Charity and communication
Changing topics, but springing from the melee which happened below, I want to explore Christian communication.
I was thinking about my own contributions, AJ's charge of enjoying being right, and my own frustration with a speaker last year who I thought was uncharitable. The art of rhetoric is something the Christian community has lost--it shows in bad preaching (myself included), bad writing (refusing to use capital letters, at times), and therefore in bad witness. We argue polemically too often. AJ was right that I do enjoy being (or at least feeling, ironically enough) right. If this is the case, then arguing only becomes the atmosphere where I can feed my ego.
Communication comes from the latin word communio (mutual participation). Communio without passion is worthless; communio without reciprocity is dangerous; communio without charity is not Christian. The problem is passion is sometimes arrogance; reciprocity is sometimes the equality of ideas (ideas are not equal and refusing to accept to bad ideas/wrong opinions does not mean one is not attempting to communicate or is being uncharitable); charity is sometimes apathy.
I was thinking about my own contributions, AJ's charge of enjoying being right, and my own frustration with a speaker last year who I thought was uncharitable. The art of rhetoric is something the Christian community has lost--it shows in bad preaching (myself included), bad writing (refusing to use capital letters, at times), and therefore in bad witness. We argue polemically too often. AJ was right that I do enjoy being (or at least feeling, ironically enough) right. If this is the case, then arguing only becomes the atmosphere where I can feed my ego.
Communication comes from the latin word communio (mutual participation). Communio without passion is worthless; communio without reciprocity is dangerous; communio without charity is not Christian. The problem is passion is sometimes arrogance; reciprocity is sometimes the equality of ideas (ideas are not equal and refusing to accept to bad ideas/wrong opinions does not mean one is not attempting to communicate or is being uncharitable); charity is sometimes apathy.
posted by Aaron Perry at
7:22 PM
3 Comments:
a couple of things in response to my own post:
1. it was not about anyone being uncharitable.
2. the last line should read "equality" of ideas, not "equation." irony.
3. i think Some Guy got it right a while back in talking about authority. there is a crisis of authority. we mistake what commands our attention and response. i think authority must always be granted to truth (truth always commands attention and response) and so all speech be directed to the pursuit of truth. this means humility of the speaker and an amount of conviction in speech.
Only two points:
Some guy prefers his anonymity, Maves.
Some guy should not have bought into the ass rhetoric. Inappropriate. Apologies on that point (and only on that point) to AJ.
I love "some guy", whomever you are (wink wink)...Your secret is safe with me and I will never test your anonymity again from this point forward...that is my pledge. AJ, You suck! May Santa crap in your stocking!
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