Finding the balance between Truth and Love

Earlier this week, when New York passed a law that, in my opinion, showed an utter disregard for the sacredness of human life, I made some public statements that some found offensive.  Several called me out for a ‘lack of love.’  I took their rebukes seriously, for I am not above correction. 

When is it appropriate to express convictions based on my understanding of the revealed will of God even those that make some people uncomfortable, angry, or feeling guilty? Or, should my goal be to ‘just love’ without judgment, realizing that life is complex, that choices are hard, and that people are different?  The Scripture teaches me both to be a voice in the wilderness whose life and words call others to get right with God and to be a messenger of reconciliation that holds out the grace of God, which is immeasurable and free.

The balance between truth and love is a major concern for me in my Christian life.  Have I found the perfect place at the fulcrum? No, certainly not.  

Here is how I think about these things, the guidelines that I try to follow.

First of all, I know that my primary message is not morality, it is about Christ Jesus.  There must always be the hope of redemption, the offer of restoration.  The promise of John 3.16 where God is said to love the world must be prominent in my words. However, the Cross makes no sense if there is no offense.  We are sinners, separated from our Father, in desperate need apart from the intervention of His grace.  Is depravity a popular topic? Not at all, but it part of the truth.

Second, I must be authentic about my own process! Jesus reminds me to get the post out of my own eye so I can see clearly to help my brother rid himself of the splinter in his. His point was not ‘I’m OK, you’re OK,’ so let’s sing a happy song of affirmation of our dysfunctions and imperfections.  He asked us for humility to understand that we are all dealing with a sinful nature, all recipients of grace.  If my message is about ‘those people who sin’ whoever they may be or whatever they may have done, I will slip into a Pharisaical blindness to my own pride.  Again, acknowledging my own sins does not preclude bearing witness to the Truth.  It means I lead the way to the Cross of Christ where I find myself set right with a holy God.

Third, I must never speak to gain applause or be silenced by a desire for approval. It may sound arrogant, please forgive me that, but it matters little what anyone ultimately thinks of me. That does not mean that I am beyond accountability or free to say whatever comes to mind. When the Bible tells me that God sees past my words and my actions to the very intents and motives of my heart, I am equally comforted and terrified!  Nothing in me is hidden from Him.  While I am completely assured of heaven through Christ Jesus I also know that He will hold me accountable for how I live, what I say, and how I used those opportunities He presented to me.  Yes, that is beyond sobering. It makes me feel the fear of God.

In the opening of the book of the Acts, a promise that the Spirit of God would live in us is made. And why does He come to us?  Jesus said, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8, NKJV)  We are empowered to be those who bear witness to Him – Who is Truth and Love!

So, my prayer is to be winsome, compassionate, and wise even as I am fearlessly committed to the messages of sin and redemption.  In a culture that has more and more “Nones” (those with no faith) and “Dones” (those who are fed up with organized Church) may we find a way to “speak the truth in love.” (Ephesians 4.15)

Here is a word from the Word.  "But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” (1 Peter 4:13-18, NIV)  Amen.

How can I Trust Your promises?

Do you ever begin to question God, asking Him what He’s up to? Abraham did!  In Genesis 12, God gave him an amazing promise of many descendants, that he would be a blessings to the whole world. Years past and Abraham was still without a son! In the 15^th chapter, he asks God this - “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son?” (Genesis 15:2, NLT)  I think most of us have been in that place. We think we know God’s promise but there seems to be no way from where we are to that place of His blessings. What did Abraham do?  “He believed God!”  So must we.

If we attempt to anything in life, especially in the work of God, we may find ourselves dealing with situations that look like failure.  Our doubts will be fueled by the half-truths that are shared by well-intentioned Christian. Many insist that if we are living in faith, we will go from success to victory in unbroken triumph! We don’t. Nobody does.

We love to recount the story of Jesus’ visit to his friends in a boat on the Sea of Galilee.  We imagine Peter’s bold step over the side of the boat where he walked on the water, too.  It’s a glorious story of faith, until it isn’t!  Peter failed moments after he started. So, did God throw him away? Not at all. More remarkable than Peter’s short trip on the water, is the faithfulness of Jesus who caught him before he sank. We love to tell of Paul’s travels around the empire planting churches. Yet that story is incomplete if we do not remember that he got thrown out of most cities he visited, knowing rejection and disappointment again and again. He spent almost as much time in jail as he did teaching in marketplaces. The most amazing thing is that he didn’t just give up and go home!  In fact, some of his best writing to us comes from those times of imprisonment.

Paul acknowledged the desperation he felt. Feel the emotion in his words. “We were crushed and completely overwhelmed, and we thought we would never live through it. 9 In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we learned not to rely on ourselves, but on God who can raise the dead.”  (2 Corinthians 1:8, NLT)   Like Abraham before him, Paul learned to lean unto God. In his moment of doubt, the Lord spoke to Abram and that man responded with faith that leaned into God. "And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord declared him righteous because of his faith." (Genesis 15:6, NLT)

Are you wrestling with disappointment? Have you heard the promise of God only to find yourself frustrated? Brent Crowe reminds us of an important thing. “There is a type of failure that attempts something that is consistent with God’s desired will and yet comes up short or doesn’t work out the way we thought it would. This is the type of failure that God doesn’t look at and go… ‘You’ve failed and you’ve sinned’… Number one I think it pleases him.  Number two, I think he views it through the lens of sanctification and we’re being built up in the faith when we attempt things for God’s glory.” - Brent Crowe

God chose to include failure on the pages of the Bible. Instead of giving inspirational stories about perfect heroes, He told us about real people who lived in faith mixed with failure. If we look deeply, we will be astounded by the grace of God that finds people at their worst. We celebrate David’s love for God and his victories and they are ever more amazing when we also include his violent nature, his terrible moments of adultery and even murder!  We admire about Abraham’s faith, which was remarkable, but tend to forget that God loved and used him even when he got it very wrong, fathering a son with Hagar, lying about Sarah to Pharaoh. Samson was a hero and a heel!  He led Israel to great victories but could not overcome his weakness for pretty women.  Still God’s grace persisted.

So, am I excusing faithlessness or failure? Not for a moment.  Our desire must be to know the Presence of God, to walk in the Spirit, and to do those things that make His Name great.  But, we will fail and others will fail us. What then?  Will we give up, go home, and look for another place for joy? Or, will we love Him, accept His grace, and give it where necessary?

The word from the Word is from a letter of Paul that I love.  In our worst failures there is a divine conjunction - "But God…”   He “is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms—all because we are one with Christ Jesus. And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus. God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God." (Ephesians 2:4-8, NLT)

Lord lead us to life in the middle of the messes that are a part of this broken world. Amen

__________

Even If

(Mercy Me encourages us to lean on our Father)

They say sometimes you win some

Sometimes you lose some

And right now right now I'm losing bad

I've stood on this stage night after night

Reminding the broken it'll be alright

But right now oh right now I just can't

It's easy to sing

When there's nothing to bring me down

But what will I say

When I'm held to the flame like I am right now

I know You're able and I know You can

Save through the fire with Your mighty hand

But even if You don't

My hope is You alone

They say it only takes a little faith

To move a mountain

Well good thing

A little faith is all I have right now

But God when You choose

To leave mountains unmovable

Oh give me the strength to be able to sing

It is well with my soul

I know the sorrow and I know the hurt

Would all go away if You just say the word

But even if You don't

My hope is You alone

You've been faithful

You've been good all of my days

Jesus I will cling to You

Come what may

'Cause I know You're able

I know You care

I hope in You alone ooh

It is well with my soul

It is well it is well with my soul

Bart Millard | Ben Glover | Crystal Lewis | David Arthur Garcia | Tim Timmons

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Submission- them’s fightin’ words!

Relationships between the sexes are a mine field these days.  For good reasons, we are being asked to rethink our assumptions, to reconsider our ways.  Women are refusing to accept being ‘just a body’ or someone who is assumed to be less or inferior. For good reason, they are demanding that men who use and abuse be held accountable for their actions. The noise of the battle can make real and honest dialogue difficult. Some men are responding with a retreat into a kind of masculinity that cripples emotion, that robs them of tender connection with their wives and daughters. Making marriage work well, a challenge from the dawn of time, has become more difficult as we negotiate our way into a world of equals. What is right? How do we do this?

There is wisdom from God, words that Peter wrote under the inspiration of the Spirit, that cannot be disregarded. Ah, they are often fought over, mangled in the process of interpretation, even outright refused as a vestige of a patriarchal world. If we drag our wounds and assumptions to this passage we will miss the truth that will guide us.  Let’s see what the Spirit says to us.

"Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble." (1 Peter 3:1-8, NIV)

There are three words that shape that whole passage – ‘submissive, considerate, and harmony.’  None works well without the other!  We do these things imperfectly and often come to the tragic and wrong conclusion that the Word is flawed. No, we are.

This passage says nothing about inferiority of women. Wives are not ‘put down’ by the passage, they are invited to let their husbands lead, to care. “Submission” is often read as requiring a wife to take whatever he dishes out simply because her husband is given the leadership role in their home. Peter, in reality, asks that a wife become strong enough to support their husbands, to become his wisest counselor, to develop the kind of character that makes her a person of beauty from the inside out. The key phrase to understanding this is that they ‘put their hope in God.’   All Christians, male and female, learn from Jesus that asserting Self is not His way. Is it hard to trust God to defend us? We know the answer to that question.

The Spirit calls on husbands to live considerately.  The Authorized (KJV) says “dwell with her according to knowledge.”  In other words,  take the time to really get to know her, to understand her, to love her in a way that shows real delight. God, the Holy Spirit, tells the Christian husband that his wife stands alongside of him as an equal partner of eternal life, as a child of the Heavenly Father.  Woe to the husband who does not treat his wife as one who is beloved of God.  God will hold him accountable for cruelty, for selfish ways, for treating his wife unjustly.

And both husband and wife are taught to ‘live in harmony.’  Do you know the difference between unison and harmony?  God does not ask husbands and wives to sing the same note! That seems to be ideal today and it makes for all kinds of problems for us. We are told to sing harmony, to find that note that is the perfect complement to our spouse. A choir singing in unison can make beautiful music, but oh the amazing sound that comes from harmonious notes.

Is this an easy word?  No, and I’m sure some few readers will take issue with it (and me). My late wife and I spent many years working out the harmony of marriage. When we did it well, a thing of rich reward and true beauty flourished in which we both enjoyed security, love, and our best lives. When we fought, struggling with each other for what we thought we were owed, there was misery. God, the Spirit, led us, blessed us, taught us, forgave us, and we loved to the day that she went home to her Father in Heaven.

Now here is a word from the Word.

"Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other.
None of this going off and doing your own thing.
And cultivate thankfulness.

Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house.

Give it plenty of room in your lives.

Instruct and direct one another using good common sense.

And sing, sing your hearts out to God!

Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus,

thanking God the Father every step of the way." (Colossians 3:15-17, The Message)