How Wise is Honesty

I traveled recently with Derek Webb, who I greatly admire. We spent about a week on a bus in a traveling circus with Robbie Seay, who was shot out of a canon, and myself, who juggled plates, and Derek who put a knife through an apple sitting atop his wife Sandra's head. It was a great week. Nobody was hurt.

Anyway, I found it interesting how Derek lives his life regarding communication. Derek is a humble, honest, non-showy kind of person. He is who he is and there is no pretense. He is brutally honest with his fans on twitter and in his music. That said, he ticks a lot of people off. He shares how he is feeling and if he changes his mind he says that he changed his mind and has no problem with the change. If it's raw honesty you are looking for, follow Derek.

Another friend I greatly admire is Max Lucado. If you are wondering if Max really is as genuine as he seems, then I'll tell you he is. He's my hero, in many ways. Max' philosophy about blogs and twitter and for that matter, his own tongue, is not not to say anything that would interfere with somebody interacting with God. Max is very careful. That said, he's no politician. I've seen Max take some uncomfortable stands and I would imagine he's received some flack for it, but still, he's much more careful with what he communicates, and I'd imagine he's careful with what he allows himself to think.

I find myself somewhere in the middle. I hold my tongue a great deal, but not always. If somebody offends me, I tell them, where as Max would probably turn the other cheek. If somebody offends Derek, he just retweets their criticism for the world to see, and allows people to police themselves.

Now I have to tell you I don't believe either of these approaches are right or wrong. In fact, both seem very genuine to both Derek and Max. Neither comes off as fake in the slightest bit. In fact, knowing both them, they strike me as guys who would be fast friends. So this isn't about them.

What I'm wondering is how honest do you want people to be? If your pastor is steaming mad one night, venting to his wife about what some jerk at the church said, do you want him to tweet about it? Do you want to know? And if you don't, is it because that wouldn't be wise, or because you want to think your pastor is somebody he isn't?

Thoughts on the wisdom of honesty?

How Wise is Honesty is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog