{"id":157,"date":"2006-09-15T08:26:44","date_gmt":"2006-09-15T12:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.churchpundit.com\/?p=157"},"modified":"2006-09-15T08:26:44","modified_gmt":"2006-09-15T12:26:44","slug":"craftiness-honesty-and-the-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/2006\/09\/craftiness-honesty-and-the-word\/","title":{"rendered":"craftiness, honesty, and the word"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I finished Jack Good\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book, The Dishonest Church. It was an okay read. I clearly don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t agree with everything he says. But the basic issue he has is that pastors are not being honest with their churches. In his case, he thinks that if they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe in, say, the divinity of Jesus, then they should be honest and preach that from their pulpits. Good is convinced that the congregation may appreciate the honesty, probably admit that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what they believe themselves anyway, and everyone will be happy\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 except those who do believe in the divinity of Jesus.<\/p>\n

I agree with Good that preachers should be honest. I disagree with the tack Good takes after that. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 4:2 says:
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nPaul insists on honesty. As Chambers says today, in reference to the same verse he translates as, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Not walking in craftiness\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d:
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6that is, resorting to what will carry your point. This is a great snare.<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Good starts with the human mind\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s conclusions based on experience, selected research, and hunches, and then canonizes which scriptures support these conclusions and rejects the rest. Paul went the other way, rigorously pressing God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s word upon the human mind and its conclusions. It is one thing to be honest with ourselves. But what if we ourselves are crooked, confused, and wrong? Paul asks: are we honest in light of God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s word? If we are honestly falsifying God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s word, then is that honesty or craftiness? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a totally different question.<\/p>\n

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I finished Jack Good\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book, The Dishonest Church. It was an okay read. I clearly don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t agree with everything he says. But the basic issue he has is that pastors are not being honest with their churches. In his case, he thinks that if they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe in, say, the divinity of Jesus, then they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":349,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thought"],"yoast_head":"\ncraftiness, honesty, and the word<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I finished Jack Good\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book, The Dishonest Church. It was an okay read. I clearly don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t agree with everything he says. 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