The talk in my city concerns the surprising resignation of the area’s most successful politician, Aaron Broussard.

Here is a man who has made a career of local politics, beginning at the age of 25 when he was elected to the Jefferson Parish School Board. He was re-elected two years later. In 1977, he won a special election for a seat on the parish council, and a full term two years later.

In 1982, he became mayor of Kenner. I came as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Kenner in 1990 and Mr. Broussard was in church to welcome me my first Sunday. An ardent Roman Catholic, he often prefaces his talks to religious groups with, “I am a born again Christian. I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour at age (whatever).”

He was re-elected mayor in ’88 and ’92, then in 1995 became chairman of the Jefferson Parish Council and was re-elected in 1999. In 2003, he succeeded to his final position, parish president.

This word of explanation: Jefferson is the most populated parish in Louisiana. Its affairs are run by the parish council. The chairman presides over the council, but its president runs the day-to-day operations.

By all reports, Aaron Broussard is a good man. He’s certainly a smooth operator, never meets a stranger, and seems to live to make the parish a better place to live.

The one major blip on his career–other than the last few weeks–came when he evacuated the pump operators from the parish as Hurricane Katrina bore down on the coast in August of 2005. Consequently, some neighborhoods were flooded. Broussard became Public Enemy Number One for residents who paid the price for his bad decision. A recall petition was begun, but never got the required signatures to bring it to a vote. When Broussard built safe houses for pump operators for future hurricanes, the furor died down. He was re-elected in 2007, although a couple of unknown challengers almost did him in.

Tim Whitmer has been the chief administrative officer for the parish for years. He served under Broussard’s predecessor and Aaron kept him on. Everyone admits that Broussard is not a nuts-and-bolts kind of guy, but Whitmer is.

And therein lay the origins of the problem. No one was watching Whitmer.

On the side, Tim Whitmer formed a company he called Lagniappe, Inc., an insurance brokerage firm, to serve as a go-between for customers and insurance agencies. It helps customers find the right insurance company and oversees the policies.

Now, Whitmer was pulling down almost $200,000 a year in his job as CAO for the parish, which for most of us would be plenty. But, for those who love money, no amount is ever enough.

Soon Whitmer began working deals with other parishes to throw their insurance requirements his way. He suggested insurance companies to local government officials, and earned hefty fees from those companies.

Now it comes to light that in his capacity as a lawyer, Broussard handled some legal work for Lagniappe and was paid for it.

The feds are investigating Whitmer and he has been forced to resign. Interestingly, had he remained on the job until February 1, he could have drawn a pension of $172,000 for the rest of his life, even though he’s only 49 years old. Nice work if you can get it.

Resigning early, as he was forced to do, means he’ll not be able to draw that pension for another five years. So it cost him dearly in one way. In another way, he may be going to prison, so it may cost him far more dearly.

For the longest, Broussard defended Whitmer and refused to fire him until the pressure became unbearable. The public attended every parish council meeting, clamoring for Aaron to do his duty and fire the guy.

And now one more financial revelation about Broussard has been turned up.

It now comes to light that Aaron Broussard is the chief owner of a resort in Nova Scotia. This is a high-priced place where the well-heeled can go to rest, enjoy privacy, and do a little wheeling and dealing without public scrutiny.

It will not surprise you to learn that some local contractors who do business with Jefferson Parish have stayed at that resort.

The feds continue to look into this. Broussard vows he is not going to be indicted for anything, that all his dealings have been above board.

Maybe so. But it sure looks suspicious.

He resigned Friday from his position as president of Jefferson Parish. Sunday’s Times-Picayune is filled with articles on his career and the Whitmer scandal. Several columnists weighed in on the subject of Broussard’s fall from grace.

James Gill quotes Whitmer’s lawyer as saying he had never used his office to benefit any of his personal clients. Gill: “But that’s not the major rap against him. The question is whether he used his office to benefit himself.”

Drew Broach’s column is headed: “Ethical minefield blows up on Broussard.”

Stephanie Grace’s mentions the annual Christmas gift which parish employees gave to Broussard. A letter from Whitmer would go out to the hundreds of appointees reminding them that each was expected to “contribute” $100 toward a “Christmas gift” to Mr. Broussard. The sum, which reached into the thousands of dollars, was usually given in the form of a voucher with a travel agency. Broussard, in handing out his own presents to staffers, used money from his election campaign. The average price per gift, we’re told, came out to $29.

I once drew a cartoon which got a lot of play. The sign in front of a church read simply: “Opposing local shenanigans since 1973.”

Shenanigans is a plural noun of uncertain origin, my thesaurus says, and means trickery, mischief, and tomfoolery. (In olden days, ‘Tom Fool’ was a name for a half-witted person. So ‘tomfoolery’ was the kind of antics such a person would pull.)

We in South Louisiana have seen all kinds of local politicians and even members of the highest court in the state thrown into prison for crimes involving greed, kickbacks, racketeering, and such. The joke is that we could populate a complete prison with our own crooks. But no one is laughing.

On the one hand, we grieve at every new revelation of misdoing by those given our public trust. On the other, we applaud U.S. Attorney Jim Letten and others who are on the job and running down the wrong-doers.

We turn now to the ministry.

That’s my greatest concern. That’s the thrust of practically everything on this blog. After nearly a half-century in the ministry, my strong hope is to say something to help church leaders do a better job in serving God’s people.

“Be on guard for yourself,” Paul told the leaders of the Ephesus church in Acts 20:28.

The Apostle Peter reminded another group of such leaders that “your adversary, the devil, is on the prowl like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Therefore, they were to “be self-controlled and alert.” (I Peter 5:8)

Here are my top ten suggestions for pastors and staffers of local churches. In fact, they are more than suggestions. They are great concerns.

1. Learn to live within your income and do not fall prey to the lie that “pastors of my stature are expected to live at a certain level.” It’s not so much the love of money that has driven many a pastor to cross the ethical line, in my opinion, but a need for money to pay the bills and sustain the way of life they have chosen.

2. Set the example for the rest of the staff and the church leadership.

Tony Campolo has infuriated a lot of preachers by saying, “No pastor should ever drive a Mercedes.” He’s not picking on a particular car, but making a point about materialism and our example. (Come to think of it, he might have said “no Christian” and not just preachers.)

3. Give so generously to the Lord’s work in your church that you would not mind if someone laid out your record of contributions for everyone to see.

I guarantee you someone knows how much you are giving. They know whether you are living what you preach.

4. If you need to earn some income on the side, pull in the official church leadership and tell them before you do it. Keep them informed. And as the leadership changes each year, continue to do so with whoever happens to sit on that board or committee.

Some pastors have gotten in trouble because while they did inform a few people of what they were doing on the side, it was the same few people year after year, the list never changing. When the news became public, it appeared that the pastor’s buddies were rubber-stamping his requests.

If you cannot tell your church leadership, you shouldn’t be doing it.

5. If you take a trip to the Holy Land or any mission field, and earn commissions from those who accompany you, tell everyone involved. Once they know that this requires extra work from you and that the travel agency gives you this in appreciation, most will be fine with it. If they find out later that you received a hefty check, they’re going to feel used.

6. If you are repaid travel expenses for work for the denomination–a board you sit on or a speaking engagement–do not doubledip and also turn in the same receipts to your church.

I knew a pastor who did that. The total amount probably came to no more than a couple of thousand dollars a year, which makes one wonder why he would risk a ministry position that paid a handsome amount for so little.

7. Some pastors’ salaries are getting out of hand. The same goes for denominational leaders.

A small news item recently told how the head of a major and well-known mission agency (non-denominational; not SBC) was making a salary of $500,000 from one position he held and over $1 million from another. Once the news got out, he had to choose. I’ll let you guess which salary he selected. What irks me about this is that over the years I have regularly sent my $20 or $50 to that organization for their evangelization work.

Ten years ago, a friend in a mega-church told me his pastor was pulling down nearly a half-million dollar salary.

Now, having said that, I am confident many pastors who read this are saying, “Well, I don’t make anything like that, so this point is not for me.”

When I began in the ministry, the associations would print the pastors’ salaries in the annual bulletin. Most of the full-timers were making from $5,200 to $7,500 a year, in addition to a house being provided. Admittedly, the world has changed since the mid-1960s and most people in the ministry and on the mission field are receiving adequate wages.

I’m not against “adequate.” I’m against “excessive.”

One line a pastor should never, ever use in talking with the lay leadership of his church: “With my education and training and years of experience, I think I should receive a salary in keeping with what people make in your line of work.”

You are not a medical doctor, not a college professor, and not a plant manager. You are called by God to be a shepherd to His people. He is your portion.

If you cannot handle that, you’re in the wrong line of work.

8. Pastors are pressured sometimes–not always, thank the Lord–by their wives and children to buy certain kinds of cars and clothes and live to a standard higher than they can afford. Send the children to this school, vacation at this resort, furnish the house in this way, entertain at that level.

Early in his ministry, let the pastor become the head of his house. Let him lead his wife in this area before they bring children into the world. (And if she is doing well, let him applaud her!) Then, the children can be taught not to measure their lives by the toys in the playroom or clothes in the closet.

It can be done.

9. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for a pastor to turn down a raise in next year’s budget. The problem in doing it, in many cases, is that it tends to keep the rest of the staff salaries low.

The finance committee does not want to put the staff’s salary above that of the pastor, or even close to it, as a rule. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if they did, but generally it’s not done.

In order not to penalize the rest of the staff, the pastor could decide to receive the raise even though he can live without it. Then, let him become a more generous giver to the Lord’s work.

10. Finally, never, ever hint to well-heeled members of your church that you need money or that the children need something which you can’t afford.

People aren’t stupid. They know when they’re been hit up for a contribution.

A pastor told me how it works. “I can say to a deacon, ‘How do you like my new suit? Deacon Johnson gave it to me.’ Then, that deacon goes away thinking, ‘Oh. I didn’t know people gave suits to the pastor. Wonder what I can give him.'”

Many an idealistic, godly, Spirit-filled young minister has started well in the Lord’s work, only to crash and burn, the victim of greed and a love for money.

Don’t let it happen to you.

Wear last year’s suit another season. The house you’re living in is fine; you can get by without a nicer one. Learn to say ‘no’ to the kids.

Paul did not call money “unrighteous mammon” or “filthy lucre” for nothing.

It’s wonderful, powerful, dangerous stuff. Handle with care.