When the Apostle Paul gave his farewell address to the elders of the church of Ephesus, he said, “I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.” (Acts 20:26-27). Or, as some translations of the original Greek say: the whole counsel of God (KJV, ASV, ESV).

I like to think that my calling is to proclaim the whole counsel of God.

I was the General Counsel of a dairy cooperative for 33 years. Nowadays, the General Counsel of a company often uses the title “Chief Legal Officer.” This title helps people understand that the General Counsel is a lawyer, not a psychiatrist!

Although I held the title of “Chief Legal Officer,” I usually preferred to use my title of “General Counsel.” Why?

I prefer to be thought of as a counselor rather than as a lawyer. Anything but as a lawyer!

People don’t like lawyers. Some people hate lawyers. Hence all the lawyer jokes! Who hasn’t nodded their head and laughed at the line from Shakespeare: “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” (Henry VI, Part 2, Act IV, Scene 2).

Also, the title “General Counsel” gives people a better idea what the top lawyer for a company actually does. I spent most of my time counseling people.

If I needed a legal specialist such as a litigator or a real estate lawyer, I hired them. My role was to be a generalist, a counselor applying Law and Wisdom in every situation.

In a similar vein, I conceive of myself as a General Counsel for the Church and for Humanity. Let others perform specialized roles in law, government, religion, or business. I draw upon my general familiarity with all these roles to offer the whole counsel—the whole Wisdom—of God.

Therefore, when I published my books in 2004, I called them the General Counsel Series, counseling how we can build a civilization that is good—that is very good.

My blogs have the same purpose as my books, using my wisdom and experience as a General Counsel to build a civilization that is good—that is very good.

The need to proclaim the whole counsel of God becomes apparent when we consider the danger of being led astray by what I call DDDDDs:  Deceptive-Drawings-Designed-To-Deceive-And-Divide.

DDDDDs are those drawings that show both a beautiful woman and a hag. The image that we see depends upon our perspective.

It’s natural to see images that make us look good—images of “beautiful women.” It’s natural to see positive images that justify increasing our power and our wealth.

It’s natural to see images that make others look bad—images of “old hags.” It’s natural to see negative images that justify increasing our power and our wealth.

A General Counsel must push back against these natural human tendencies to see only what we like to see in the drawing of our life and in the drawing of our civilization.

We cannot see how to make a life that is good, that is very good, if we cannot see the planks in our own eye—the ways our life looks like old hags.

All of us have strayed and fallen short of the glory of God. (Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23).

On the other hand, we also cannot see how to make a life that is good, that is very good, if we cannot see the ways that we are already good, that we are very good—the ways our life looks like beautiful women.

All of us are created in the image of God. Even when we have strayed, we retain this empowering image of a person who brings Order out of Chaos, who overcomes Darkness with Light, and who lives a fruitful life that is good, that is very good. (Genesis Chapter One).

Similarly, we cannot see how to make a family, a business, a nation, and a civilization that is good, that is very good, if we cannot see the planks in the eyes of our family, our business, our nation, and our civilization—the ways they look like old hags.

All of us have strayed and fallen short of the glory of God. (Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23).

On the other hand, we cannot see how to make a family, a business, a nation, and a civilization that is good, that is very good, if we cannot see the ways that they are already good, that they are very good—the ways they look like beautiful women.

Humanity itself is created in the image of God. Even when all Humanity has strayed, all Humanity retains this empowering image of a person who brings Order out of Chaos, overcomes Darkness with Light, and builds a fruitful civilization that is good, that is very good. (Genesis Chapter One).

As a General Counsel, my calling is to proclaim the whole will of God—the whole counsel of God. Why?

So that each person may live a fruitful life that is good, that is very good.

And so that all Humanity may become a fruitful civilization that is good, that is very good.

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To learn what makes a civilization good—makes it very good—please read my blog “How Do We Build a Civilization That Is Good—That Is Very Good?”.

To learn how to overcome disagreements and hatred, please read my blog “We Need Inspiring Visions of a Bright Future. Why?”.

To learn why—in order to overcome DDDDDs—we must come and reason together (Isaiah 1:18 (KJV)), please read my blog “Intensive Care Units or Health Clubs?”.

To learn why—in order to overcome DDDDDs—we must listen to understand instead of listening to argue, please read my blog “Deceptive-Drawings-Designed-To-Deceive-And-Divide”.

To learn how we overcome DDDDDs by lighting Humanity—not by might nor by power, but by the Holy Spirit—please read my book Lighting the World, especially at pages 53-59 and 73-82.