Soft Heart Steel Spine*
Picture a line. At the left end is the word liberalism or, if you like, acceptance. At the other end, fundamentalism or, if you like, legalism. Now add the word love at the left. On the right, truth. Place your finger on the line where you think of yourself. Would you be surprised to know that very few people are exactly in the middle? Would you also be surprised that you don’t have to choose between them?
A life characterized by love without truth might be thought of as soft, weak, permissive, tolerant, etc. Conversely, one characterized by truth without love might be considered offensive, narrow, judgmental, etc. The good news is that you can have both, but not in your own strength.
The Bible’s definition of love
is far different than today’s world’s definition, which embraces the word “inclusive”. The problem with that thinking is that this kind of love apart from truth does nothing to build others up. It’s a false emotion mostly to make the “lover” feel good about themselves. On the other hand, truth without compassion and concern for the other person, is—as the Bible says—”a noisy gong and clanging cymbal.” (I Cor. 13:1.)
How can we bring the two together without giving one up? It starts by knowing that without a relationship to God through Jesus Christ, it is impossible. We must have the power of God’s Spirit living in us to even come close to this goal. Sadly, many Christians are solidly at one or the other end of this spectrum. And that’s one reason many of today’s churches are failing to win hearts for Jesus.
In John’s second letter to the church,
he pairs love and truth. He describes love: “And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments.” (1:6.) One of Jesus’ commandments that embodies Biblical love is “Love God and love your neighbor.” (Luke 10:27.) In our last few posts, we talked about hope, faith, and truth. We concluded that faith and hope must be tied to truth to be valid. The same must be said for love and truth.
Jesus never beat anybody over the head with the truth of the gospel. But He never compromised it either. And can you think of anybody who showed more compassion than Jesus. Think lepers, woman at the well, Lazarus, Zaccheus, even Judas up to the end was shown compassion. But here’s the critical take away. The love and compassion that Jesus showed never changed anybody’s life. It was always the truth of the gospel: “man is a sinner and can’t save himself.”
What do we learn from this?
We must operate in love. But love doesn’t include a watered-down version of the heart of the gospel. Often, the most loving thing we can do is share the truth of Jesus Christ with those who don’t know Him. This is where our lives must reflect the truth we’re sharing. If we’re abrasive, arrogant, prideful, or have hidden sins that may not be as hidden as we think, our sharing the love of God that calls sinners to Himself will likely fall on deaf ears. We need to work on ourselves first. Ask yourself questions like, “ How has God’s love changed me?” “Do I really walk the talk?”
So if you find yourself at one end or the other of the love/truth spectrum, you have some work to do. If you’re not sure where you are, go to your accountability partner (spouse or friend) and ask the tough questions. Make a new commitment before God to change your focus. Memorize Phil. 2:3, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves.”
If all of us who name Jesus as Savior and friend
would make love and truth part of our core being, the church of Jesus would be impervious to “the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” (Matt. 7:15.)
A song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David in 1965 and sung by many starting with Jackie DeShannon, with the lyric “What the world needs now is love sweet love. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.” had it right. They just missed the most important prerequisite. Love without truth, facts, reality, isn’t true love. If we get the truth part right (Jesus died to save sinners), and share it with compassion, the world will become a fertile garden for seeds of evangelism. (Refer to the appendix Steps to Salvation for a refresher on sharing Jesus.)
*Idea from a message by Dr. Bryan Fields, Grace Chapel – Castle Rock, CO