When I was in Pretoria, South Africa last October, Quentin Krog of Firestorm Productions interviewed me. The interview is 20 minutes long.
On another note, I tweeted the following this morning. And it’s resonating with many:
“Too many Christians make the mistake of trying to resolve issues with another believer by email. Don’t. Pick up the phone or visit the person.”
“From Eternity to Here” is Compared with “Twilight”
Brother Frank,
Christ is LIFE-living, breathing, organic, and natural. E-mail has no being, no perception or reception of Spirit, no light to see the harm done or to see to the healing of such harm. Christ is VERY personal. The Breath of an e-mail-no such thing! Touch of a loving hug or hand can TOUCH inside the wound. An e-mail is like the law way, not the Life Way; As though typing is the same as voice, touch, or the presence of Love. Typing is not a true living connection. Just ask anyone in the wilderness!!!
This post and related blog post reminds me of the most gracious examples of correspondence I have ever seen. It’s in a book called The Living Lincoln, which is a compilation of Abraham Lincoln’s writings, mostly letters but also speeches and other documents. He wrote with such graciousness, politeness, and patience that it was amazing to behold. It changed the way I wrote emails for years, trying to emulate Lincoln’s graciousness. Once you put it in print (or hit send), you can’t delete it. The record remains.
Thank you, Jeff. Appreciate your spiritual discernment and sensitivity. Interesting about Lincoln.
Amen, brother Frank. Add Facebook and blog comments as well as email. At any point when an email exchange becomes misunderstood by the other party, it is best to talk by phone or in person, not to defend yourself (which will usually make things worse), but to bring the misunderstanding to light.
Good interview! I’m new to this way of thinking and am getting my head around it…..this interview with great clarity and incisiveness took me a little further on this journey. Thank you.
The blog on the pit falls of emails is very true. Emails are too easy! In the ‘old days’ when you had to write a letter, you needed paper and envelope – a postage stamp – a pen – ink – and above all, time. So that was several barriers that had to be hurdled before writing! I do believe that a face to face encounter is the very best for dealing with conflict. After all – it’s ‘Bible’!
Shalom Brother Frank, You’re very right! It’s a huge mistake to e-mail someone attempting to resolve issues. We’re so in a hurry to live that we think just shooting off an e-mail or tweet or Facebook post takes care of all problems. It doesn’t work that way. It’s cold and maybe even being an coward. What I mean by that is we don’t have to look one in the eye or listen to their voice, so we can just shrug it off. Oh, we think that we’ve resolved the issue, but, it really just lays there, waiting to take root once again.