20 Jul, 2009

Most Trustworthy Man in America Dies at Age 92

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite, whose authoritative delivery of news events from the John F. Kennedy assassination to the Apollo moon landing and Vietnam War, made him "the most trusted man in America," died on Friday at age 92.

Many young people today will probably not remember Walter Conkrite but he was the news reporter for America during almost every big event over the past 5 decades. And not only that, he was greatly admired for his honesty and straight forward approach. An approach that is often missing in today's news world.

During his years at the CBS anchor desk, Cronkite was regularly voted the "most trusted man in America" in opinion polls. Senator Robert Kennedy was so impressed he asked Cronkite to run for public office.

"I don't understand my impact or success," Cronkite once said. "That my delivery is straight, even dull at times, is probably a valid criticism. But I built my reputation on honest, straightforward reporting. To do anything else would be phony."

Story and photo taken from: http://www.reuters.com

Proverbs 20:6 (New American Standard Bible)

Many a man proclaims his own loyalty,
But who can find a trustworthy man?

James 5:12 (New American Standard Bible)

But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment

What does God say about being trustworthy?

Webster's dictionary defines trustworthy as being worthy of reliance or trust. Multitudes of people in America felt Walter Conkrite was trustworthy because he meant what he said and said what he meant. He didn't try to mix up words and sound fancy.

God also tells us in His Word not to mix words. He tells us that it is in our sinful nature to believe we are trustworthy but are we?

It is so easy to beat around the bush with people and just tell little half truths so we don't have to really say what we believe or feel. There are those moments in our lives when we must stand up to those around us and tell them the truth.

We don't have to excuse the sinful behaviors of ourselves and others. Making our yes, yes and our no, no involves being honest with ourselves and others. If we have a problem with someone we need to speak it in love. If it concerns us, we need to be honest about that too.

Today's world is very focused on being entertained. That isn't so bad, but when we let entertainment take the place over the fear of being dull, our trustworthiness in the eyes of God can often be compromised.

Like Walter Conkrite, let's be more concerned with not being a phony. Let's make our yes be yes and our no be no. May we not avoid the truth just to fit in with our friends and be popular. May God find us trustworthy to Him and to others.

  • Take an inventory of your life. Would you consider yourself trustworthy? Why or why not?
  • Would your friends consider you a trustworthy person?
  • Pray that God would allow you to be truthful with yourself and others.
  • Being untrustworthy is very common with many of our circles of friends. Single out a few friends who struggle with being untrustworthy or who have been hurt by others lack of trust and pray for them.
  • Be ready to communicate with others the trustworthiness of God. God wants us to trust Him. In fact, most of the Bible is about this very fact. This is often very critical for those who are looking for someone or something to trust.
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