Underhanded Tactics (Part 6: Words Versus Actions)

Previous blog article: Underhanded Tactics (Part 5: Knowledge is Power)

Have you noticed how we pay a huge amount of attention to what is spoken? Even to what is written down in words. But are words truth or may they present a facade? For example, I once attended a church where, judging by people's actions, it seemed that I was not welcome as part of the volunteer team, yet I heard sermons a short while after that at the same church exhorting all individuals in the congregation to become fully part of the church family and to help out wherever possible in roles that suited each person's gifts. A possibility is that the pastors may not have been aware of the problems people faced in integrating into church life as volunteers, hence the open call for volunteers from the pulpit. Another possibility is that the actions which I felt were displayed towards me formed the true underlying culture of the church and that volunteers were selectively being chosen from open calls for people; perhaps the pastors were fully aware of this behaviour. Of course another possibility is that the difficulty I experienced volunteering was my perception only and perhaps I did not understand the cultural norms of the church. I would have only really known which of these options was true by testing the open call for volunteers when this was made, for example, by approaching a pastor if I was unsuccessful once more and by doing some further investigating. But then again, I thought to myself, did I really want to force my way into volunteering for a place where I was not totally welcome from the start? This would be an uphill battle! And if my difficulty was a perceived difficulty only, then perhaps I needed to take a step back until I understood things more.

A stated culture or motto may not be fact, though of course one hopes it is! There are many examples of this in life, for example, a school where the principal stands up and says each child is valued, yet a few days after enrolling a child may be terribly miserable and may tell his or her parents that the teachers are horrible to many of the children. The only  way to tell for sure is to measure actions against words, but truth may take a while to be uncovered.

Words and actions which are in accord are key in what is meant by integrity. When words and actions are not in accord then this is hypocrisy. (I suspect this article will spawn a few more topics sometime!)