The first time I remember hearing of someone losing their job because of something they said, was in 1976 when Earl Butz, the secretary of agriculture made some extremely inappropriate racial comments while riding on plane in front of Pat Boone, Sonny Bono and John Dean. Later on Fuzzy Zoeller, the professional golfer lost all his endorsements because he made a joke about Tiger Woods and fried chicken. Now these are not examples of men standing up for truth, but I am simply tracing the roots of what we now know as political correctness. I believe we need to pause and reflect on the paranoid place that we have all moved into regarding speaking plainly. We also need to take inventory of the cost of truth that punishing people for having an opinion is causing. Finally, as a preacher of the Gospel I challenge you to examine what the scripture has to say about speaking clearly and forthrightly.
I saw this quote today and it resonated with me; it seems to be a paraphrase from recent statements by John Piper; the well-known author and pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis Minnesota.
“We live in a day of politicized discourse that puts no premium on clear assertions that let people know exactly where one stands. The reason is that clarity will always result in more criticism than ambiguity will, and vagueness will win more votes in a hostile atmosphere than forthrightness will. But we want nothing to do with that attitude. Jesus refused to converse with religious leaders who crafted their answers so as to conceal what they thought. Mark 11:29-32, Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism–was it from heaven, or from men? Tell me!” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men’….” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.) So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” Our aim if not our achievement is always to be like Paul when he said, “We have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:2 (NIV)
That is not to say that civic and religious organizations shouldn’t be able to decide the standards of membership. Being able to set organizational standards is in fact a form of plain speaking and is the foundation of healthy multiculturalism. I believe we are suffering the following consequence of punishing plain speaking; even of the careless comment variety.
1. We are losing the benefit of debate.
Scripture says, “As iron on iron, so one man’s countenance sharpeneth another.” Recently I have had a couple of spirited debates with people whose view of Grace is more extreme than mine. I still hold to certain opinions but I now find myself operating with a more complete understanding of Grace as a direct result of those conversations. We all get out of balance in our opinions if they are never challenged. I don’t like the mental mush that I see developing around me as we become more and more intolerant of dissenting views.
2. We are becoming hopelessly divided by differing opinions
You are a human being that I am called to love and care for, not a theological, moral or political position that I am righteously allowed to be against. The Bible even says, “Love your enemies.” I should be able to despise your opinion and your position but deeply love you.
3. We are socially regressing into emotional infants.
The other day, I put a straw basket on my head in front of my baby grandson Edan and he burst into tears. Evidently he is a bit sensitive about objects on his significant others heads. Well, he’s only one year old; adults should be able to handle other adults differentiating themselves.
4. We are playing God and becoming social bullies.
One of the cornerstones of the Christian worldview is that God’s word is “inerrant,” and His opinions are “infallible.” Well, I’m not God and neither are you so our words are errant and fallible. Unmovable words from God makes him trustworthy but unyielding opinions by you and I can make us bullies; especially when we try to ruin a people’s lives, merely because they have a point of view or because they thoughtlessly said or “tweeted” something stupid.
