Truth-tellers are rejected at their hometown

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 30: JANUARY 30, 2022]

Truth-tellers are rejected at their hometown

Luke 4:21-30. Jesus is rejected at Nazareth

Culture and norms are powerful means to pass on good traditions from generation to generation. However, organizations and society should always adapt to an ever-changing (i.e., indeterministic) environment. Thus, we need truth-tellers who are willing to be uncomfortable and share insights that may be deemed as “contrarian” against accepted and comfortable norms.

This is the cross that Christian managers must bear, and this is doubly difficult in a collectivist society like the Philippines, where we’d rather not ruffle feathers if we can tolerate it. Personally, I find that my tendency is to overprice the cost of ruffling feathers versus giving a more direct opinion on controversial issues. This is a challenge I must embrace as an educator and as a practicing Catholic, and I confess, it is so uncomfortable to do so (hello, fellow overthinkers!)

The truth is not incompatible with pain and suffering. Lies and bullshit are also not incompatible with comfort and pleasure. But pain and pleasure are mostly on the realm of sense-experiences; our challenge is to engage in deeper reflection, discernment, and insight.

Like an athlete who pays with literal blood, sweat, and tears, to be the best physical version of one’s self, we should be whole persons, who pays with goodness despite conditions of suffering.

Virtue, it is.