arising from this new context. Postmodern, hyper-modern need moral leadership from their leaders not only for the sake of human safety and survival but for the sake of the church’s ministry, mission, and future.

Gill supports this position.

Despite cultural pluralism it seems to be widely assumed that church leaders should offer moral guidance in the area of medical ethics…

Moral leadership, in these areas at least, is still defined as an appropriate role for church leaders… even in a pluralist or postmodern culture. But what does it entail?³¹

It entails at least three roles, he claims. The first is to question some moral positions which might otherwise appear logical in terms of moral philosophy. The second is to deepen other moral positions for those who have theistic and Christocentric beliefs. Gill claims it is better to seek the common moral ground that theistic believers share, especially in public moral discourse, rather than build barricades and construct a counter-cultural Christian ghetto. The third role is to point to visions of how things could be if all of humanity was committed to a Christian eschaton.³²

4.   The Moral Crisis in the Church

It has become fashionable that clergy ignore, sidestep, denigrate, ridicule, dismiss, and apologize for the moral ethical passages in the Bible. It is no wonder that some Churches paying several millions of dollars for residential sexual abuses involving mostly pastors. The need for sexual harassment guidelines in seminaries, churches, and church-related ministries and activities may be attributed to inattention to moral formation and moral leadership. The fact that churches are voting in favour of same-sex unions; the fact that evangelical families are excusing behaviors that were condemned in the past; and the fact that there are no longer clear statements made by some popular evangelical preachers against sexual immorality are a clear sign of moral crises and indeed a sign that leaders have unwittingly faltered in biblical moral leadership.

The time has come to address this moral crisis and it must begin with reminding and training pastors to be what they are ordained to be—leaders who proclaim the gospel and who call the church to walk worthy of the gospel of Christ in matters of morality and ethics. It is therefore the contention of this author that one of the important ways to deal with the moral crisis in society and in the church is for Christian leaders to consider their role as moral leaders an important dimension of a genuine biblical pastoral ministry.

5.   The Need for a Morally Holy and Mature Church

God’s purpose for his church is that it be holy. Paul the Apostle clearly enunciates this in his letters to the New Testament church (Eph. 1:4; 1 Thess. 4:1-7; cf. 1 John 3:4-10; 1 Pet.1:13-16). And this is absolutely necessary in the light of the moral crises being fermented by postmodern moral relativists in the church and in the world in which we live. The church needs to be an example of moral integrity, a shining light bearing witness to God’s holiness that this is God’s will for his creation and that it is possible in Christ. The presbyter as moral leader plays a significant role in engendering this.

III. THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE AND CONVICTION

The theological and moral conviction undergirding this book is the belief that life, ministry, and leadership in the Christian church should be biblical, evangelical, contextual, and relational. James Packer has identified six evangelical fundamentals as follows:

1.   the supremacy of Holy Scripture

2.   the majesty of Jesus Christ

3.   the lordship of the Holy Spirit

4.   the necessity of conversion

5.   the priority of evangelism

6.   the importance of fellowship³³

David Bebbington in his magisterial survey Evangelicalism in Modern Britain has identified four main characteristics—a kind of quadrilateral of priorities that is the basis of Evangelicalism. They are Conversionism, Activism (the expression of the Gospel in effort), Biblicism, and Crucicentrism (a stress on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross).³⁴ John Martin adds the Search for Holiness to this list.³⁵ But a succinct explanation of the theological perspective and method that undergird this book is evangelical contextualism.

This position is evangelical because it is based on the gospel and the law illumined by the gospel. It is biblical because the gospel and the law comprise the central content of Holy Scripture, the primary source of our knowledge of divine revelation. It is contextual because the ethical decision is made in the context of the fellowship of faith (koinonia), and it is related to the context of personal and social need. Its method is from the gospel through the church to the cultural situation.³⁶

The central criterion in this ethic is neither the law of love, the spirit of love, the divine ordering in nature, nor love united with reason. Rather, it is the divine commandment which unites