Issue 030
Have you noticed the political and business technique of ‘the leak’? Parts of letters, reports, or accounts get leaked to the press in order to pre-empt or damage clearer communication. The resulting information is a half-truth which can even be the opposite of the whole truth. In addition the skill of spinning has been developed to a fine art so that whatever really happened is twisted to suit some self-interested purpose.
So news of redundancies gets leaked or spun. End of year statements
and shareholder reports come out in confusing pieces.
When you go to work, you take with you a ‘great commission’. Jesus
has asked you to “make disciples teaching people to obey everything I
have commanded”. One of the greatest obstacles to us fulfilling this
command is fear – fear of looking stupid or losing a job or not being able
to answer the questions people ask. So for many of us our faith just
leaks out. People gather, through titbits of information, that there
maybe something religious about you. They focus on what you don’t
do or say or your moral stance on the lottery or euthanasia.
If more information gets out then we revert to techniques. We try to
hide parts of our faith which we find uncomfortable to explain or live
with. We avoid the aspects of Christianity which we feel could
threaten our security. In short we attempt to spin.
But this is not what we have been asked to do. Jesus has asked us to
come clean; to identify fully with him and his message. When we
attempt to leak or spin the Gospel it ceases to be good news and
becomes just another half-baked idea. We miss communicating the
power, wonder and relevance to our colleagues because they just get a
taste of half-baked ‘bread of life’.
What have you got to lose? – Everything. What do you stand to gain?
– Everything. Do it wisely, do it relevantly, but make sure you come
clean – tell it the way it is and leave the outcomes to him. The Gospel
is news, just report it, don’t spin it.
Matthew 28:16 -20
16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
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Geoff Shattock
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