Honestly I think Not only pastors, but any follower of Christ should be careful in this area

Great insights that apply to every Christian man, not just pastors. "Watch over your heart with all diligence..." Proverbs 4:23.

This should be applied to married men and women in general…

YES!!! Raavi is a king example to that point.

I think this is really great advice. I DO think the Billy Graham rule is really good whenever you can practice it. Sometimes it is literally impossible. Whenever possible, however, that should be the standard. Whenever it isn't, this advice should be followed.

Spot on, Pastor. My wife and I do all of our counseling of women together. She is a marvelous compliment in this regard. I would add no private messages on social media! All questions by email, which are welcome, I cc my spouse.

That’s a great idea to have glass on the door. What a nice solution.

Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

This is such good advice. I had a career in Human Resources and had to have one-on-one contact too. Not even getting close to the line and glass on the door are very effective! Thank you.

I start listening to : PASTOR WELL, just a few weeks ago. Your words and spiritual posture deliver a timely message for all men , especially those of us in pastoral ministry. Thank you for being faithful.

I'm so thankful our church is growing our bibical counseling providing trained counselors for men and women.

Thank you for this series. Good stuff. Hoping that the "Honest Answers" series on this channel will resume after a ~2yy hiatus! Really enjoy that too....

AMEN!!! Unfortunately where I'm at, certain churches don't respect those boundaries. One of the more well known churches in northern California had no sense of boundaries in this area unfortunately. The road to Heaven is narrow, even concerning people within the church leadership!!

Much good advice. But this is why female counselors can be useful in tandem with a Pastor. Hopefully that counselor is the Pastor’s wife.

Several years ago I worked in a large business and our offices were surrounded in glass. When I pastored I often included my wife when I spoke from the pulpit. It also allowed the people to love on my wife. I think it is more difficult to be a pastor's wife than it is to be the pastor.

"A Pastor should never be near that line." AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great insight. As a young pastor, I am already seeing the importance of recognizing and working through the authorities God has set up. I always try to contact the husband first, if exclusively, if it regards something on family, couples, etc. In our culture, I think we could and should apply these principles to working with teens and children, too. I see youth pastors communicating a lot with their teens outside church functions, and I am not as comfortable with that, especially as one with public school teaching experience. One question I have...hope someone has some additional insight: What might one do when there is a woman with an unbelieving husband when it comes to marital counseling? I definitely involve my wife, but how far should things go if the husband is unwilling to engage?

The BG rule is an excellent rule of thumb for all of us. Not just pastors. Far too many people have gotten themselves into trouble by not establishing boundaries. Being “above reproach” is the best strategy. Look at the recent high profile scandal with Matt Chandler for example. Sheesh!

The Bible said King David was a man after God's heart. It also said that King Solomon was the smartest man ever. It also talked about how strong Samson was. If you know their stories you know that women were the one that took them out of the path that the Lord had for them. If you are a man in position of power or just love your wife and life, please be careful. Remember you are not smarter than Solomon.

Good word and counsel. The Billy Graham rule worked for him, but Graham was not a pastor, he was an evangelist - and those roles are different.

Wise advice...

That was a great answer. It's definitely more about creating an atmosphere of trust and intent more than anything else. It's not helpful to create blanket practices that separate people. It's only when people mistrust each other that you need those kinds of practices. If you can't have a counseling session (with anyone) with the door closed then it's not the door that needs to be removed:-)

Nothing happens by accident: whether purity or immorality, both are premeditated.

Sisters and mothers 2 Timothy 5:2

Not only that but Pastors should not be alone with children either. And there should be no private texting or messaging. I know a pastor that crosses that line all the time. The Pastor is not “her shepherd” Her husband is her shepherd. 1 Cor 14:35 A pastor should be encouraging her to allow her christian husband to guide her. I had a pastor reck my good marriage because he doesn’t understand who is the one being out of step with the structure of a christian marriage because women have terrible discernment 1 Tim 2:14. We have horrible problems in our christian marriages because of the bad teaching pastors and seminaries are feeding their sheep. Christian Marriages have order and it’s up to the Man and the Woman to not allow culture to define them. I’m so mad at current teachings on this I could just spit.

I heard VP Mike Pence also used the rule when he was in office he is also an elder in the church. On the issue of counseling it is wise to have your wife with you or if not she needs to bring her husband with her. It is also better for counsellors to not be alone with a victim by themselves it protects both the counsellor and the individual in case accusations arise tomorrow. The glass doors are an absolute must for any church having them come over to your house can also create risks rather do it in a public place. Also safeguards can be made such as all those seeking counselling should go through the pastor's PA using business emails, phone etc so that there is accountability. Unless in case of an emergency or risk to life then meeting alone AND/OR during OR Outside of office hours is simply asking for trouble. Even if nothing happened you can still be set up by people with malicious motives. Personally I do not have female visitors to my place unless I am with someone and i don't pick up female passengers when driving by myself. What else? Add yours here

There are many issues here. I don’t think you can always avoid being alone with people, even women, but you can be aware of the dangers of not only your own conduct, but also the possibilities of being misinterpreted, or understanding that people come with emotional weaknesses (as well as our own) and of course the possibility of others seeking to be malicious. Much wisdom is needed about who we spend time with, how much time, where we meet with others, what is said, or in the case of women, training / encouraging women to minister & support women.

Nope. This kind of mentality, especially in a work setting, is highly discriminatory against women.

Not enough of this taught in the church

"The Billy Graham rule"? 🤨 Did I miss something about Billy Graham's life? I've never heard of this phrase before...

I believe a pastor or any leader should be alone with a woman because you don’t know what the woman can say about you after. I believe there should always be a third person preferably the wife

🙏

Apparently, the Movie Caligula is NOT an Option. Living in a Box 📦 is NOT a 🗺️ World the Holy Spirit created. Jargon consists of 3 or more words to explain a 1 word Answer. Lol 😂 Ohhhh myyyyyyyyyyy

Some of the ministers I have known in my life do not need to be counseling husbands and wives together or separately.

Jesus was alone with the woman at the well. Maybe Billy was hedging against a personal problem. Nothing wrong with that.

Billy Graham taught another gospel and was a 33* freemason...... Luke 16:15 15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

2 minutes in and we’re already saying it’s the women’s responsibility to know if a dude is being a creep. I don’t care if a woman walked into the pastors office in a string bikini, if he assaults her he is 100% the problem

“A pastor and his ministry.” Organized religion is the worse thing that has happened in this world. We stepped so far away from the new covenant message it’s sad. The people have been left with figure heads that do not represent truth. Only a form of it convoluted in self interest.