As we write our articles, we often take requests as it comes up in our everyday conversations with local community members, family, or other Christians. We had a request for us to address how Christians are being seen as “not loving.”
Are we bothered when someone calls us unloving? Do we feel indignant or emotionally hurt? It should bother us. It should wake something up in us that tells us there needs to be change.
We cannot compromise the Word of God, but how we “defend the truth” is important. We need to understand that sometimes, in our need to “defend the truth”, we may have the wrong idea of what that scripture is talking about if we haven’t read the whole passage.
2 Peter 3:15 “..always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”
We must be able to understand what we are teaching, we must be able to show others what the biblical topic we are covering means. This defense is not an offensive attack. It is not proving a point to be right. It is not a competition or a fight. It is knowing what you are talking about, an explanation for the faith.
For instance, when Jesus said the words, “you have heard… but I tell you” several times in Matthew 5, He wasn’t saying “I have changed my scripture”, He was explaining, to those listening, that they had misused and misunderstood the scriptures. They had gotten it wrong. He was showing them what God had intended all along.
Do we know fully what we are teaching? We need to share the word of God, but we must make sure we are spreading truth accurately. Are we misusing how we give a defense for the faith? Do we come across as harsh and arrogant? Have we considered that we may not be correct? We must remember that our actions have consequences. If we tear into someone who had scripture wrong, not only are we acting against scripture (2 Timothy 2:24-25), but have we thought about what damage can happen to that person in the big picture? Did we lose a chance at helping them in their search for truth? Or did we scare them away with our attitude and mistreatment of them. This goes against God’s word and has no success in saving souls. We need to pay attention to the delivery Jesus used when He was approached, and we need to really listen to His words and how He spoke them. We are to emulate Him as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:1.
So many use the argument that Jesus had righteous anger and we can have that too. That was Jesus. He had the advantage of knowing the hearts of people. He knew those who were the most knowledgeable in the scriptures were misdirecting the people and abusing the word of God. That has consequences. We need to remember that the more we study, understand, and know the Bible, we are the ones with more responsibility and cannot be today’s Pharisees. We have to remember why we are teaching.
Jesus condemned those who were the most knowledgeable and was merciful to everyone else. It is essential that we are merciful and love the souls that come to us with questions, misunderstanding, and false ideas. They are coming to us for a reason. And we must be approachable. Speaking with others about the faith is a huge responsibility. We are accountable for our actions and we have to keep in mind the words we speak, the knowledge we pass on, and the gentleness that we are told to have by inspired scripture. That means when we read about gentleness, we had better know what it means and use it.
It really doesn’t matter if someone agrees with us in politics, lives a worldly lifestyle, or has a difficult way about them. Talking with people who agree with us, live like us, or who we enjoy being around is easy. Jesus died for everyone. We cannot waste opportunities and we must love everybody.
Stop worrying about the state of the world, country, or county. Those are concerns of the world. Nero and the leaders of that day were far worse than anything we’ll deal with today and the Christians were told to submit to them (1 Peter 2:13-17) and pray for them (1 Timothy 2:1-4). We are blessed and have so much to offer. We need to focus on what matters and please God. Live like the pilgrims we are directed to be (1 Peter 2:11-12).
When we hear “evangelical” used in a derogatory way, acknowledge it and change their perception with our actions and words. Love that person.
When we hear Christians are hypocritical, acknowledge it and change their perception with our actions and words. Love that person.
When we hear the church is unloving, acknowledge it and change their perception with our actions and words. Love that person.
Jesus died for the person we are speaking with. Whether it is a friend with different beliefs, a colleague with disdain for Christians, or a person with strong convictions in a different religion, we must love them enough to show them that they are worth that sacrifice and gift from Jesus. We must be what God has instructed us to be.
Stand for truth, but back it up with scripture and love. There are some difficult things to discuss and harsh truths for us to teach, but there are ways to do this that lead the person in front of us to Christ. We need them to see how much God loved us. Let the message of God save people. We can’t be the obstruction.
Jeff S. Mullen
Minister
Blanco Hills Church of Christ
Worship: Sunday 11 am
Class: Sunday 10 am, Wednesday 3:30 pm
blancohillschurch.com
830-554-0701