Remember life before the smartphone? With the apps, e-mail access and web access I can easily forget it’s also a phone. Problem is, so did the makers of my Blackberry. Not a day goes by without someone saying, “Can you say that again? I can’t hear you?” Turns out the crummy mic on my phone makes me sound like a robot gargling mouthwash.

All this technology and I can’t have a simple phone conversation. Did Paul have smartphones in mind when he wrote to the Corinthians, “Unless you speak intelligible words, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air?”

It’s a great reminder of how many ministry organizations operate. Lots of fancy ringtones to captivate but the core message is getting distorted. Jack Welch said, “Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.” I would add that poor leaders create a vision but can’t articulate it, get distracted, splinter their energies and resources in a hundred noble affairs and end up with a shell of what could have been...

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So with all the news about the moral and ethical transgressions of public figures, what questions do we need to wrestle with as faith-based communicators?

First of all, how do we handle Public Relations in an apology demanding media culture? I think we can all understand why a public servant, such as a politician, owes their constituents an explanation of moral and ethical failings. But to whom else does he/she “owe” an apology? It gets more sticky when we talk about the moral failing of an athlete or entertainer. When (and why) exactly is the public “entitled” to an explanation? Or a truly sincere and above-reproach apology? It’s a relevant conversation to have.

Now how does this apply to a church leader?...

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[continued from yesterday]

OK, so I'm not a fashonista. I’ve always and still do wear well-worn approximations of bell bottom jeans ‘cause I like them, and I like to wear unique shirts like I had when I was 17, unsaved, very long hair, playing in a rock band. I wear these ‘cause I like them. I’m not married to them, but they do tend to express a bit of who I am. I grew up on a small farm. I ride snowmobiles and big ATV’s, I go speed boating, I split wood, clean my own chimney, plant a garden and play raucous guitar. I like these things and feel they are in line with who God has called me to be.

I did have a spate where I tried to “fit in”...

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