Honesty is an interesting thing. If someone asked you, "are you an honest person?" most of us would say that we are. Yet I wonder if we actually answer that question based on a "high percentage of honesty" -- "I'm being mostly honest. That's almost the truth". See? What I mean is this - let's say that I ask you to share with me the complete truth about a situation so that I can help you come up with a solution. If you tell me 90% of the facts and leave out 10%, then my response to the situation is not at all accurate. It really isn't going to benefit you, because I am answering based upon incomplete truth.
As Christians, we do this. I see it nearly every day in the church. We don't let people know us completely, we don't tell everything about ourselves because we're afraid that one small percentage of information we leave out, if told might cause someone to reject us or judge us -- so we say we're being honest, we say we're open to accountability, but in reality, we are not.
How can we come along side a brother or sister in Christ and help them in their Christian growth and walk if we are not starting from the fundamental place of honesty?
I guess what I'm advocating is for us to "take the chance", get open, get honest, get real in one another's lives or we'll never build relationships that help us to truly grow and develop. We will also never know whether those that are closest to us love us for all of who we are or just for that part that we have revealed to them. Sounds like an opportunity for the devil to get in and isolate us from others so that he can impact our thinking -- even if it's just that small 10%.
As Christians, we do this. I see it nearly every day in the church. We don't let people know us completely, we don't tell everything about ourselves because we're afraid that one small percentage of information we leave out, if told might cause someone to reject us or judge us -- so we say we're being honest, we say we're open to accountability, but in reality, we are not.
How can we come along side a brother or sister in Christ and help them in their Christian growth and walk if we are not starting from the fundamental place of honesty?
I guess what I'm advocating is for us to "take the chance", get open, get honest, get real in one another's lives or we'll never build relationships that help us to truly grow and develop. We will also never know whether those that are closest to us love us for all of who we are or just for that part that we have revealed to them. Sounds like an opportunity for the devil to get in and isolate us from others so that he can impact our thinking -- even if it's just that small 10%.
3 comments:
Good morning Brian. It is JJ and I want to thank for the piece on honesty. Im not sure if I shared with you the time I walked up to you after Jennifer and I got baptized, (about pornography). I was afraid to tell anyone at the church about that, because what I knew about chucrh up to that point, is that sharing something like that would get you kicked out of church. Well thank you for not kicking me out. Still having a hard time with it, the good thing is that Ive got some people in my life to help;ecclesiasties 4:9-12. Also Jennifer is aware of my struggles and that my friend,is bigger than I ever thought. One thing that I thought about when it comes to honesty, is being the one to hold someone else accountable for telling the truth. If I know or have a pretty good hunch that somebody isnt telling the truth, I feel like telling them that I think that they are lying. One thing I just thought about, is it seems easy for me to tell Jennifer when I think that she is wrong than any other person. That one hurts the most, when I stop and think about it. Thanks for being there, and showing the love of our Savior with your actions. Love You
To those of you who read this blog:
I tried only letting people in on the 90% Brian talks about and nothing happened. Once I "went the whole hundred" to use a "Hitch" reference MY LIFE WAS CHANGED AND I WAS SET FREE!
Thank you Pastor Brian for being the person I could share the 100% with.
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