It is obvious that our job as followers of Christ is to speak the truth. Lies do not become us. Neither do false doctrines, misguided rants, or a lazy understanding of God's Word. As followers of "the Truth" (John 14:6), we must find the truth mandatory rather than optional.
However ...
... Scripture is clear. We must speak the truth, but we must do so in love (Eph 4:15). You see, it can be a pretty simple thing to declare with teeth bared what is true, but it can be a real challenge to do it in love. It speaks to the motivation, the aim, the purpose. Paul told Timothy, "The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith" (1 Tim 1:5). If love is seeking the best for others, our truth-speaking would need to be motivated by a grand desire to seek the best for others.
You must admit, that isn't always easy. I mean, listen to the lies that are told, even in Jesus's name. Look at the harm they do with their lies. Look at the outrageous things they say. No, it's not always easy. But it's always necessary. So we need to check ourselves. We need to constantly aim to love God and love our neighbors even as we aim to speak the truth.
I'm convinced, though, that perhaps the hardest place to speak the truth in love is someplace you might not have considered. That's when you're talking to ... yourself. What do you tell yourself? Is it true? Is it loving? Many of us are harsh on ourselves. "I can't do anything right." "I'm good for nothing." Others are lying to themselves in the opposite direction. You've met guys who think they're God's gift to women. Trust me; it's a lie. So we lie to ourselves in the negative and the positive. We tell ourselves we can't do "that" even if "that" is something God has commanded. Or we tell ourselves it's perfectly okay to do "this" even if "this" is something God has forbidden. We lie to ourselves about our abilities and our shortcomings, our weaknesses and our strengths, our character and our lack thereof. Brothers and sisters, these things ought not be.
We suffer from deceived hearts (Jer 17:9), so it's no surprise. Still, we're commanded to speak the truth in love. That would include those around us, obviously, but it is in our own best interest that we speak the truth in love to ourselves as well. Because we suffer from bad hearts and bad thinking and we need to be made new. It's a constant battle. And if we just ignore, it doesn't just go away. In a world full of lies (like identity by sexual preference, non-binary gender, gay mirage, confused morality, the right to murder babies if we feel like it, one-sided racism, "The Bible isn't a reliable document," the separation of church and mind, etc.), speak the truth in love -- to others and to yourself.
8 comments:
Imagine two doctors; Dr truth and Dr love.
Now doctor truth is very good at surgery, cutting out the bad stuff. but he has a terrible bed side manner. he does not give much thought to what the patients might feel, he just cuts away without anesthetic. He may even get a little perturbed at the patients apparent lack of understanding of their condition.
Enter Dr Love: now he will always make sure the patient is comfortable. but he usually does this at the expense of the patients well being. he will administer pain meds, but never really cure. he will encourage, saying all is well, even when the end is near. He loves his patients to death...
Now we come to Nurse practical.. she is such a darling.. she know how to balance the excesses of the doctors. she knows when a patient needs love and when a patient needs some plain truth.
ok enough of this silly narrative, i am sure you get my meaning..
I'm interested when I see ardent defenders of the faith pummel their opponents without apparent regard for their opponents. Righteous indignation. I think, "Wouldn't that go better if there was genuine love attached?" And I aim all that at myself, too. It's a tendency that I'd prefer not to continue.
I think the hardest part of the equation is that people forget that Truth isn't always telling people what they're doing wrong, and that Love has been redefined in our modern culture.
People want to equate Love with enabling, yet sometimes love is hard. Sometimes love requires the hard Truth be told.
Yes, often times the hardest person to speak Truth or Love to is ourselves. Satan is investing a lot of energy in convincing us that the truth is that we aren't good enough and never will be, and that we are not worthy of love. One of the most helpful tings I heard during my son's hospital stay was the reminder that the message he needed to hear was that his True identity was in Christ, not in his depression. He talked at chapel a few weeks ago and it tore me up to hear him talk about how messed up his self image was and how he felt like he had to live up to impossible standards. The mind (heart) is truly full of deceit and lies that will divert our focus is we aren't careful.
It's interesting how many progressive christians are becoming so hostile in disagreement. It's really gotten out of hand.
Dispensing information is easy; caring about those that you inflict yourself upon, well that is divine...
I think you're right, Craig, which is why I define love here. "Enabling" is not always in their best interest, so in those cases love would prevent rather than enable.
It's interesting to me about a negative self-image as one who has one. I used to think Paul wasn't talking to me when he wrote that we should not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. Then I realized that by telling God that He screwed up this particular creation (me), He had made a mistake. Now that's arrogant. I realized that Paul, in the end, was talking to both ends of the equation -- too high or too low.
True, Bob.
I agree. I do think we agree that Love is one of those words that have been redefined of late.
Great, You write good content Thanks for the thoughts and ideas.
Post a Comment