Having traveled to serve Jesus in several “closed” or communistic societies, I am aware of some of the differences between leading in a “free” society and a closed one. On this 240th birthday of the United States of America, I am grateful to God for living in the land of the free and the home of the brave. I am also aware that in my lifetime, 59 short years, this society has moved “forward” in its freedoms in ways not many could have anticipated when I was born. I’m not pining for the “good old days” as I write this post, nor do I miss the America I grew up in as I have seen on many signs and posters recently. I do miss certain aspects of that America, as I’m sure most people miss certain aspects of the world the way it was when they were children, or at least the world they way they remember it.
What has changed the most in my lifetime, and what matters most significantly for those of us living and leading in the free society known as the United States of America is the disdain for “absolute truth” and the increasing bias against those who ascribe to the belief that the basis for truth is the God of the Judaeo-Christian Bible. So long as we agree with our culture’s bias against absolute truth, and the idea that everyone’s ideas are equally as valid (or invalid?) as everyone else’s we are fine. No one bothers us much if we agree to “tolerate” everyone and agree that their beliefs are “right.” The problem with that way of thinking is how the words tolerate and right are being defined these days. When I was a child to tolerate a person or idea meant to acknowledge the person or idea, and to agree to let that person or idea coexist with me. It did not mean that I agreed with the person’s view points, or that I accepted the idea. In fact, Aristotle (who was around a little while before me!) said, “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
It is becoming increasingly true that if you and I hold to a Christian perspective as a leader, both we and our views will be considered intolerant and even hateful. I have dedicated my adult life to learning, living and teaching the biblical concept of speaking the truth in love. That requires a body of truth to learn, live and teach, and an understanding of love as an action– specifically a self-giving preference for the good of others–rather than mere feelings. The challenge in leading from a truth in love perspective in this particular free society at this particular moment in history is that many, and particularly many among the intellectual and political establishment have forgotten the historical basis for the United States of America. The framers of the Constitution and those who led in the first generation of the United States of America, are often portrayed as deists who acknowledged a god, but feared the establishment of the biblical God as the official deity of our nation. Any historian who has actually studied the words of those early American leaders knows that they believed in absolute truth, in an absolute Source of that truth, and that this nation could not endure without the application of truth and the benevolence of God.
So what are we to do as leaders in this free society known as the United States of America as it becomes increasingly obvious that to hold to these “traditional” views of truth is considered, intolerant, out of touch, and even “evil”? We must remember our heritage. We have long held that while we may not agree with a word another American says, we will defend to the death that American’s right to say it. Of course, that right does not extend to hate speech, but we must be clear that it is not hateful for a person to speak the truth in love, even if we disagree with what truth and love are. When I say that a certain action is a sin, for example, and I say that out of a genuine concern for the welfare of the sinner, every fiber of American history supports me in that endeavor.
To be clear Christians or those who claim to be Christians have not always spoken the truth in love as is our mandate from the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4. We are rightly called “haters” if we condemn those for whom Jesus died, because they are living in sin. After all, as we know ALL of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I have often been ashamed of those in the Christian community who have spoken the truth in a tone that makes it clear that love is the farthest action from the speaker’s mind and heart. As leaders who bear the name of Jesus in this society, we must be absolutely clear that we always speak from the position of being forgiven sinners, and not as those who have somehow moved passed our own imperfections.
As we move deeper and deeper into the 21st century, to be a Christian leader in the USA is going to mean becoming more and more loving and gracious even as we become bolder in speaking the truth. We must not yell, stomp our feet, or demand that people hear us. Our words and our actions must reflect the humility of our ultimate leader, Jesus Christ. I have found that when people disagree vehemently with my position as soon as they find out I am a Christian, they are reacting to the caricature of what they think I am rather than who I am. As I listen to their perspective and share mine calmly, but confidently, I have found that I am often afforded a hearing. Some folks have changed their perspective of truth. Many more have not, but even those who have not have walked away from the conversation recognizing that not all Christians are haters.
We often say that as Jesus’ followers we are to hate the sin and love the sinner. That is true, but quite difficult to pull of as redeemed sinners ourselves. The challenge is that we tend to extremes. Sometimes forgiven sinners assume we have no right to challenge the sins of others. As leaders we must challenge sin, while remembering that we are still prone to it ourselves, and therefore must be gracious as we speak the truth. The other extreme is far more damaging and must be avoided at all costs: self-righteousness. Jesus condemned the self-righteousness of the Pharisees of His day as vehemently as he ever condemned anything. He called the Pharisees hypocrites, a common term used today in reference to all Christians. We must acknowledge that at some level we ARE all hypocrites. Our words and our actions don’t line up 100%. In those moments we must point to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, noting that while we are not perfect, He was, and we are offering His truth in love in order to preserve the peace, purity and unity of our society.
I love being a citizen of the United States of America. She is still a great nation, one of the greatest nations on the planet. As all human institutions, she is flawed, and those of us who serve as leaders, who also serve Jesus have contributed to those flaws when we have remained silent as the truth has been challenged, or when we have spoken self-righteously as we have stood up for the truth. We risk irrelevance as leaders in this society when we do either. As Carl Shurz said in response to a senator from Wisconsin, who had said, “My country right or wrong,” during a debate in 1872: “In one sense I say so too. My country; and my country is the great American Republic. My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right.” We must always be the ones to keep America right, and when she is wrong the ones to set her right.” This is increasingly challenging in an era when there is considered to be no right or wrong. Even so, we must lead from the truth, because there IS truth, and He is also the way and the life!
Here’s to leading better by speaking the truth in love–today!