As a Public Address professor, and a long-time practitioner, I read the journal — “Vital Speeches Of The Day.”
David Murray, the Editor of “Vital Speeches of the Day,” addressed 100 communicators who had gathered for an online conference titled “Communicating to Understand.” [1]
In his address, he makes this simple point, which is actually a suggestion . . .
How do you make sure you’re not being myopic in your view? Seek and cultivate relationships with bright, admirable people who hold different views than you do—even in your own household, as former George W. Bush speechwriter Noam Neusner suggested on a panel of conservative communicators, noting that that very morning he’d been on a three-mile run talking through some gnarly issues with one of his beloved, “very liberal” teenage daughters. Such experiences, Neusner said, help him do what a practicing communicator must, which is to distinguish between the specifics of one’s political ideas and the life of one’s soul.
What a timely suggestion for our society and culture in “America – 2020-2021.”
AND
What a valuable suggestion for preachers and teachers!
- Spend time talking with those friends and people who know not Christ as their Saviour
- Talk to those who hold other viewpoints — listen more than talk.
- Take a “three-mile run” with those who disagree, even strongly disagree.
- Show a willingness to talk through some gnarly issues — even with those who may be your critics.
- Engage with your beloved son or daughter, perhaps a person who is a much more liberal or conservative believer.
Get outside of the ministry-church bubble that marks so much of ministry life. That bubble can be so limiting; it is the sea in which we swim and has the potential to cause groupthink and pomposity.
David Murry’s point, really a suggestion, will change your Bible study time and preaching!
It has been well stated . . .
If we all read the same books, we will all think the same thoughts.
RhetoricAndHomiletics.Org 