This post isn't so much about Romans 12 as it is about the study that we did this week.
The study we're doing as a group has a dvd portion, as well as a discussion time and some homework for during the week. It's a Chip Ingram study, which I may or may not have mentioned in the last post.
We were watching the dvd segment, and Chip started talking about some book that was used at Yale or Harvard or something like that. He said that they were used to teach reason and decision making or some such thing.
He told a couple of stories that were used in the book, and explained how they fit into the lesson about giving up everything to follow God. Then, at the end, he mentioned the book again, saying "If any of you have your phones out, and you're already googling the book title, you're not going to find it." He'd made the book up. He claimed that he made it up so that people would be more engaged, and if he'd simply started yelling about being sold out for God, and surrendering everything, most people would have checked out. And I was really bothered by that.
I understand the idea behind using stories to illustrate what you're teaching. Jesus did it, and it helped people to better understand what he was saying. My problem wasn't the fact that he used stories, but the fact that he went on about it being out of this college textbook. This wasn't part of the story. I mean, c'mon, he's Chip Ingram. People respect him, and if he said that they're stories he made up just for his message, I don't think anyone would care at all. In fact, people would be impressed that he is using the same teaching method that Jesus used.
Something about his casual attitude toward dishonesty made me unsure that this is someone that I want to be listening to. It's a real deal-breaker for me. I've had run-ins with people who enjoy telling "little lies" just because they can. And it is a major problem and needs to be stopped. I'm not talking about joking around, or telling stories that people know are stories. I'm talking about actual lies that have no reason to be told, but are told simply for the amusement of the teller. It's a pathological problem, and it's very hurtful to those who learn later on that they are being told lies. No one else was bothered by this, and kind of seemed to think that I was crazy for taking issue with it. And maybe I was. Maybe it was just the people in my past that made me feel that way. Maybe saying that the stories came out of the textbook from Yale or wherever was no different than using fictional stories to make his point. Maybe I was simply overreacting, and shouldn't care about it. But it coloured my whole opinion of him, and makes me a lot less interested in the study (which I wasn't super excited about to begin with). But that's the way it works, and that's why we need to really watch what we say and do. As Christians, and especially as Christian leaders, we need to be aware of how our words and actions affect people. Just because it amuses you, that doesn't matter. What matters is how it causes people to see your witness.
The study we're doing as a group has a dvd portion, as well as a discussion time and some homework for during the week. It's a Chip Ingram study, which I may or may not have mentioned in the last post.
We were watching the dvd segment, and Chip started talking about some book that was used at Yale or Harvard or something like that. He said that they were used to teach reason and decision making or some such thing.
Something about his casual attitude toward dishonesty made me unsure that this is someone that I want to be listening to. It's a real deal-breaker for me. I've had run-ins with people who enjoy telling "little lies" just because they can. And it is a major problem and needs to be stopped. I'm not talking about joking around, or telling stories that people know are stories. I'm talking about actual lies that have no reason to be told, but are told simply for the amusement of the teller. It's a pathological problem, and it's very hurtful to those who learn later on that they are being told lies. No one else was bothered by this, and kind of seemed to think that I was crazy for taking issue with it. And maybe I was. Maybe it was just the people in my past that made me feel that way. Maybe saying that the stories came out of the textbook from Yale or wherever was no different than using fictional stories to make his point. Maybe I was simply overreacting, and shouldn't care about it. But it coloured my whole opinion of him, and makes me a lot less interested in the study (which I wasn't super excited about to begin with). But that's the way it works, and that's why we need to really watch what we say and do. As Christians, and especially as Christian leaders, we need to be aware of how our words and actions affect people. Just because it amuses you, that doesn't matter. What matters is how it causes people to see your witness.
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