{"id":24749,"date":"2026-03-27T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/?p=24749"},"modified":"2026-03-25T14:57:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T21:57:23","slug":"truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/","title":{"rendered":"Truth-telling can housebreak your elephant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Rev. Paul Graves<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When our first granddaughter was about 1, our family introduced her to the three-ring circus. As the elephants came out and did their tricks, I noticed a strange thing: no pooper-scooper behind them. Could it be true that elephants can actually be house-broken?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes they can! They are highly trainable to use a bucket. Who knew?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I ask you: \u201cHow do you housebreak a (metaphorical) elephant?\u201d My quick answer: \u201cUntil you name the elephant in the room, you have no chance to house-break it.\u201d I believe naming that elephant is a primary task of healthy truth-telling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metaphorical elephants need more than a bucket. They need a straight-forward dose of naming whatever \u201ctruth-piece\u201d they depositing on the floor. If we don\u2019t name that truth-piece, we spend all our energy side-stepping it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To illustrate, I want to momentarily explore Christian Nationalism and the Iran War. (I really don\u2019t mean to use the elephant symbol as a substitute for anything MAGA. Though in this case, it seems to turn out that way. \u201cElephant in the room\u201d is really nonpartisan.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So many MAGA leaders directly or indirectly embrace the tenets of the elephant called Christian Nationalism: President Donald Trump; U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, Trump\u2019s nominee for U.S. Department of Homeland Security secretary; and House Speaker Mike Johnson \u2013 to name four. For them and so many followers, the New Apostolic Reformation is the toxic organization behind a fierce determination to make the Iran War into a \u201cHoly War,\u201d another elephant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NAR is based on a 1960s-70s movement called Dominionism. Its Christian political theology insisted that Christians take dominion or control over key sectors of society through the abuse of power. In his blog \u201cGod\u2019s Politics With Jim Wallis,\u201d Wallis contends that \u201cAt its core, dominionism is not truly Christian, and stands in direct contrast to the gospel of Jesus which is grounded in love and compassion, and humility.\u201d I quickly and deeply agree with Jim\u2019s effort to speak this truth-piece about Christian nationalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He wants to clean up the droppings of the NAR\u2019s distorted view of how Jesus lived and taught his disciples \u2013 then and now \u2013 to live out God\u2019s peace-full (complete) plan for all humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump and too many others seem to be listening to what Wallis calls the NAR \u201cpower-brokers.\u201d Some military commanders have described the war as \u201cbiblically sanctioned\u201d (Really?). They tie this to the fundamentalist thought of the \u201cEnd Times\u201d as described in the New Testament\u2019s Book of Revelation. A misreading for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth and some military leaders think this war is a \u201cbiblical war.\u201d One of my questions: How do troops, pilots, naval ship personnel, anyone militarily committed, react if they totally disagree that this war is biblically driven?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is the Iran War an elephant in your room? How much bigger does the elephant become when we mix distorted religious beliefs into the \u201cmix\u201d being left on the floor?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is truth-telling helpful to you as you try to get a grip on how to respond to your own fear, anger, despair, and even hope? How do you distinguish between competing \u201cdivine missions\u201d? One that brings needless death and destruction to persons and their cultures? Another mission that brings hope, love, and a sense of just treatment (justice) to all people?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Missions in conflict, to be sure! What truth-telling do you need to engage in \u2013 whether within yourself and\/or in company \u2013 so your own internal compass is set on your own \u201ctruth north\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What standards do you use so you can choose which mission you want to embrace and encourage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Housebreak your elephants! Tell your truth \u2013 and with hope!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The Rev. Paul Graves<\/strong> is a retired elder member of the Pacific Northwest Conference of The United Methodist Church.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this week’s column, Rev. Paul Graves uses an unlikely image \u2014 a housebroken elephant \u2014 to make a pointed argument about truth-telling. From Christian Nationalism to the Iran War, Graves contends that we cannot address the hard realities of our moment until we are willing to name them plainly. The elephant in the room won’t clean up after itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":24750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[74,16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24749","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-opinioneditorial","8":"category-pacific-northwest-conference"},"yoast_head":"\nTruth-telling can housebreak your elephant - Greater Northwest Area | News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Truth-telling can housebreak your elephant - Greater Northwest Area | News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In this week's column, Rev. Paul Graves uses an unlikely image \u2014 a housebroken elephant \u2014 to make a pointed argument about truth-telling. From Christian Nationalism to the Iran War, Graves contends that we cannot address the hard realities of our moment until we are willing to name them plainly. The elephant in the room won't clean up after itself.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Greater Northwest Area | News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/greaternw\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-27T16:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Elephant-in-room.jpg?fit=1500%2C844&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"844\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"GNW Communications\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GNW Communications\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"GNW Communications\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/be46559f16517abdea08b6314c898c7e\"},\"headline\":\"Truth-telling can housebreak your elephant\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-27T16:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/\"},\"wordCount\":651,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Elephant-in-room.jpg?fit=1500%2C844&ssl=1\",\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\/Editorial\",\"Pacific Northwest Conference\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/\",\"name\":\"Truth-telling can housebreak your elephant - Greater Northwest Area | News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Elephant-in-room.jpg?fit=1500%2C844&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-27T16:00:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Elephant-in-room.jpg?fit=1500%2C844&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Elephant-in-room.jpg?fit=1500%2C844&ssl=1\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":844},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Truth-telling can housebreak your elephant\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Greater Northwest Area | News\",\"description\":\"Stories of Mission and Ministry\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Greater Northwest Area of The United Methodist Church\",\"alternateName\":\"GNWUMC\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/cropped-GNW-NEWS.gif?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/cropped-GNW-NEWS.gif?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Greater Northwest Area of The United Methodist Church\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/greaternw\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/be46559f16517abdea08b6314c898c7e\",\"name\":\"GNW Communications\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/917adff6e90e4da3cfc06ef9066bcb61272b916efbf38cacce38b66660cb9587?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/917adff6e90e4da3cfc06ef9066bcb61272b916efbf38cacce38b66660cb9587?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"GNW Communications\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/author\/gnwcomm\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Truth-telling can housebreak your elephant - Greater Northwest Area | News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Truth-telling can housebreak your elephant - Greater Northwest Area | News","og_description":"In this week's column, Rev. Paul Graves uses an unlikely image \u2014 a housebroken elephant \u2014 to make a pointed argument about truth-telling. From Christian Nationalism to the Iran War, Graves contends that we cannot address the hard realities of our moment until we are willing to name them plainly. The elephant in the room won't clean up after itself.","og_url":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/","og_site_name":"Greater Northwest Area | News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/greaternw","article_published_time":"2026-03-27T16:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1500,"height":844,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Elephant-in-room.jpg?fit=1500%2C844&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"GNW Communications","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"GNW Communications","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/"},"author":{"name":"GNW Communications","@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/be46559f16517abdea08b6314c898c7e"},"headline":"Truth-telling can housebreak your elephant","datePublished":"2026-03-27T16:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/"},"wordCount":651,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Elephant-in-room.jpg?fit=1500%2C844&ssl=1","articleSection":["Opinion\/Editorial","Pacific Northwest Conference"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/","url":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/","name":"Truth-telling can housebreak your elephant - Greater Northwest Area | News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Elephant-in-room.jpg?fit=1500%2C844&ssl=1","datePublished":"2026-03-27T16:00:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Elephant-in-room.jpg?fit=1500%2C844&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Elephant-in-room.jpg?fit=1500%2C844&ssl=1","width":1500,"height":844},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/truth-telling-can-housebreak-your-elephant\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Truth-telling can housebreak your elephant"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/","name":"Greater Northwest Area | News","description":"Stories of Mission and Ministry","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Greater Northwest Area of The United Methodist Church","alternateName":"GNWUMC","url":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/cropped-GNW-NEWS.gif?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/cropped-GNW-NEWS.gif?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Greater Northwest Area of The United Methodist Church"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/facebook.com\/greaternw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/be46559f16517abdea08b6314c898c7e","name":"GNW Communications","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/917adff6e90e4da3cfc06ef9066bcb61272b916efbf38cacce38b66660cb9587?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/917adff6e90e4da3cfc06ef9066bcb61272b916efbf38cacce38b66660cb9587?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"GNW Communications"},"url":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/author\/gnwcomm\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Elephant-in-room.jpg?fit=1500%2C844&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24749"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24751,"href":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24749\/revisions\/24751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}