Truth, Beauty, Goodness and Unity

What do these four words have in common? What type of action do they require of people who want to exemplify them? Can one exist without the other, or does one have to exist for the other three to happen?

These are some of the question that I am trying to answer after reading Tom Morris's book, "If Aristotle Ran General Motors." This book was a required reading for my Applied Business Ethics class for my MBA, but once I opened it up, it wasn't hard to read the whole book in one sitting. (I still have to write the paper that corresponds with the reading, but my blog seems to be more important at this moment...lol) Since then, I've gone back through it and wanted to put some of Morris's points out there to see what the rest of you think.

Truth

The first (or base) universal dimension of human experience that Morris mentions is our intellectual dimension, which aims us at truth. We all need knowledge and to have ideas just as much as we need to have food, air and water. We need truth so that our minds are nourished just as our bodies are nourished by the food that we eat.

I wrote about truth in an earlier post here. I was looking at truth asking the question is there ever a time when you shouldn't tell the whole truth, or when it is okay to lie. Or how do you tell the truth when it might be very hurtful.

Here are some quotes from the book about truth that might hit home for you:

"We should cultivate an environment in which people are not afraid to tell us the truth."

"Too many workers and managers are reluctant to pass on a hard truth to the person they report to, because they are working in a corporate culture where it's not clear what the value of truth is."

"I search after truth, by which man never yet was harmed" --Marcus Aurelius

While this book was written for the business person, I see how these quotes are very important to our everyday lives, in our churches, in non-profits, in politics, in mission-agencies, and in our families. We are so hung up on keeping "the peace", avoiding conflict, and/or making sure everyone is happy that we end up hiding the truth. If we were able to tell the truth without fear, think how many problems and difficulties we could avoid.

Goodness

As Mr. Morris writes about goodness he is talking about ethics and morality and what they all imply. He also writes about how our culture has failed at being good and why. Here are some of his points:

"Ethics is not primarily about the big things [ie: abortion, homosexuality, social injustice, euthanasia]; it's not the sole preserve of mind-bending dilemmas and difficult cases. It's mostly about everyday matters like how we treat the people around us and how we conduct ourselves. If we don't get it right in the little things, we're unlikely to get it right in the big things."

"The best portion of a good man's life: His little, nameless, unremembered acts of Kindness and of Love."--William Woodsworth

"A moral crisis seems to have enveloped all sectors of American-Life [not just Wall Street or in abortion clinics]. If you have any doubt, take your car to a mechanic, talk to a contractor about building a house, ask around town for a lawyer you can trust, shop for an used car, or even a new car...brackets are my comments

Apparently, the only guidelines for conduct widely in all these contexts are:

1. Look out for number one

2. Whatever you do, don't get caught

And for those who are ethically sensitive and altruistic:

MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS"

We as Americans have become so wrapped up in short-term thinking and our immediate gratification. I too struggle with this, I'm not just condemning without pointing the finger at myself. Morris says that in the type of climate where short-term thinking dominates, "urgency easily pushes out the important."

Some of the questions I wrote in the margins of my book when I read about this were:

"Why do we have to be so short-term results focused? Why do we need instant gratification? When did we change from being Long-Term focused to short-term and self-centered?"

Morris wrote that when we think about the consequences of our actions we tend to think only of the immediate effects--we don't look far ahead.

Two questions that I want to take away from this reading and continue to ask myself anytime I have to make a decision:

1. What impact will my decisions and my behavior have on the people closest to me over the long-run?

2. And what sort of person am I becoming, long-term, by the decisions I make?

This book has invoked a lot of thought over the last week, and helped me to start aligning all the garbled thoughts I've had about ethics, morality, decisions I've made, and the decisions I still have to make. I feel a little bit more liberated to take my time in decision-making. That's a good feeling.

Reference

Morris, T. (1997). If Aristotle ran general motors: the new soul of business. New York, NY: Owl Books Henry Holt and Company, LLC

I miss my woman!

I love you Heidi!

VOTE

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to make something clear after my previous post; please vote!

I was writing about my struggle with deciding which candidate to vote for if I only looked at the concern for the life or death of another human being. I was running through the different options that one might have if they only voted based on those two issues; war and abortion. I realize there is more to the current state of our country than those two issues.

Voting has serious implications about what we say we believe vs. what we really believe. We must exercise this freedom to choose, not just for the sake of choosing, but so that we can know ourselves better. We can say what we believe out loud as much as we want, but until we act on what we are saying, it's just a bunch of fluff. When we vote we start to follow through on our beliefs and it's a first step in the direction of acting out what we believe.

I will be voting when I receive my absentee ballot!

Lesser of two evils?

I hate war. I hate that we kill babies. These are two major issues for me. If these two issues were what I based my vote on how can I decide who I would vote for in this election? (I say would, because SD hasn't sent me my absentee ballot yet, and I doubt it will get here in time.) Would I be justifiying death and murder by voting for either side?

Do I desensitize myself to the situation and vote based off of other issues?

Or do I pick the one that will kill less people?

Here are some stats on the death toll due to the Iraq war (http://icasualties.org/oif/) :

4187 Americans Killed
176 UK killed
138 Other
4501=total Coalition death toll in Iraq in 5 1/2 years

Here are some stats on deaths due to abortion (http://www.all.org/article.php?id=10123) :

3,288 Americans Killed per day
23,016 Americans Killed per week
1.2 million Americans killed per year

The numbers are overwhelming. If you wanted to kill less people, I guess you would vote for the candidate that says he would overturn abortion. But I don't think I can handle knowing that I am responsible for one death through my vote. Maybe I would vote for the anti-abortion candidate, because at least our servicemen these days made a conscience choice (a service-focused choice at that) to do what they do and babies don't have any choice or protection when it comes to abortion.

But still, I am having a hard time dealing with the fact that whichever way I vote I will have someone's blood on my hands...

Maybe I wouldn't vote, even if I had an absentee ballot. I don't believe either of the candidates will make any real change. Why do we think we can put all of our trust in one man or woman to revolutionize our country? When are people going to stand up and get things done together? When will we reach out and help that person we know who is going to lose their home? When will we reach out and help that pregnant, single-mother, so that she doesn't have an abortion? When will we start, as real people, to really help others?

Maybe voting is just a way for me to be an active participant in this difficult, moral, and ethical process? Maybe it will encourage me to be an advocate for life, no matter the situation?

What we need is to refocus our attention and trust in the One True God and our Savior Jesus. We need mercy from God. We need to turn to Him and He will lead us; and not our selfish, self-preserving desires. Let's get on our knees in prayer for our families, our neigbors, our nation, and our world.

A call to give Him Glory

Let us give Him glory in all that we do; for He is the Most High!

Catalyst--Together

Well, I wrote last week how I was really excited about the Catalyst leadership conference that Heidi and I attended in Atlanta.  If you read the blog I posted last week you know that God was doing something and showing me his love. 

Throughout the conference the speakers just spoke to the heart of the matter.  I learned so much from experts on leadership and heard from some great Christian leaders as well.  Over the last week, God has really identified for me that I struggle the most with pride and what others think of me.  It's idolatry to always worry what others think of you...Heidi has been telling me this for a long time, but I guess I never really heard her.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not telling you to to stop considering others, this is still very important.  For me though, it's like every decision I make I have to go through a list of people to make sure that no one will find fault with me.  When really, it's okay if someone sees fault in me.  It's going to be a tough road to get over this...but with God's grace and forgiveness I know I will get through it. 

Catalyst really challenged me, with 12,400 other Christian leaders from EVERY denomination, to embrace change in our lives; it's how God pulls us through the process of sanctification.  He is a Holy God and ALL of his ways are righteous.

I pray for God's direction in your life and that you wouldn't resist when He is calling you to change.  I pray that God will open our hearts to receive His grace and direction.

Happy Birthday Allison!!!

Happy Birthday to our one and only niece! We hope you enjoyed your second birthday and can't wait to see you again! Love, Jon andHeidi

I'm Broken AND Put Back Together

I am on an airplane from Santiago, Dominican Republic on my way to Atlanta for the Catalyst Conference.  I have a stop over in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Heidi and I will be meeting up to attend the conference that will cover a bunch of different things, from Passion, Influence, Justice, Community in the context of being young leaders.  I will write more about this later, but know that we are very excited about this opportunity to learn from others in the Kingdom.

But what I really want to write about is how God has touched my heart today.  When I sat down on the plane I turned on my iPod and the first song was by Hillsong, "For who you are".  The chorus is:

I will worship you for who you are

I will worship you for who you are

I will worship you for who you are, Jesus

Standing here in your presence

Thinking of all the good things you have done...

Holy, Righteous, Faithful to the end

Savior, Healer, Redeemer and Friend

and during this chorus I started to ask myself if I was worshiping Jesus, in my life, for who he is and I just started to break down and cry.  He is all those things in the song, and more. But he only needs to be one of them for me to honor him, a Holy Savior. Have I honored Him?  It's a good thing my seat is in the last row and I'm by myself. I don't cry much.

I sat there convicted.  All the things I've said or done in the last few weeks have been done with pride.  Not the good kind of pride either.  Gosh, why do I have to struggle with my flesh so much!  I'm crying out in my heart to God that I am sorry.  Sorry for not acknowledging His "omni"-presence, for blatantly ignoring His presence.  Sorry that I've lost focus of His Cross, even as I'm telling others to focus on it! 

He's saying back to me through His word, "I Forgive You". God loves me.  He loves all His children dearly and wants them to confess.  He will take care of it; he already has, actually, with the blood of Jesus.  He changes our hearts.  He is changing mine.  Praise be to God.

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.  For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Psalm 32:1-5

Important Questions

I have been struggling along with some of our friends here in Panama over truth the last few months.  I think I have always felt that truth was more important than anything else, and sacrificing truth for the greater good wasn't really a concept that could exist.  I have been challenged over the last months and wanted to pose the question to all of you that read my blog.  I am thinking in more of a Evangelism, Bible-understanding point of view, but please feel free to answer the questions I pose with world examples as well.  Also, the questions may seem simple but to me they are very deep and pivotal to how we live our lives day to day.  Please answer with care.

What is more important?

Telling truth vs. keeping the peace

Telling truth vs. maintaining hope (possibly false hope)

Telling the truth vs. Getting people in the door however you can with the intention of telling the truth later. (evangelism idea, but can be applied elsewhere, like politics)

When does telling the truth become an UN-loving thing to do?  I believe truth is absolute.  Do you?  Is truth the end or the means?  Where do you find truth?  In God's word?  Inside yourself?  What's your foundation of truth?

I would love to have as many responses to this blog as possible!

In Christ,

 

Jon