You Need an Editor
Truth comes as conqueror only to those who have lost the art of receiving it as friend. – Rabindranath Tagore
A Nathan isn’t someone who rushes to tell you the truth…but someone who helps you ‘do the truth’.
A Nathan is a trusted advisor
A Nathan is a welcome intruder
A Nathan has unfettered access to who we are
A Nathan is not an executioner but a surgeon
A Nathan is the textbook example of one who ‘tells the truth in love
The story of Nathan confronting King David is found in 2 Samuel 12:1-14. Nathan the prophet was a gift to King David, giving him counsel on issues from architecture to music to succession and, most importantly, the heart of the king himself. Without Nathan, David would have continued his adulterous, murderous behavior, ultimately corrupting the Davidic line.
Joe Myers, in his book Organic Community, argues for ‘edit-ability’ rather than accountability. He talks about accountability being a fiscal term focusing on numbers and not relationships. The accountability mentality looks for offenses, monitoring others for sins and trespasses. The problem with accountability is that it’s too easy to keep ‘double books’, one for your accountability team and another secret book for yourself.
An editor is someone who is trying to help you get your ideas out as powerfully and as truthfully as you can. An editor tries to make your voice stronger, to speak truly and from your heart. When you lose your voice, an editor helps you hear it again, not telling you what to think but reminding you what to think about.
Being edited isn’t always fun – it’s very painful to have someone cut parts out of your ‘manuscript’. But a good Nathan is able to wield what William Blake calls ‘the spiritual sword that lays open the human heart.’
Journal Questions:
Have you experienced a Nathan relationship in your life? What was the hardest part about it? Are you still friends?
Nathan’s help us see the truth about ourselves. What’s a truth about yourself that you have resisted seeing?
The bigger our God is, the safer we feel to take relational risks. Do you agree?
How are accountability and editability different to you?