December 13, 2007
Ethics Show
The Christian Communicator is a magazine for Christian writers and speakers. In the October issue Dr. Stephen D. Boyd, a professor of speech communication at Northern Kentucky University, has written an article titled ‘Let Your Ethics Show’. In it he says, “In addition to the fundamental issue of honesty and credibility, a speaker must meet other ethical standards to maintain the trust and respect of audience members. Speakers might just as well quit if their audiences don’t respect them and what they have to say.” It’s a struggle to listen to a speaker in the church who isn’t trusted or respected, but it’s out of respect for the WORD being preached that I try to listen. In reality I probably do a disservice to the speaker by giving them an audience...which they misconstrue as validation.
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Gail;
-----I agree. Of course, there is no speaker I trust 100%. And I am not ashamed to say that, because neither do I trust myself 100%. I always have some struggle listening to any speaker. But it is not like a struggle to continue listening, rather, it is like a struggle to sort the gold from the dross. For instance, in one sermon on Romans chapter 12, I heard a preacher make big about the Bible not being a book of suggestions. His point was the instructive nature of verses 10 through 21, that they are behaviors and attitudes worthy of actual effort and performance instead of mere possibilities, indistinct principles for meager thought. Only weeks later, this same preacher was in front of his flock proclaiming that there are just four points in the Word that surpass the level of mere opinion: 1) Jesus Christ created the universe, 2) He was the Son of God born of the Virgin, 3) He was crucified and resurrected, and shoot, I forget his fourth point. The fact that he, at this time, was relegating Romans 12 back to the level of suggestions for opinions, when before, they had been concrete principles, left me struggling to sort what was twisted from what was straight forward. A couple years earlier, this same preacher stood between his flock and a stage-full of guitars, music stands, drums, microphones, loud speakers, and heavy electrical cords, all being a matter offense to many people in his church, and right there, proudly insisted he would not do anything if it would injure or offend even one person. Yeah, right! Again, there was much struggle needed to skim the dross away from his real message. It is rather like finding currency in bull dung. The denomination of the currency compared to how fresh or dried is the dung will determine how much struggle one will expend to pull it out and clean it up. And if some preacher continually offers the gold of his thoughts embedded in bull dung, others’ respect for him may drop very fast!
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