Speaking the Truth

The task of a servant of God is to speak the truth. Having love and compassion when speaking the truth is important, but we must remember the truth is often unpopular.

Living out our faith and speaking the truth in love is not always easy. We are not divisive when we speak truth in love in the church.

The divisive theologian wishes to keep the peace at all times. To steer away from any conflict at all costs. Often the most divisive people in the church are mistaken as peacemakers.

A true Christian peacemaker cares for the truth. To seek peace at all times regardless of truth is not Christian.

The Church Is Not a Club

The church is the body of Christ in the world. It is to be a light unto the world bringing the gospel and living out its faith into the world.

Too often the church functions as a social club. This or that member is highly regarded because of the parties they throw or the social events they run. In a sense all of these things are good and well.

Good hospitality is an important part of the church. But too often hospitality begins to trump truth and reality in churches. You find hospitality which strains couples and their relationships.

I have seen more than one prominent figure in a church constantly throwing church social events seemly at the expense of their spouse. It is rare that the spouse so much indicates the fact, but you can sense that there is a strong imposition on them.

It is often those in the church who offer hospitality that are pushed into prominent positions such as eldership and deaconship or this or that committee. The issue of course is that the church often begins to judge members on who is a great event runner in the church rather than who is faithful to the teaching of God and Christian living.

There is of course a difference. Many people in the church who offer hospitality consistently are faithful to the teaching of God. But this is not always the case. It is not uncommon to see people engaged in a large amount of hospitality in the church who are spiritually bankrupt.

They throw great parties and events but if you speak to them about spiritual topics they have not the slightest clue of the Christian religion. Their gift is ultimately not a spiritual gift but a worldly one.

The church does well to realize its mission is a spiritual mission and judge accordingly. Not all that shines is gold.

Truth and Self

At times truth is difficult to accept because it presents something about ourselves. You can see King David who immediately judges a situation correctly without realizing the situation is a parable about himself.

It is not that truth is difficult to understand, but rather that it is easy to take truth selectively. To only think of the facts that make us look good.

It is of course our nature of sin which wishes to hide the truth from ourselves. Having the honest to admit the truth is refreshing.

We are not perfect. We are accepted by a God who knows we are not perfect.

Denying our flaws and weaknesses does nothing other than to prevent us from growing. When we are weak we are strong.

It is not that weakness is strength, but that if we think we are strong we fail to understand. The greatest of people is not immune to sudden illness or accident. When we feel strong we are weak, because we lack the humility to realize that life is not fully in our control and that we must rest on God for strength.

Reality

When wondering how things will be any better or clearer, aiming to see reality clearly may be helpful because sin (especially pride) often hides reality. For example, in the Garden of Eden, sin was believing a lie about God—that instead of his command being there to protect humans, the lie was that he was hiding something wonderful from them.

Often the reality is we often have very little control over the state of success and relationships. Relationships don't depend entirely on us. If we have a good relationship, we allow the other person in the friendship to do as they please. And companies and the results of our work sometimes largely depends on a whole team of people and even on customers, who are people we may never meet or know.

But acknowledging this reality helps us to realize the all-importance of faith in life. We need to rely again on faith. Faith that God is good. That no matter what happens in the company or job or in a relationship, he will be there. And the end of our story as a Christian is the most beautiful story. And even while we're here, the ability to glorify him is ever present.

It's easy to believe that everything depends on us and become overwhelmed or discouraged due to that because we're starting to feel too tired or doubt our ability to accomplish what we have in mind. We may wonder what we can do, but the question should be more "What is God doing?" and the answer is that he is doing everything for our good, and he will protect his children.

What God asks of us is to have faith. And the situation in our life is the situation in our life because he allowed it. Pride either tells us that we don't need God and we can fix it all on our own, or pride may tell us that we are not good enough or God doesn't see us because we are too small or insignificant (pride is displayed in pitying oneself, because pride is an intense focus on one's self).

The hardest part of all of this is to be humble enough to know that all humans don't see reality correctly. We are imaginative people inclined to be a bit too prideful (unrealistic of our abilities and sometimes not even self aware of weaknesses). Our sinful nature hates to think we have not much control over things. We definitely should do all we can and have responsibility but we need to let go of what is not ours to control.

Realizing our limitations is helpful because it takes the focus off the person who has the limitations (us) and puts it on the person who has absolutely no limitations (God) for how things will be better.

We also need to have a good knowledge of God. God is not like Santa Clause, where he only steps in when we are good. He is a God of forgiveness and hope. So that's why we can have faith. We don't have to rely on our works or abilities. We rely on him. It's our love and appreciation for him that helps motivate us to do good works.

Taking the Bible Seriously

I have had a number of conversations where in Christian circles where I have brought up the concept of Christian liberty. The concept that unity in small matters is more important than arguing the finest hairs of truth is found throughout scripture.

Almost immediately there comes an objection. The idea brings in relativity. We will keep arguing every tiny detail, because we who are we to decide what is important or not.

At times the attempted piety of persons is an excuse to not take the bible seriously. The bible calls us to seek wisdom. To actually think and make decisions.

The bible calls us to wisdom. It does not call us to mindlessly refuse to decide what is important. The bible calls us to think and discern as image bearers of God.

The bible is not a call to a mindless life of acting as if every thing is of the same importance. We cannot be faithful to scripture if we refuse to seek wisdom.

We are not seeking wisdom if we do not take seriously what the bible takes seriously. The call to unity in the church requires that we seek wisdom.

Of course truth is important. It takes no wisdom to see this. It takes wisdom to see how unity and truth relate. And how not all truth is worth fighting over.

We cannot piously reject the teaching of scripture. And refuse to incorporate concepts into our thought that scripture teaches.

Keeping Focus in Christianity

Christianity has a core and a periphery. All truth is important, but not all truth is essential.

It is often forgotten in many churches what is of absolute importance and what while important is not essential. Our concern for the purity of the church should be more focused on what is of absolute importance than what is at the edge.

Often what is at the edge of Christianity dominates the discussion. Concerns about style in music or method of distributing the Lord's super or exact details of how this or that should look in the church dominate. All of these things are good and well, but they are always at the side.

The church's focus should always be at the heart of Christianity--the good news of the offer of grace to sinners because of Christ's perfect life, death, and resurrection. If we get the center of Christianity right everything else will fall into place.

It is our union with the risen Jesus which makes people better. Too often we see people trying to improve the behavior of their church by preaching law day in and day out.

Often the problem of behavior in church is not a failure to understand law, but to really grasp grace. It is grace which shows us the greatness of the love of God for us. Often we cannot truly grasp how far we are from righteousness until we see what perfect love is and perfect love does.

Often it is more grace that transforms us than law. We try to faithfully live out law because of and only because of grace.

Weakness Is Strength in God

When we are weak we are strong according to God.  At first is makes no sense when we read such words in scripture.  But scripture always proves itself right in the end if we dwell on it long enough.

You see when we feel strong we are quite foolish.  We are frail if we know it or not.  The strongest athlete and the richest man in the world are vulnerable and frail.  Often we see "great men" express hubris of their invincibility, but we are frail.  Maybe today we are strong but in the end we all succumb to death.

When we admit our weakness we admit the truth.  When we feel we are strong we are in delusion.  It is God who gives and takes strength.  God who gives and takes success.

We often feel that we can succeed apart from God and it may appear for a time to be so although it is not true ultimately or in the short term.  Admitting weakness is accepting the truth that it is God behind all good things.

When we feel strong we are in delusion.  When we feel weak and turn to God we admit the truth and in that moment we understand reality correctly.  God is the strength behind all things and when we admit the truth we understand reality as it is.

Truth and Convenience

At times truth is inconvenient. We find that truth can make us go out of our way or force us to do things we do not wish to do.

We often like to have things our way. But truth is not dependant on our personal preference. We often act as if truth is based upon what we like. This is not totally wrong as the golden rule exists upon the principle of doing to others what you would like done to yourself.

But often we find that the truth of things and what we like are in tension. The tension may be major or minor but often the tension needs to exist by accepting that what we like and what is true are not in agreement.

Often when we accept this we find that our mind comes to see why the truth found in scripture is correct. We see things from a limited perspective and through a cultural lens. We do not see the big picture.

We are often too close to the problems of life to adequately understand reality. We often make inferences from examples in life which do not follow.

It is easy from our limited perspective to not grasp the ultimate significance of things. We live in the moment and often cannot see what will happen past tomorrow.

Often we question the wisdom of God based on what we see today. We of course lack the eternal perspective of God who sees everything in our lives from start to finish and how our lives weave in and out of the lives of others.

Sometimes we do not like truth because we forget that not everything is about us. We forget that sometimes it is better to serve than to be served. Sometimes it is better if others have it their way and we do not get our way but we usually lack the perspective to understand this.

Greatest Hindrance to Scriptural Interpretation

The greatest hindrance to scriptural interpretation is human cleverness. The bible says many things which are difficult to understand, but the vast majority of its teaching is very simple and plain.

Often a theologian or preacher is most in danger of theological error when they move into the Greek to explain what a text means and the meaning is not evident in the translation. It is often simply that the theologian or preacher does not like what the text means.

If you ever see a theologian or preacher seem to shift the meaning of the text with interpretation of Greek watch closely what they say on the topic in the future. Usually you have found a hole in their theology and in each subsequent text on the same topic the issue will be skirted or similarly handled.

The teaching of scripture is almost never so complicated that it requires a five to ten minute lesson on the meaning of Greek words to understand a text. Learning is at many times more neutral than is expected in the modern world. It can be used for good or evil.

Certainly learning is overall something which promotes good, but it does not change the human condition. The heart is deceitful above all things and a falling back into advanced learning to avoid the plain teaching of scripture is very common in the current day.

The bible is really a very plain book. It repeats the important messages it has repeatedly and in many forms. The bible is very insistent on being understood on critical points. That is why it repeats the same truths over and over in different styles and terminologies.

Theology is Shaped by Living

One truth is often that our life shapes our theology more than we would like to admit. Many theologians assent to the truth of certain principles, but one can only strongly understand and proclaim what one does.

Some people proclaim what they do not do and are hypocrites. Many theologians and pastors skirt many issues because their life lacks certain qualities. Maybe they are not generous so they cannot deal with giving.

The issues are manifold, but many theological deficiencies stem back to deficiencies in living in one's life. You see there is a great difference between assenting to a theological statement and living it and understanding it.

To be a truly good theologian one must also actively seek to live out one's faith in the world. Theology can never stay as simply something leaned from a book; it must also be lived. Theology which is 'learned' in a book and never lived was never really learned.

Truth and Passion

Truth and passion need to be linked in the Christian faith. Too often we find passion toward life without any firm basis in truth or truth without a firm passion behind the truth.

We need both truth and passion in our Christian walks working together. The Christian message is a message full of content. The content of the Christian message should motivate us to action.

The direction is that truth comes before the passion and the passion is based on the truth. But the truth of Christianity should always motivate some form of action.

That is not to say that every text in scripture has an immediate clear application to life. It is easy to attempt to force scriptural passages to have an application when we do not see one. Often if we read a text we will not always see its application in the moment, but if we study the text later a situation will come when the application will become apparent.

All scripture is useful for life. We may not always see the use and it is important to not try to force the use out of a scriptural text when we do not see the use in the moment. But we should always trust that when we read scripture God is speaking to us.

Sometimes we do not understand what he is saying. Sometimes he is saying something to us not for this moment but one many years down the road. But God is always speaking to us. We need to listen even when we do not understand what is being said.

Sometimes when we listen carefully even if we do not understand what a text means then we will understand later. But if we do not understand and thus fail to listen or stop reading then we will never understand the message in a text.

Suffering as Non-Ideal

Various Christian groups have promoted suffering as a Christian virtue. While the bible does suggest that suffering produces virtue, the bible does not promote a life of suffering.

The bible has a great care about the well being and happiness of mankind. Jesus wishes for us not to worry and has concern for the emotional well being of others. The Christian church has often had many groups within itself which promote suffering as the path of obedience. It is going without which is the best path of faith and having which is a lesser path.

Such a position is a philosophical one which greatly distorts the bible's teaching. The bible teaches contentment whatever the circumstances.

The bible teaches sacrificial giving, but it also talks about wise financial management and that it is good for an inheritance to be left to an heir after one dies.

You see the bible never has easy answers to questions. It has significant guidelines. It does not judge circumstance or suggest circumstance has relevance to ultimate reality.

Each of us has our own path in God's plan and the promotion of suffering as the path to follow God is a great oversimplification and thus an errant teaching.

Most errors in Christianity are not additions to scripture, but rather half truths. Part of scripture is taken without the counterbalance in scripture that comprises the whole truth.

God and Sinful Man

Often today Christian thinkers scoff at the phrase that "God hates sin and loves the sinner." It is too simple.

The reality is that in the current day we make the bible more complex than it is. We cannot understand the bible because we think ourselves out of understanding.

The bible always affirms that God hates sin and stands in opposition to it. It always affirms the eternal realities at stake in life.

And yet the bible always affirms that God takes no pleasure in those who will not repent and wishes to draw all people to himself.

You see many people wish to deny the truth of these points. We often meet two truths clearly stated in scripture and decide which we will pick. You see we say "no" to much of scriptural teaching rather than simply saying "yes" to all of scripture.

We are often stuck in an either/or when we should see God is teaching the reality of a both/and. God's desire to bring all people to himself and his will of an eternal reality based on faith or rejection of Jesus is always affirmed.

Often the issue is that we out think what is so clearly stated. The teaching of scripture is often only hard because we make it so.

Personal Relationship

Our relationship with God must always be a personal one. It is interesting to hear people who consider themselves Christian knock the personal aspect of relation to God.

The bible is not their friend on this topic. God is our father, we are God's children, and we are brothers and sisters in Christ and co-heir's with Christ.

What is shocking about scripture is how easily and often it uses familial terms in relation to the Christian and God. The Christian God is high and lifted up and set apart and yet infinitely close to man.

In the church we often pick this truth or that truth. God is very high and other and distinct or God is close and familial.

You see it is both and not either/or. We often wish to simplify things too much. You see we wish to view our righteousness as our righteousness rather than accept that Jesus is our righteousness.

Plainness to Theology

Theology often is best when states in a plain way. I tend to be suspicious especially in debate when a side moves their theology into a set of language which is difficult to determine without an advanced theology degree.

Maybe the person is simply a poor communicator and cannot communicate their ideas in a way which is simple to understand. This is often the case but complex ideas can be stated with clarity in common language.

So the goal of this communicator should be to better understand their subject so they can communicate with greater clarity. It is a sign at times that one is at the edge of ones knowledge if we cannot explain complicated concepts in a way which is understandable.

Often though the retreat into complex rhetoric singles and uncomfortableness with the debate. Sometimes you will see someone without formal training make a point which is quite condemning in the best sense to a position and then the more learned person moves the conversation into safer ground where what he is being said cannot be understood.

You see the point is that the goal is truth and understanding, not winning arguments. If one cannot win an argument without trying to befuddle others with terminology and tricks then one should not attempt to win.

Often the great complexity of debates is an attempt to move away from the truth. Even if this is not the case we should seek plainness to speech so everyone can understand and judge for themselves.

The truth shines in the light. Vagueness, confusion, and speaking to not be understood are not in general virtues.

Sometimes there are times for words which are difficult to understand. You see Jesus with his parables often spoke things which are difficult to understand.

But in another sense they are very plain. You see it is the spiritual truth which is very difficult. There is not difficult language used to obscure the truth, it is simply the saying which are difficult.

The sayings are obscured in a sense to force people to see by faith. Sometimes we can only learn things for ourselves and parables offer that chance.

A Time for Unity

Unity is at times more important than truth. Paul speaks of issues which have an answer, but unity is more important than the answer.

You see truth at all costs is not Christian. Truth has value and some truth is of great value, but all truth is not equally important.

It is often odd debating with atheists who seem to view that any point of Christianity they object to can sink all of Christianity.

I do see the need to defend the whole faith, but the error in the atheist's approach is that he assumes that Christianity does not have a core and a periphery.

The reality is the Christian faith has an order of beliefs which is important. Not everything is worth dividing over in Christianity.

Some things are worth a good long discussion over but not worth dividing over. Some points are so minor they are not worth discussing if it would bring tension among brothers.

A Time for Truth

Often we live in a world which does not care for truth. Unity is all that matters and we could not care of the details.

Often we can let anything go so long as there is peace. The bible meets this and tells us that there are some things worth fighting over.

Not every fact is worth fighting over, but some are. We can as Christians if we feel it is right have a disinterest in arguing fine points of exegesis or not coming to clarity on what a certain text is about. This is fine.

But in many central things such a disinterest is sin. We cannot have disinterest in the central and essential.

Errors related to Justification, the Trinity, the fully divine and fully man nature of Jesus, and other central issue cannot be easily passed over. There can be grace in these debates for people with doubts, but the debates cannot be passed over.

Sometimes we feel not apt to speak in debates. Often the errors are expounded by people of great rhetoric or intellect. But it is not we who win debates but God.

If God is for us no one can be against us. On a number of occasions I have entered debates on important topics I was sure I could not win.

Sometimes I was right and sometimes I was wrong and won the debate which I felt I had no ability to win. You see it is never we who win debates, but God who wins when he chooses to work through us.

Fellowship and Adiaphora

An understanding of Adiaphora and acceptance of it is key to fellowship. Adiaphora are things which are indifferent or areas where there is truth but not of a significance to divide over.

You see Paul using the concept in several cases where he gives his opinion but says that unity is more important than everyone accepting the truth on the issue.

The existence of Adiaphora indicates that some things are worth fighting over. You see Paul for example confronts certain apostles because they were clearly in the wrong on an issue. And some things are of small importance and unity is more important than this or that tiny detail.

We always need wisdom as we approach scripture. God thinks differently than we do many times. We tend to think as people in either of two ways: in completely black and white terms or completely in shades of gray.

God's thought does not fit neatly into this mold. At some points God's thought as recorded in scripture is completely black and white. In some areas he thinks in shades of gray.

You see God looks at the big picture and that is what wisdom is. It is a call to apply the truth of scripture uniquely to each situation.

There are absolutes but also there are many unique situations with great complexity. There is black and white and there is gray all in life and ethics.

The Crowd and Originality

Society always moves as a unit. Each generation views itself as original and well thought.

Each generation is original but it has no understanding of itself. C.S. Lewis spoke of the need of reading old books.

It is not that there are no errors in old books, but the errors of that day are different than our day.

The church almost always has a simplistic critic of its age. There are the hot button issues which occur in society which the church faces but only touch the surface.

But the reality of today is the most important issues the church should face are those in the church. Where is the concern for the poor in the church and were the concern for the oppressed?

Many people fled from conservative churches to find the teachings of social justice that Jesus expounds in the liberal church. But here the gospel of life and death which is of even greater importance is lost.

Error in the church is always like this it is a simplification of scripture. Scripture is always more complex then error.

All the early heresies were oversimplifications of the reality. Almost all errors are either a conscious or unconscious redaction of the truth.

The reality is the truth is more complex, more deep, more real, and more satisfying that the error.

The bible starts with in the beginning “God.” God is here and he has a word for us.

It ends with a warning to add nothing or take nothing away. In the midst of the two bookmarks is a richness which is deeper than any of us can understand.

The truth is beautiful and error in the church almost always an oversimplification of the truth.

The church isn’t impoverished because we have too much to say. We have not too much to say but too little.

If we said all that could be said we would not have the issues we have.

Post on Lewis and Human Progress

Edification

Speaking in church is about edification of the body. To be edified we must have both love and truth.

You see love needs truth and truth needs love to be edifying. What is false rarely serves as loving in the long term.

The church is called to unity and truth. The two can only be found together in wisdom. You see a great balance is needed.

The principles fit together perfectly but in a fallen world it takes great wisdom to discern the right balance. You see truth at all costs is not Christian but neither unity at all costs.

As Ecclesiastes says there is a time for everything under the sun. A time for peace and a time for war. Of course it is wisdom given from God through the Spirit that shows the difference.