Imagine the following situation: A powerful monarch has committed a crime, but has hidden it well. Calling him out on his behavior would certainly be risking your safety, but you feel strongly that it cannot be ignored. How would you deal with this situation?
That is precisely what happened between King David and Nathan, his advisor, 3,000 years ago. David had committed adultery with a married woman, Bathsheba, and she was pregnant. To try to hide his crime, he ordered that Bathsheba’s husband, a soldier, be placed at the front of a battle to insure his being killed. Driven by desire, David had broken two commandments: adultery and murder.
How did Nathan handle the situation? He told David a story about a rich man who had many sheep. This rich man was planning to entertain an important guest and rather than slaughtering one of his own sheep to provide for the meal, he stole the only lamb of a poor farmer and slaughtered it instead. When David heard this, he was so incensed that he declared that the rich man should be brought to him immediately so that he could be severely punished. At that point, Nathan declared to David, “Thou art the man.” Seeing himself as the rich man in the story, David confessed to what he had done, repented, and went into a period of mourning to atone for his behavior.
There are many lessons to be gleaned from this story, but the one that I wish to emphasize is the importance of speaking truth to power. That is what Nathan did in taking a stand for what was right. He certainly risked David’s wrath. But in doing what he did, Nathan’s actions became the impetus for David’s admission of guilt and the beginning of his self-imposed penitence.
Speaking truth to power has never been an easy thing to do. Whether uncovering crimes in high places, whistle blowing about wrong-doing in industry, or shining a light on injustice, the risk has always been significant. And yet, doing just that is often the essential catalyst for needed change, whether in a society, a community, or an organization.
Lord Acton stated that “absolute power corrupts absolutely”. If that is the case, the need for courageous individuals to speak truth to power is crucial to the moral health of any society. Jesus and his apostles spoke truth to power and suffered for it as have many others in the course of history. Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Nazi Germany, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rosa Parks are cases in point.
Frederick Douglass once said, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” Whether that demand is made to a person of moral character, like King David, or a person of less self-awareness, the first action is always to speak truth to the power that is abusing its responsibilities. Without the light of truth, the darkness will hide behavior that needs to be seen so that it can be corrected.
Jesus taught that the “truth shall make you free.” What is implicit in that statement is also that truth must be communicated, not only to the receptive, but to the unreceptive as well. But there is another lesson. Communication has to be done skillfully. It has to be done in a way that is non-judgmental. That is what Nathan did. He addressed the situation in a way that David’s behavior was self-seen. Had it been done otherwise, I believe the story would have turned out much differently.
We are living in times when speaking truth to power is as important as ever. Ask yourself, am I being called to stand up for what is right? At one time or another, we all will be. How will you answer?
— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Charles Wellington is a member of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, Massachusetts, and regularly meditates with the Great Plains Zen Center in Monroe.
