Honestly
There’s a television show Alex & I like…yes, a television show. It’s worth it to watch occasionally; it tells me something about my humanity.
The basic premise of the show is that people tell so many lies a day that lying is really an integral part of how we interact with people.
There is one character on the show who practices radical honesty–for example he meets his new co-worker and asks her exactly what’s on his mind: “What are my chances of sleeping with you?”
Soo-oo. The guy is not pure & he lets it be known. Refreshing, yes. Uplifting, not always.
Apparently the guy who started people taking this practice of radical honesty seriously is named Brad Blanton. “The Radical Honesty technique includes having practitioners state their feelings directly and in ways typically considered impolitic.”
Impolitic doesn’t sound so hot, but perhaps it’s better than gossiping or letting everything build up inside. I imagine that God doesn’t want us to be unkind but God also doesn’t want us hiding the truth from one another. Matthew 16:
15-17″If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you’ve made a friend. If he won’t listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won’t listen, tell the church. If he won’t listen to the church, you’ll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God’s forgiving love.”
Eugene Peterson’s rendition of this passage is full of grace. I like that Jesus is so practical clear in this moment.
In our women’s bible study here at New Leaf we are dialoguing about women in the Bible, especially about Miriam and how a seed of contempt can spread so easily and infect a group of people (She was sort of angry at Moses).
This is how it is with gossiping works, and I’m afraid almost everyone is guilty of it. What we should say instead is “Go talk to that person.”