In case you missed it, this past week, Congressman Weiner from New York apologized on national TV for tweeting inappropriate pictures of himself to different women. What really has him in hot water is not the fact that he tweeted these images or that he is married (both bad by the way). What really has people so upset that they are calling for his resignation is that he continually denied sending those messages. He was asked numerous times if he sent those images and he said no, his twitter account had been hacked. It was not until his story became so unbelievable that he had to admit to the error in judgment.
How does this apply to ministry? For starters, don’t tweet inappropriate messages!!!! Although this isn’t the primary point of this post, there are so many numerous instances of Facebook messages or tweets that have gotten people into trouble. As an Ambassador of Christ, we are held to high standards. Nothing we ever do is ever “secret” or “hidden”. Whatever we post on Facebook, Twitter or any other kind of social media will be with us forever. That is why you have to use a lot of discretion as to what you post or say at all times. In Matthew 5:16 Jesus says, “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” That is the direction we need to take.
The primary point of reflecting on Congressman Weiner is to examine how you handle confrontation and forgiveness. There are going to be a ton of times when we make mistakes. I know, it rarely happens, but for those selected few times, how we own up to our own errors and seek forgiveness will go a long way. Congressman Weiner denied, denied and denied over and over again. That’s a problem when he actually did the act. That is why the demands for his resignation are so strong in the wake of his apology.
When we deny, deny, deny and then have to fess up later, it just makes matters worse. Like I said, we are going to mess up in ministry many times. How we handle ourselves when we mess up is going to be a huge determinate as to whether we continue to have support or not in our ministry position. If we handle those situations wisely and seek forgiveness and move on, that will bode really well for us. However, if we take the Anthony Weiner route, we may end up being in hot water.
So right now, TAKE A MINUTE and examine your current situation(s). Do you need to seek forgiveness and take ownership of something that you have been “denying”? Also, how are you doing with social media? Are your tweets, status updates and other posts glorifying to God? Just some questions to think about and process through. God has great plans for you and your ministry. It would be really sad if we allow a lack in judgment to affect our ministry and hurt our witness to others in any way.
If you have thoughts or comments on this, post it so that we may all benefit.]]>