Below are 10 Moral Tests, which can be used to help guide in determining healthy relational boundaries in ministry.
- The Bullhorn or Transparency Test: How would my actions be perceived if they were made public?
- The Test of Fiduciary Responsibility: Whose needs are being met? Are my actions in the best interest of the one that I am ministering to?
- The Ministry Service Test: What ministerial service am I providing? And what is included in that ministerial service? What is not included?
- The Collegial Accountability and Supervision Test: How do my supervisor and colleagues respond when I report my behavior? (Am I willing to honestly share my behavior with them?)
- The “Do No Harm” Test: Who is put at risk by my actions?
- The Staying Above Reproach Test: How might my behavior be perceived by others? Am I avoiding any appearance of impropriety?
- The Dependency Test: How important or indispensable do I feel in this relationship? Being needed by others is a powerful form of dependency. Ministry is not about me.
- The Dependency Test 2: Does the person I’m ministering to show signs of emotional dependency?
- The Precedent Test: What kind of precedent am I setting? Am I setting a precedent or creating a culture that accepts certain behaviors that could put someone at risk.
- The Exception Test: Do I feel that for some reason this situation or relationship is an exception to the usual rules and limits?
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