Truth, Love and Service.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. (Ephesians 4:14-15, NIV)

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, NIV)

WARNING: THIS IS A BIT LENGTHY.

In my last blog, I wrote of the need for those of us who follow the King to watch what we say AND how we say it. I basically assumed that what we say will be the truth! (NOTE: Each of us must decide how we determine truth. I have always made it clear that I believe Jesus is the Truth, and that Christian scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit—it is truth. Anything that contradicts scripture is therefore false. I do not propose to debate this. It is foundational to Christian faith. If someone believes otherwise, I am willing to talk with them—but not argue or debate.)

We live in a time of incredible disunity. People don’t just hold opinions—they hold them to an extreme. This has been fueled by a number of cultural factors—political polarization, racial tension, rapidly growing gaps between age cohorts, and changing perspectives on right and wrong and truth. The ever-present social media has made it possible for every person to speak (or write) their mind—and many do! And as often happens when people let their tongues loose, things are overstated and said in ways that are calculated to win approval for their point of view, regardless of whether they are edifying or even true.

But Christians value the truth.

This seems obvious, but telling the truth is becoming difficult for Christians. We often find ourselves in situations where, if we say what we believe is true, we are branded as haters, bigots, phobics, and more. Many are afraid to say homosexual behavior is sin—even though scripture clearly says it is. Most Christians believe marriage is between a man and a woman, but many are afraid to say so for good reason—they could easily lose their jobs for acknowledging this belief. And now we are asked to say a man is a woman or a woman is a man because they feel like it—as though feeling something makes it true.

Many Christians have become heavily involved in these debates—choosing political sides and allowing these issues to distract from what is most important to disciples of Jesus.

And what is that? The simple truth that God became flesh, lived and died for our sins, and offered us forgiveness if we are willing to place our faith in Him. Even saying this places us at risk of being considered hateful, judgmental, phobic and whatever other label is in vogue at the moment.

Christians are to be known by our love. We are to speak the truth in love—not as a weapon or a tool to win an argument, but because people need to hear the truth. People need the truth of the gospel. But acknowledging some truths is inconvenient, even bringing hate against us—such as the fact that men and women are born one sex—one gender—and that is what they are for life.

That is truth. But how do we speak it in love?

First, we have to love the person we are talking to—whether someone who simply disagrees or someone who has predicated their life on a belief that we know to be false. We have to recognize that being right about something does not make us any better than someone who is wrong. We need to remember that the one who gave His life for our forgiveness loved them, and instructed us to love them and serve them.

Which leads to the second point. We cannot simply proclaim facts others find offensive and say “Tough”. We are commanded to love and serve those people. THIS DOES NOT MEAN WE HAVE TO AGREE WITH THEM or expect them to agree with us. It does mean we are obligated by our allegiance to the King to ask “How can I love (do what is best for…) this person?” And, “What are this person’s needs so that I can serve him or her?”

Years ago a church realized they weren’t doing particularly well when it came to loving people in the world with whom they disagreed. They were anti homosexual marriage, because they believed it simply doesn’t exist (as do I). There was a group in the community that was very active in their advocacy for homosexual marriage. The church and this group were very aware of one another and saw one another as enemies.

One person in the church took the teaching on Sunday morning to heart and began to pray for this group he had previously treated with contempt. He repented, and he looked for ways to show that repentance. He decided to start slow and simple. He sent the leader of the advocacy group a note acknowledging his sin and asking for forgiveness—making it clear that he still disagreed and would continue to teach the truth, but that he realized he had never seriously asked himself if he loved and served this group. He (I suspect it was his wife) then baked a cake and delivered it to the office of the advocacy group with a note saying something like “a token of our love for you” and was signed by this person.

No one changed their mind about that issue because of this cake. In fact, some in the advocacy group were afraid to eat it! But the leader of the group called the one who sent it and asked what was going on. The sender replied that it was exactly what his note had stated. He realized he wasn’t loving and serving this person as our King commanded, and he wanted to change that. They talked, and at least some of the vitriol—the hatred—that existed between them was cleansed.

I don’t know what happened after that. But maybe that doesn’t matter so much as the fact that someone said, “I know the truth and I am going to teach it. But I am commanded to love and serve, and I am going to find a way to do that as well!”

In the next few months and years, those of us who belong to the King will be tempted to become part of the division and hate that is burning through the world today. We need to repent of that right now. We need to be willing to speak the truth regardless of the cost—and especially that core truth of the gospel! But we must do it with love and service, or we aren’t being faithful disciples of Jesus.

I wish I had a list of issues and how to do this with each of them, but I don’t. I believe this will be awkward and difficult. But we have to make it a priority, or we are denying the very Truth we claim to serve.

Know Jesus and Be Faithful!