Tell Me What You Really Think

Practically Speaking
By C. Wayne Childers

What You Really Think

I was with a group this week on a retreat and was introduced to one guy and later another man said to me about the guy that he "has no filters" that he had head trauma and it affected the part of the brain that contains social screens. Some might say that about Donald Trump during this political circus. No filters.

All the time, during my preaching ministry, most people going out the door said nice things to me. I always wondered what they really thought. "Great sermon pastor," they might say. "It was good to be in the house of God today pastor." "That was your best ever." I never believed all of them because I knew when I hit a home run and when I should have stayed in bed. I wish some of them would have been honest. "Good try pastor," they might say. "I have heard worse pastor." "It is going to be a great afternoon pastor, good weather." My wife always told me the truth.

I love being just in the crowd at my new church. You can overhear lots of things just walking the halls and listening (ease dropping). Last week a guy with his family behind Laurie and I, obviously a visitor, said about the preacher; "Boy you can't sleep during that guys sermon." I was having a laughing fit on the inside of me. It made my day. I was having to preach that evening and was scared to death but the humor settled my anxiety. It is just a sermon. That outburst gave me the idea for this article. By the way the sermon was great and I think the guy was giving the speaker a subtle compliment.

As you have probably noticed, I have fewer filters in my old age. I have learned in the last five years to say it like I see it. That is a bit arrogant some might think. Others may question my sanity. Still others might think it is about time. I am living with it and the consequences are tolerable so far.

Jesus used terms like "blind leaders of the blind," and "whitewashed tombs," and "den of thieves," and "hypocrites," and "get behind me Satan."That last one was to his best friend. He also did things contrary to the norms of his day. He talked with a woman at a well. He ate with "sinners" and "publicans" (not republicans). He healed on the sabbath, actually helped people on that "HOLY" day. He accepted a woman that they were going to stone but challenged her to her best self. He did the unconventional as an example.

Thinking more about Jesus, whom I seek to follow, I would say about Him what was said about John Stossel in the Miami Herald, "If he didn't exist, we would have to invent him." It is logical to have Jesus. Please don't consider this sacreligious. I would like my atheist friends to engage me on that thought. Jesus is the real deal, without filters. Take it or leave it. Please.

Now some things are better filtered. Water in the Philippines is one of them. Some things are subject to the situational ethics spin. If your wife asks you if you like her new hair cut, or if the lunch was good, or if you think she looks ok in her new outfit you guys know the routine. Ok, are you kidding me? You look fantastic in that new dew, those wonderful slacks, and the lunch was better than if we had been at Cattleman's (I am a south sider you know).

However we filter out some of the good stuff about the gospel. We also filter out some of the bad stuff. Some who are more didactic about the gospel filter out Jesus' statements about children. They think that the gospel is too deep for a child to understand and that we should wait a while before we baptize them. It is politically incorrect in our day of theological sovereignty to actually believe that God is sovereign when it comes to a child's understanding. For some reason we want to make sovereignty an adult thing. Children sometimes lead adults. That is the good stuff filtered out. (I know the other side of this so just humor me).

We also filter out the bad stuff. When the rich young ruler walked away because he was tied to his stuff, Jesus let him walk. I would have been begging him to come back if it were me. I am a rescuer. I think I can sometimes fix things myself. But Jesus did not pursuit him any longer in that setting. The bad stuff of the gospel is "turn or burn." We don't like that in our sophisticated world. Jesus was about that but with tears. It grieved him but he was not going to "filter" the gospel. Truth is truth.

My grandchildren usually don't filter stuff. Filters are adult appendages. Wrigley patted me on the stomach the other day and said, "Paw Paw you are fat." So I just slapped that kid to knock some sense into him? No! I am now on a diet and am walking with my brother three miles every day. Filters and grandchildren are mutually exclusive.

So please be honest. It is still the best policy. Tell me what you think. No! Tell me what you really think.