But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way… into Christ.
Ephesians 4:15

I try to be careful when preaching about contemporary social issues. I have a deep commitment to connecting faith and social justice and believe the love which is at the heart of Christian faith entails doing justice. At the same time, how one speaks about the requirements of love and justice matters – speaking the truth in love is an imperative. One of the members of my doctoral dissertation committee in a book he wrote said the following: “Transformational leadership slips into paternalism unless it teaches rather than commands or manipulates.” (William F. May, Beleaguered Rulers, 232). Teaching is important to me. Trained as an ethicist as well as a pastor, I am also deeply aware of the complexities of the issues which surround us, and I have a commitment to honoring those complexities.

With all these cautions and caveats, I nevertheless traverse this ground, as I did today in my sermon. I used a healing story in Luke 13 (vs. 10-17) to say that there comes a time when we need to think deeply about what it means to be a Christian living in the twenty-first century in the United States, and I shared some of my reflections about health care, the environment and our consumption-based economy, and war (focusing on war more generally rather than on our current war). I shared thoughts and raised questions and said that each of these complex topics lends itself to policy proposals, but that I thought such policy discussion occurred best in small groups, not in pontificating from the pulpit.

The sermon seemed well-received, and I greatly appreciated the positive remarks, but one of the remarks I most deeply appreciated came from a retired United Methodist pastor who was visiting from out of town. He told me he really appreciated “how” I said what I said. He told me that he disagreed with some of the things I said, but he nevertheless appreciated how I said it.

That means a lot to me. How we talk about justice matters. Speaking the truth in love matters. My desire to teach, my commitment to honoring complexity as well as honor the connections between faith and justice, my strong belief that Christian social thought and action should be profoundly rooted in Christian faith, can leave others feeling I am too cautious, and perhaps sometimes I am. But when all is said and done, I want to hear that even when people disagree with me, they appreciate how I have said what I have said. That leaves the door open to more conversation, conversation from which both can learn. I am grateful that for today, anyway, I was able to speak in such a way.

With Faith and With Feathers,

David

From another quarter: Never speak harsh words for they will redound upon you. Angry talk really is painful. The result might crash down on you. The Dhammapada, 133