Integrity…Integrity…Integrity

When a leader’s integrity is questioned, the entire organization is often affected. That’s particularly true when pastors are charged with integrity breaches. Why does it happen? How does it happen? Consider the following illustration from an older but still famous case.

Jim Bakker wanted to serve God when he founded PTL in 1974. Many people who shared that vision joined him in his work. The ministry espoused Biblical principles and projected an image consistent with high ethical standards. Thousands of people trusted Jim and Tammy Faye, and in a very real sense they made a covenant commitment to the ministry. In fact, PTL referred to donors as partners. However, the entire ministry lacked fundraising accountability. It was easier to get things done that way, and their many abuses are now well known.

Lack of Accountability Brings Integrity Beaches

It’s hard to say exactly when Mr. Bakker lost sight of his obligation to the organization, the people and the common purpose he’d served. However, that breach became obvious in 1987 when he resigned, admitting to an extramarital affair and financial scandal. The covenant he shared with his wife, employees and partners had been broken, and his integrity had been deeply compromised in large part because he lacked accountability. At best his board rubber-stamped everything he wanted to do.

Two years later he was indicted on 24 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. It became evident that Mr. Bakker had trashed the principles he espoused in favor of selfish motives, opulence and power. Eventually he was convicted of defrauding followers of $150 million. As a result of his lack of integrity and accountability in his relentless pursuit of increasing donations, the noble purpose and the common good it served were lost.

Effective Leaders are Guided by Principles not Power

Jim Bakker served 5-years of an 8-year sentence, eventually being released for good behavior. The lesson of leadership here is clear. Most organizational heads have power. How they use power, and whether or not it’s aligned with key principles, determines whether they’re leading or power-wielding. In Mr. Bakker’s case he abused his positional power, compromised his integrity and violated the trust of followers.

As a result of violating that covenant he forfeited his credibility and his opportunity to lead. He chose his own self-interest over the common good, and a lot of people got hurt. Effective leadership demands that principles and not power guide the leader’s actions. Apart from that, it’s impossible to achieve trust or mutual accountability, both of which followers desire. This does not suggest that leaders never use power, but their power use must be guided by common principles that everyone understands.

Relying on Transcendent Truth

That’s exactly the idea upon which the civil rights movement was built. In his Letter from Birmingham City Jail, Martin Luther King, Jr. said simply that, “just law is a manmade code that squares with the moral law or the law of God.” Dr. King argued further that God’s law is objective moral truth, and therefore authoritative and superior to man’s law.

Whether it’s a business, a charity or a church, ethical and responsible behavior must align with common principles that come primarily from God’s law. However, if principles are relative, then what’s considered “ethical” and “constructive” changes based on situations and preferences. However, today that logic would have defeated the civil rights movement and dissipated its moral high ground because Dr. King relied on Biblical truth to support his mission.

In Jim Bakker’s case he showed contempt not only for civil law, but also for God’s law and he paid a price. Hopefully, other pastors and leaders will learn more about leadership from Martin Luther King’s accomplishments than from Mr. Bakker’s mistakes by building accountability structures and leading by truth.