Ministry Ethics of Sentinels360 Members

13 June 2021
There are three groupings of ethics and in descending order of most serious to least we have ethics (commandment), then protocols (very important) and etiquette which is adhering to local customs in the local settings.
Ministry Ethics

Moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or the conducting of an activity in a ministry setting.

  • Do not abuse spiritual authority to control, manipulate or coerce God’s people for money, power or sexual favours.
  • Do not try win people’s social ‘votes’ to gain power as Absalom did at the gates of Jerusalem by flattery and empty promises. Promotion comes from the Lord, you do not need ‘to make it happen.’
  • Do not use ‘faith and hints’ in the hope for a big offering.
  • Do not push people over to demonstrate you have the anointing when praying for someone.
  • Do not character assassinate your brother/sister.
Ministry Protocol
Are a system of ‘rules’, customs and observances which can govern any sort of activity. It is more widely accepted as a norm than etiquette.
  • Do not milk a guest minister. Give them times of rest during extended ministry times. Receive them as you would Christ and be hospitable.
  • If you give your word, keep your word, even if it hurts you to do so. “… they keep their promises even when it hurts. They do not change their mind.” Ps 15:4b
  • Do not slander your brother/sister ie tell falsehoods to others about them.
  • Do not gossip about your brother/ sister ie share true but harmful personal details about them.
  • Do not build toward yourself but build away from yourself – build to Christ. Point to Christ, not your amazing abilities. Put people’s hands in Christ’s hand as quickly as possible.
  • When prophesying to group consisting of different churches, in citywide contexts, always invest in a 10 minute ‘Disclaimer’ explaining:
  • If you give directional words, those being ministered to must know it should be weighed. In such settings, some churches may feel prophecy can only be ‘gold digging’ so if a correctional or directional word is given, this may spook the person – they need to be informed beforehand gold digging is happening plus directional and correctional.
  • Prophecy must weighed, preferably by prophets.
  • Teach you prophesy in part.
  • NT prophecy is not OT prophecy. Prophets are human and can error that is why the prophecy must be weighed after the ministry time, especially in corporate multi-church settings when there is no time for weighing each personal or corporate word of prophecy.
  • “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” Mathew 18:15-17
  • It is Godly protocol to do a face to face with a brother/sister that has sinned against you or another, even when such a face to face is the last thing in the world you want to do. Silent disassociation of such a brother is wrong and not befitting a saint. This happens too often. And the body grows weaker because we are not willing to confront sin because it is an unpleasant job but it is the way of Jesus. Jesus does not cast a blind eye and walk away from our sin, He confronts us and offers us a way out of every problem.
  • Disassociating from someone without a proven (2-3 witnesses) serious offence is not love. Love covers sin but for that to happen it needs to be confronted first, in a one on one, face to face meeting as the Lord has commanded us above.
  • “We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you.” 2 Cor 10:13
  • Do not usurp authority in a sphere God has not appointed you, be it geographically or church grouping based. Authority is invited and not forced.
  • God’s principal operating system is agape-love and for love to exist there must be free will. If you are not received, do not force it. Work with the willing in your sphere. We do not ‘Lord it over’ others faith.
Ministry Etiquette
The set of rules or customs that control accepted behaviour in particular social groups or social situations.
  • Honour the house. House rules apply. The given leadership in any church is to be honoured as the under-shepherds and gate keepers of God’s flock. Do not go through the back door. When at all possible, get the leaders blessing before teaching/ ministering/ directing congregants. Be observant to see the local church practices of the house you are in and adapt to them. Jesus adapted to us in His incarnation from Divine to human, we can make small adaptations to local church house rules (of course if they are blatantly against an explicit reading of scripture, this is another matter). This by no means you dilute or compromise the word the Lord gives you, but how you give it should be respectful of the house.
  • If you have been included as a help in discipling / counselling / ministering to someone, it is good etiquette to inform the person who introduced you of further counselling planned, if you are excused or excluded. If you continye to minister to them, its good etiquette to give progress updates - within reason and within reasonable time frames. No one owns anyone, its just good custom.
  • Written communication - email or Whatsapp – answer promptly and if you do not have an answer to a direct question, communicate as such and give a date/ time by when you will answer such a person. Leaving things hanging is short of good etiquette.