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CSB Leadership Standards
We believe God calls leaders in His church to the highest standards. He doesn’t demand perfection (or none of us could serve!), but He does require leaders to live out the change He brings into our lives. CSB Ministries recognizes this and requires partnering churches to ensure the leaders they release into ministry in CSB programs demonstrate the following character.
The leader's life should be positive. A hesitant, uncertain Christian testimony will greatly weaken the effectiveness of the Gospel appeal to young men and boys. The Christian leader should be certain of his own relation to Christ and happy in it.
The leader's life should be without question. Every leader of youth needs to be reminded, "Don't look now, but you're being followed!" The serious responsibility of shaping young lives demands high standards of personal- conduct. A Christian leader cannot be too careful. His personal habits much be such that the youth who listen to him as the CSB meeting on Thursday can observe him on Friday without losing respect for his testimony.
There is no question about the teaching of the Scriptures concerning standards for honesty, self-control, humility, and cleanness of speech and thought. However, there are certain practical problems of conduct which sometimes cause confusion and disagreement among Christians. Such matters cannot be settled by superimposing commandments that go beyond the Scriptures, but they must be determined by the individuals own communion with the Lord based on the Word of God and the witness of the Holy Spirit. God has not given a "thou shalt not" in regard to some things, because Christians are greatly strengthened as they seek an understanding of the will of God for themselves.
When a Christian faces squarely the matter of his daily personal conduct, he has an obligation to obey those standards which God has given him. The Word of God clearly teaches: "Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins." (James 4:17) All who sincerely determine to live according to God's standards will find positive guidance from Romans 12 and 13.
The Christian leader has the additional responsibility of maintaining those habits of conduct which boys and young men can safely follow. It is impossible for him to have one way of living before youth and another when he is presumably away from them. In practice, a leader should weigh his personal habits in the light of whether or not he would be satisfied for youth to do the same. Youth can hardly be expected to achieve a higher standard of Christian conduct than their leaders.
In view of the great responsibility of youth leadership, Christian Service Brigade recommends that the local church require its leaders to take a decisive stand on all habit forming practices generally acknowledged to be detrimental such as the use of tobacco, liquor and narcotics. The enslaving tendencies of these habits are clear justification for this stand, especially where the training of youth is involved. Just as a man may separate and condition himself for a particular responsibility or occupation, so leadership in Christian youth work calls for total abstinence in these areas. This standard must be upheld in situations where youth gather on an inter-church basis for camping, sports and other activities.
God has given some leaders great blessing when they have realized that Christian youth work requires a new act of dedication to God and the establishing of new and higher standards. It is a matter of praise to God when the challenge of leading youth produces this effect in the l if e of a man. However, if his stand is a new one, it should become well established in his own heart and life before attempting to work with youth. In a new position of leadership he will be a target for temptation more than ever before. The enemy of our souls being a master strategist, will always seek to lead young people astray. His most effective device is to draw their leaders aside from the path they believe God would have them follow.
The Lord's service requires clean vessels, and He has promised the grace necessary to be such. The Saviour calls for leaders who can stand before youth with a positive, clear-cut testimony and in turn have the joy of watching youth follow them into a similar life. It is the responsibility of the local church to see that CSB leaders are:
- Born again Christians.
- Twenty-one years of age or older if serving as Battalion Captain, Stockade Chief Ranger, or Tree Climber Coordinator. Other leaders must be 18 or older.
- In agreement with the CSB Standard of Faith and maintain exemplary habits of conduct.
- in agreement with, and have been subject to the appropriate police or other checks, as required in your jurisdiction, and other actions required in your church's Child Protection program.