Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say.

I have been rather disturbed by something that has been creeping up more and more in our group over the last few years. For some reason, semantics are playing a more prevalent role and intention has been relegated to the back seat. Personally I make it a habit not to judge the intentions of others, but when what you say and what you do aren't lining up it's no longer a matter of judgment, it becomes a simple matter of observation.

I find it most harrowing that a decision can hang on the definition of one word, or rather how we choose to define that word at the moment. When being "politically correct" becomes so important it signifies that somebody is playing politics. Furthermore it seems to me at least that these people are employing misdirection, and making misleading statements in order to accomplish their goals. Personally I prefer honesty to political correctness every time.

An example of what I'm talking about happened at the Brownsville ministers meeting when the decision was made to disfellowship the Nashville church. Instead of simply saying that this is what was happening though, an attempt to soften the blow was made by calling it something else, withdrawing. Let's take a closer look at this and examine what is really happening so that we can know the truth of it. If we were going to disfellowship a church, we would stop visiting their church and attending their meetings, and we would not recognize their leadership. However keep in mind that we are not disfellowshipping this church, instead we are withdrawing, where we will stop visiting their church and attending their meetings and will not recognize their leadership. Don't let yourself be fooled, this is the exact same thing and to say that it isn't is a lie. To believe that these two things aren't the same must either mean that you are being dishonest with yourself or that you are very naive.

Even if disfellowshipping and withdrawing were two completely distinct defined procedures, if you can't see an appreciable difference in the results then they are still the same, though this is not the case here. There's a old bit of horse sense that goes something like "If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck". I ask myself why we are trying to convince ourselves that if we just say it enough or with enough conviction that that thing that's waddling down the road quacking will miraculously become something other than a duck (John 3:19). Stand up and have the guts to actually call a duck a duck, and if you are going to disfellowship a church have the fortitude of character to not be deceptive and misleading about it and actually say that what you are doing is disfellowshiping that church. If it looks like disfellowship, and sounds like disfellowship, it's disfellowship.

The one criticism that I've received over and over regarding how I handle myself in this blog is that I shouldn't name names or hold people accountable for what they say or do, especially when those people are in leadership roles, and instead should be more oblique about how I say what I say. I've been told this with the best of intentions, but in essence I am being asked to candy coat what I say, even if that means having to stretch the truth from time to time. That this desire to be deceived comes from my fellow laborers saddens me greatly. If I were to say that an unnamed brother in certain northern church which just happens to reside a mitten-shaped state may or may not have made a statement that resembles something that comes close to the truth, would that sound better than if I said that my name is Dan Dillon, and I will say what I believe is true 100% of the time and if I'm wrong, I'll be man enough to admit it and take my lumps? Is it right that I am criticized for writing the truth in a plain and simple fashion while I've yet to hear much criticism at all of those who would mislead with the words that they use?

Don't be fooled, what I'm talking about here is deception, nothing more, nothing less. When someone says that they won't do something but then does it anyway and calls it something else to hide the facts, we have a term for that: operating under false pretenses. Quit playing word games and instead speak the truth! The truth will set us free (John 8:32), but misdirection is only good if you are trying to hide something. Do you think that perhaps those who are playing these word games are secretly aware that they are handling the issues that the ministry has with Bro. Farmer in a non-Christian and unbiblical manner and are feeling guilty about it so they are hiding behind pretense? I don't know about you, but that explanation certainly seems plausible to me.

If there seems to you to be a little more passion in this post than normal, you are absolutely right. Dishonesty isn't just a pet peeve with me, I despise it and to knowingly accept dishonesty from our leadership sickens me. You see, there comes a time when you have to make a choice between doing what is acceptable and what is right. The problem is that what is right isn't always acceptable and what is acceptable isn't always right. I speak for no one other than myself in the next statement, but if I am criticized, maligned, condemned and shunned because what I say isn't acceptable and yet what I'm saying is still right, then so be it, I'll bear that onus. So I ask you, does this deception represent the leadership that we really want? Are we so happy with the comfort that deception provides that we prefer it to the truth, no matter how harsh? The only answer I can give is I hope not.

As I reread through this post I realized that the heat of my words needs to be tempered with a splash of cool water, so to close I want to remind you of one of the most blessed scriptures Paul ever wrote. "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom 8:38-39). Even though I am disheartened by the turmoil that seems more and more prevalent in our fellowship, I am persuaded that it could never be able to separate us from the love of God.