Credibility And A Wandering Mind
February 25th, 2005
Dear Friends
Do you ever find your mind wandering? Last week I was supposed to be listening to some operatic thing (Mozart’s - Cosi van tutte!) in Lincoln College library, but found myself absorbed with the architecture, the art, the audience and the books not to speak of mundane reflections on work and life. Having suffered auditors for the last month it is difficult to concentrate on delicate esoteric matters. The library is a former church with a central mural displaying the Ten commandments in two tablets with the Lords prayer and the Creed respectively below, in a symmetry that almost reflects an accounting system. On the left was the bit about forgiving our Debtors, our responsibility to God etc, mirrored on the right with our responsibility to each other and the creed which is a statement of belief and trust in the one to whom we are indebted. Creed and Credit have the same Latin root, which brought me back to accountability, audits and the system which is intended to build credibility and trust in our stewardship.
This weeks Economist reflects on the unfortunate consequence of management by numbers, absolute profit maximization and value free or ethic-neutral leadership. Most business schools now include ethical development in their courses because they recognise that value without values is meaningless.
It is easy to be drawn in to one-sided thinking or the belief that spiritual and secular relationships are independent of one another. It is easy to believe that preaching the word and producing evangelism materials is sacred but giving account for our time, money and mission is less sacred. In reality, building trust and credibility not so much in ourselves but in our cause and in our creator is central to our leadership calling.
Beyond reconciling the numbers we need to ask whether the mission and purpose of the church has been carried out, whether we are moving towards our goals and whether we have in fact used the resources well and without conflict of interest. Have we become the kind of people that God wants us to become? Has our left hand doctrinal preaching and spiritual orthodoxy resulted in right hand relational harmony and loving behavioural consequences? Letting the mind wander/wonder is not such a bad thing!
Thank you for your commitment to building the credibility of God’s word, trust in His promises and hope in our community. May God continue bless your service.
Yours truly,
Victor Pilmoor
Treasurer