If you express a strong opinion and get attacked for it, please don’t backpedal with “I was only trying to say” or “What I really meant was.”
Of course we want to be humble and teachable. There is always room for criticism and dialogue. It’s good to say you’re wrong: but don’t apologize for being strong. Please don’t hold back on your heart to look more rational than you really are. You can’t always be so cool and calculated. The strength of your voice is necessary in a nervously muted world.
Your expression is who you are in the heat of the moment, fully imbued by your wild strokes of passion and personality, and no one should be sorry about that. Don’t minimize your own humanness by trying to appeal to everyone’s civil sensibility. You might need to examine your content, but don’t let it shrink your character. In a silent world of jaded conformity, we need more of your voice and not less.
— J.S.
Photo by TOM81115, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
J.S. Park: Hospital Chaplain 
This is what I needed to hear. My wife and I spoke candidly during our small group and we both sensed defensiveness from a few in the group. We felt attacked in a way. We’re doing a financial responsibility series by Andy Stanley and we are in our late 40’s and have made so many bad financial decisions, but have learned so much from them and our goal is to be debt free. The majority of the group are in their early 30’s. My wife and I left that group meeting wondering if we said something wrong. It was awkward. We only spoke the truth about bad financial decisions and debt from a Biblical and personal perspective. I read this blog to my wife. Thank you for this truth!
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This came a good time. I’m preparing to write a blog post about how people bear responsibility for their actions, both personal and public. I can expect a few (or more) angry or unhappy responses. My own responsibility is to consider whether my statement is important, accurate, courteous, and clear. Whether it pleases all of its readers cannot come ahead of its ethical value.
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