The Preacher’s Challenge: to Walk the Talk

This essay affirms that clergy ethics is the resultant life and personal activity which are derived from a transformed character, developed and shaped by faithful obedience to the practical instruction concerning relational responsibilities found in the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, and integrated into a life of integrity which gives credibility to the Christian message and the viability of the New Testament Church. By sketching some the New Testaments promises of transformation as the work of God in the life of a believer and identifying a sampling of the admonitions and concrete teachings found in the Gospels and the Epistles which are to be practiced by the follower of Jesus Christ, I seek to show how the ethics of the Christian minister can attest to the validity of his message rather than be a reason to reject or ignore the Christian message. Offered as a challenge to those of us who dare to preach or teach new life in Christ and the possibility of an authentic New Testament church, this essay seeks to call preachers and church leaders to purposefully live in a way which will authenticate the Gospel for the 21st century and be a tool for contemporary evangelism.