Bob Hyatt found a great quote from Edward R. Murrow:
“Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn’t mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar.”
A good thing to keep in mind in this age when podcasting and blogs truly give us worldwide scope when we broadcast our ideas.
And it reminds me of another good principle to keep in mind: Blessing from God is not a stamp of approval on all of our beliefs.
The church in Corinth lacked no spiritual gift, yet we can see how messed up that church was by reading the problems Paul was dealing with. They were not perfect in their doctrine, yet they were blessed by God with an outpouring of the Spirit in ways even the most pentecostal of churches finds difficult to understand. So when God has blessed you with a great ability for public speaking… it doesn’t mean you’re 100% right. When your ministry explodes through the roof and you have to decide whether to become a megachurch or not… you’re not 100% right.
Don’t get me wrong, you may be doing a lot of things right, but don’t mistake the blessing of God as a stamp of approval which gives you license to present your own ministry as infallible. It just doesn’t work that way.
That was the google homepage quote of the day yesterday or the day before, it’s a good one
I like how you applied it and I totally agree.
Makeesha
July 17th, 2006
I totally agree the above comment, which of course means I agree with the post (and it’s not just that the above comment comes from my wife
!
Now the trick is, it’s easy for me to point a religious finger and say, “ha! you think your right because you have success but you’re wrong!” And then I realize that this also applies to me, no matter how far my voice may reach.
Peace!
David
July 17th, 2006
BTW the above comment in quotes was not directed at anyone in particular, including you Alan.
Go Rox.
David
July 17th, 2006