Larry Hollen has another blog posting which has caused me to think about how we live our lives even in the church. Toxic Niceness seems to allow bullying and lying to define too many relationships. He says, "There is a place for niceness in the workplace and the family but it must be authentic and not a mask for false equilibrium. It shouldn’t cover up dysfunction. It must be accompanied by truthfulness, responsibility and accountability"
I think it is interesting that the topic of toxic niceness leads me to thoughts of the upcoming General Conference. South Carolina delegates - Tim McClendon, Kathy James and Stephen Taylor - have been busy reading, reading and reading proposed legislation in preparation for it. Tim is also seeking election as bishop this year. Their blogs have been insightful to what is happening and each welcome our thoughts.
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"When niceness allows lying to go unchallenged and bullies to bully, it creates an environment of silence, mistrust and under-the-surface hostility that renders an organization dysfunctional and damages individuals."
That "bout says it.
Tom
Some in our churches think in "sound bites", such as "Love your enemy" and "Turn the other cheek" and "Forgive seventy times seven". All of these are incredibly important admonitions from Jesus, but they must not be taken out of the context of other admonitions, like "Repent of your sins" and "Love God and love your neighbor". Those who would make peace and keep peace at any cost (I pray Jimmy Carter is not doing that in the Middle East even as I write this) miss the rest of the Gospel message. If we love God, we will obey God's commandments, and we will do no harm as well as doing good. If we love our neighbor, we will love ALL of our neighbors and not allow some to be victimized while avoiding conflict with others (think Darfur, Tibet, and Saudi Arabia, for instance). Thank you, Tom, for saying it so succinctly.
On another note, Tim McClendon's article in this month's Circuit Rider regarding the resolutions before General Conference to realign the denomination to better recognize its global nature raises as many questions, for me, as it offers answers. I will be in deep and serious prayer for our delegates that they will be earnest in their efforts to discern God's will as they wrestle with this and the myriad of issues on the agenda.
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