Recently, I’ve been reading a book called, The Truth Shall Make You Odd: Speaking with Pastoral Integrity in Awkward Situations, by Frank Honeycutt. There are several strengths to this book–such as writing style, fresh takes on familar texts, etc. However, it was the title of the book that drew me to it. Telling the truth […]
As I watched our recent political season unfold, I watched numerous interviews, at least large portions of each debate, and read a lot of coverage on things. Some of the answers candidates gave in no way addressed the question at hand and sometimes violated the truth. However, the ones that eroded my confidence quickest were those given when it was obvious they didn’t have a good answer–but answered anyway. They were trying to provide enough smoke and mirrors to make it appear they knew the answer.
I would vote for an honest answerer over the person who felt they had to have them all. Anyone who is actually much of thinker has plenty of questions to which they are still working on the answers. Anyone who has an answer for everything is either substituting talking for real answers, isn’t deep enough to have questions, or arrogant enough to believe they know it all.
…is one of the hardest things to do. Yet, every successful pastor or church is able to do this. To say, “I didn’t try very hard,” “I let them get to me,” or, on the positive side, to tell ourselves, “I did a good job on that by God’s strength,” requires the ability to tell oneself the truth.
It’s hard enough to tell others the truth. It’s at least twice as hard to tell ourselves the truth about reality. Yet, the decision to tell ourselves the truth about the state of our church, leadership team, or personal life is the first step in opening ourselves up to God’s transforming power and new possibilities for whatever leadership endeavor we’re engaged with.