Comments on: Daring To Be Truthful

By: Mark Mederich

Mark Mederich — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 20:44:22 +0000

‘honesty, especially about one’s weaknesses and failures, produces abundant good fruit. It opens the door to forgiveness, reconciliation, and friendship.’

yes truly all fall short of the glory of God, but maturity in Christ to face our failings not only releases God’s Holy Spirit healing in us, but also thru us..

By: Mark Mederich

Mark Mederich — Sun, 27 Oct 2013 02:43:19 +0000

let’s Dare to be Truthful; it isn’t easy or convenient, but it’s worthwhile

this is the kind of dare we need instead of elevation or upmanship

young people are encouraged by this kind of challenge amongst us all

HALLELUJAH!

By: Brian Karcher

Brian Karcher — Mon, 27 May 2013 17:55:58 +0000

This excellent article never got any real traction. Just tagging it this Memorial Day. May many in ubf dare to be truthful, especially in America. This message brought to you courtesy of the red, white and blue:

By: Joe Schafer

Joe Schafer — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 11:13:20 +0000

I can testify from personal experience: Americans lie. Asians lie. We may have different styles of doing it, but we all lie.

By: Henoch

Henoch — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 03:57:03 +0000

Ben, you are touching a really sensitive nerve here. =) I agree with you. There is something in the Korean culture, or let’s say, East-Asian culture, that makes it almost impossible to speak out uncomfortable truths in a frank and direct way. From an American perspective it can be interpreted as dishonesty. From an Asian perspective it may be called politeness and courtesy. (I definitely prefer the American way regarding these things =). This then would refer to a communication problem. please correct me if i am wrong here.
If i understood Joe correctly, he was referring to something slightly else: a dishonesty, which is not only culturally driven but rather has something to do with sinful, fallen humanity. This kind of dishonesty is expressed in actual lies in virtually every conversation we are engaging in. I think this is not culturally restricted but found everywhere and also in every church (we just studied the tragic event in the beginning of Acts 5). I am guilty of this sin, too. To my shame i have to say that i commit this sin on a daily basis. I am thus in desperate need of God’s grace to become a more honest person who reflects the truth that is in Jesus in a better way.

By: Ben Toh

Ben Toh — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 19:38:00 +0000

Yes, Joe, speaking truthfully, honestly, and as transparently as possible with one another is of the essence in building relationships, friendships, trust, and respect.

As some may have experienced, this is hard to do in our ubf culture, because of our generally “preferred” non-verbal way of communication. For example, if a leader is upset/displeased with someone, he usually doesn’t speak to that person directly, but he may make some unilateral decision which adversely affects the person, or he says something “unpleasant” in the announcements, or he asks someone else to speak to him to give him the “bad news.” This seems to be the surest way of straining and weakening, if not breaking relationships.