13 Jul 3 Kinds of Relationships: Personal Pastoral Professional | Real Relationships
· Our big mistakes early in ministry in treating everyone like family/friends
Personal Relationships– two-way friendship
Proverbs 12:26 The godly give good advice to their friends…
Pastoral Relationships– one-way relational mentorship
Proverbs 1:5 A wise person will hear and increase in learning,
And a person of understanding will acquire wise counsel…
Professional Relationships – one-way business exchange
Proverbs 22:26-28 Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you. Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your ancestors.
- Payment – not personal or pastoral but professional
- Boundaries in the Bible –
A. physical property (personal property/nations);
B. relational (kids & inheritance; spouse)
Discussion Questions
- What are your healthy and unhealthy personal relationships individually and as a couple?
- Who are you pastoring, and who is pastoring you?
- Do you have any professional relationships that the other person is trying to make pastoral or personal?
- Are there any people that do not understand their relationship category with you?