Day 21 -- STRAIGHT UP

You know, I place a premium on honesty. That's not to say that I always tell the truth. I think that mostly the lies I tell are lies of omission. I don't want to say what I'm really thinking because I don't want to hurt the heart of another. The truth is that there's just an awful lot in life that doesn't need my commentary. So my holding my own council on the hairstyle of another, the placement of a tattoo, or some other sort of inconsequential thing isn't being dishonest. It's just in those sorts of situations my opinion probably wouldn't be edifying or encouraging.

But there are other times and situations that call us to say what we're discerning, even if we're dead wrong. We're a part of a community, and in community as we discern direction and where it is we're going, we need to speak up. Community involves many voices, not just one.

Interestingly, this need flies in the face of what I think is reality. I think there's no premium placed on honesty anymore. We're way more comfortable with the "parking lot" conversations...telling safe people what we really think rather than saying what we think when the situation warrants it.

I mean, think about the people who are pretty much, "straight up." So often they are terrific people with hearts of gold, but because they are honest with their thoughts and feelings they are perceived as "mean spirited," "difficult," "abrasive," or some other nasty adjective. These people are the object of derision for those of us who are civilized.

There's a time to hold your tongue. Music too loud? I can guarantee you there's someone who thinks it's not loud enough. Sermon too long? I can guarantee you that there's someone who wishes that I had gone for another five minutes. Too long on vision and not long enough on details? I can guarantee you there are others who wish we could dream even bigger dreams.

But there's a difference between opinions and the need for "straight up" honesty, the kind that names a broken thing that's breaking community and calls it out. This isn't complaining. It's naming the elephant in the room, owning your own perspective, but stating the thing that's happening, the way a person or community is being destroyed, and asking an individual or organization to sit up and take notice.

This is the stuff of holiness. It's the stuff of St. Paul calling St. Peter on the carpet when he says that the gospel is for everyone, and then treats his own Jewish people with deference. It needed to be named, so St. Paul named it. I'm sure he did it in love. I'm sure he did it for the sake of the community. I'm sure that he did it for the sake of "saving" a brother in Peter who's own witness was hurting not only his own authenticity, but the very witness of the church.

There's a fine line here. "Straight up" honesty needs to be held with humility. None of us has an absolute perspective. Sometimes things that look destructive and wrong to us are actually absolutely right. I know this is hard to believe, but it's true. And "straight up" honesty is never a warrant to hurt or harm another. But Warren is right on this. Honesty is the stuff of light. It creates strength in community. It assures us that we're all working from the same reality. It builds.

If you have someone in your life that has the capacity to be honest, "straight up," thank God for them. Do more than this. Learn from them. And emulate them with a heart of love for all people, and watch light come on all over the place...the kind that builds up and doesn't destroy.

May our lives be filled with light, Christ's light.

Pastor Nathan