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June 2018

WE MUST HAVE BOTH TRUTH AND LOVE

By | Christian Writing | No Comments

“Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.” (2 John 1:3)

“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:15-16)

I don’t use Facebook but my wife Christie does, and she recently shared a friend’s posting of a YouTube video titled “Reclaiming Jesus”. The text of the declaration made in the video can be read at www.reclaimingjesus.org.
In this declaration, church leaders from various mainline, African-American, and liberal wings of the Church express their deep concern about the state of our nation. Several sound biblical principles are included, but while neither people nor political parties are ever named, the core motivation for the declaration is clearly to oppose the policies and practices of President Trump and, in doing so, stand apart from his evangelical Christian support.

As one who spends most of my time with charismatic and evangelical Christians, my initial instinct was to immediately counter-attack this declaration.

They speak of the need to protect the vulnerable but yoke themselves to the promoters of abortion. They speak of protecting people based on “identity” – a subtle expression of support for homosexual and transgender lifestyles that are clearly contrary to scripture. (Genesis 1:27-28, 2:23-24; Romans 1:26-27) They speak of the need for truth but, in pluralistically calling everyone in the world a child of God, walk away from the biblical truth that it is only by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior that you become God’s child. (John 1:12-13, 3:3-6)

This tendency to counter-attack was, however, offset by the fact that I have both beloved family members and friends who support most if not all of the views expressed in this declaration. They do so in part because they do not completely share my passion for the divine authority of scripture. But they do so primarily because they rightly believe God calls us to love.

Herein lays the great divide in the Church today.

On one side of the Church, it is all about love. God is love. (1 John 4:8, 16) God loves everyone and we are to love everyone. (Matthew 5:43-48) We express that love through acts of generosity, kindness and social justice. (Micah 6:8; Luke 10:30-37; Matthew 25:31-46)

On the other side of the Church, it is all about truth. Jesus brought truth and confirmed the divine truth and authority of scripture. (John 1:17, 16:13-14; Matthew 5:17-18; Psalm 119; 2 Timothy 3:16) Jesus is the truth, and no one can be saved or set free except through Him. (John 8:31, 14:6)

Note: the “truth” side of the Church professes both truth and love. But too often, we act and speak or actively support those who act and speak in arrogant, unloving, judgmental, callous or demeaning ways. This violates the very scriptures we seek to uphold. (Matthew 5:21-22, 7:1-5; James 4:6)

Our right to support law and order, constitutional integrity, appropriate immigration control and biblical sexual morality does not absolve us from our responsibility to truly and visibly love the people on the other side of these issues and acknowledge them as people of significance and value.

Likewise, the “love” side of the Church professes both love and truth. But “truth” has become relative instead of absolute. The Bible is culled to see what parts we want to keep and what parts are no longer intellectually appealing, socially acceptable or politically correct.

What we get as a result is faith in the Jesus we want rather than the Jesus who was and is and is to come.

(Revelation 1:4) We dine again at the tree of knowledge of good and evil, deciding for ourselves what should be right and wrong rather than having God reveal sin and righteousness to us. (Genesis 3:5; Deuteronomy 12:8) We take authority over the scriptures that reveal the Lord rather than the other way around. Who then is lord?

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if you don’t get anything else out of any column I write, please get this. God calls us to both truth and love. If I have great biblical faith and understanding of the truth, but do not have love, I am nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:2) On the other hand, if I discount scriptural authority and affirm people in their sin or unbiblical beliefs, I hurt the people I am trying to love because love never rejoices in wrongdoing and always rejoices in the truth. (1 Corinthians 13:6)

Love without truth is not God’s love. Truth without love is not God’s truth. As the Body of Christ, we must have both or we will really have neither.

God bless you, and God bless our community.