Standing for Truth and Walking in Love

How you can have confidence to stand for truth in a divisive world

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G’day Everyone,

I hope you engaged in our Activate Challenge last week and read The Sermon on The Mount. Not only did Jesus teach it, but He lived it out. And now it is our turn.

During the week I received several messages from people reflecting on the life of Charlie Kirk and the intense reactions his life and death has sparked in believers and not yet believers, and have asked me,

“How do we stand for truth and walk in love?”

The message of the Kingdom of God is both good news and offensive news.

However, we must be careful not to excuse our poor behaviour for the sake of “declaring the truth” and must submit to Jesus’ incessant teaching on “loving one another.” After all Jesus said we would be known for our love, not the truth we proclaim…¹

In todays divisive world it is more important than ever to learn to stand for truth and walk in love. So today I am sharing some practical thoughts that will give you the confidence to stand for truth, and walk in love.

Equip

Tough Questions

One day a I was speaking at a school a teacher surprised me and told their students they could ask me anything.

Straight away a girl asked me what my thoughts were on abortion.
The next question was around trans issues.

Instead of fearing these questions, I was looking forward to answering them.

Years prior to this God revealed a little framework in handling these questions that I have found helpful.

I had seen how so many believers were responding to tough questions with little to no expression of love. They called it “Tough Love” when it was just down right rude and mean.

On the other hand, I saw that Jesus was somehow able to hold:

• an exceptionally high standard of holiness (equating lust with adultery and insults with murder in Matthew 5:21-28.)

• whilst still being known as “The Friend of Sinners.”²

Jesus demonstrates that we can stand for truth in a loving way.

The Two Trees

The two trees in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9) give us a great framework for understanding how Jesus ministered in love and truth.

The first tree was the tree of life.
The second was the tree of “the knowledge of good and evil.”

Adam and Eve were not allowed to eat of the second tree, but they did and when they did “their eyes were opened…” (Genesis 3:7)

Here we see that the eating of the fruit represents a lens in which we view the world. You can look at the world through the lens of “good and evil” or you can view the world through “life and death.”

The gospels clearly show us that Jesus viewed the world through the lens of life and death.

“I have come so that you may have life, and life in all it’s fullness!”³

• He honoured people regardless of where they were at⁴

• His goal was to bring forgiveness, healing, and freedom⁵

• He saw sin as a sickness that needed healing⁶

• He came from a position of compassion⁷

• As a result He was seen as a friend of sinners.⁸

The Pharisees hated this.

• They cared more about the law than the people

• Their goal was obedience

• They saw sin as something to be punished

• They came from a position of judgment

• As a result they were seen as cold hearted and mean.

Jesus fought with the Pharisees on each of these points because Jesus was fighting for LIFE, while the Pharisees were fighting for TRUTH.⁹

The funny thing is, that as Jesus lived this way, He totally stood for truth. In fact He said that He is “the way, the truth and the life, the only way to The Father!”¹⁰

Therefore, standing for truth can only be done while loving like Jesus loved, and that means caring about LIFE.

What Does Love Look Like

When we view people through a “Good vs Wrong” lens we end up valuing “correct belief” above people.

In our zeal to convince people of how wrong they are and right we are, we fail to listen, we become pushy, and we dishonour people then write it off as the price of truth.

When we act this way we come across as mean, arrogant and cold hearted… just like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day.

On the other hand, we’re told exactly what love looks like, and not surprisingly, it is a great description of how Jesus lived:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

When we put these together we can see a clear picture of how Jesus behaved and a great guide for what we as His followers should look like.

When love is the rule by which you live, changing our goal from “convincing people of truth” to “leading people to abundant life” becomes simple and second nature. We must never sacrifice “love” in order to proclaim “truth.”

Practical Application

So how do we stand for truth and walk in love in practical terms?

I believe Jesus gives us a beautiful pattern for how to do this. Throughout the gospels it repeatedly shows that Jesus:

1) saw them,
2) had compassion on them then
3) healed them.¹¹

Step 1: See Them
The first step is to see people. Ask questions, listen to them and hear their story. For example you could ask, “What do you think?” or “Interesting, why do you think that?” or “How is that working out for you?”

Often you will find that once you have listened to them the issue you thought was the main issue, is actually a symptom of something much deeper. Perhaps you started off by seeing a sin they committed, but now you see the painful events that led them to that place.

In the case of me at the school, I started asking lots of questions around the issues and as they answered the questions it became clear that they cared about their friends and family members and wanted to be able to love them well. I saw their confusion and pain and I had compassion on them.

Step 2: Have Compassion
As you listen to people’s story ask God to reveal His love towards them. Ask God to show you what He sees in them.

Connect with what they are saying and what God is revealing, and affirm the good in them. For example, “That’s really interesting… I can see how you came to that…” or “Wow, you’ve been through a lot!” or “I love how passionate / creative / compassionate you are.”

At the school I affirmed their desire for people to be treated well and included. I affirmed that that is who God had created them to be and therefore it was really important that we find compassionate ways to respond to people in all sorts of situations.

Step 3: Bring Healing
Now that you are seeing them as a person, and now that you are sensing God’s heart of love towards them, you are in a far better position to offer the love and truth that leads to healing and restoration.

For example you may say, “Can I give you a hug? I just sense that God wants me to tell you that you are so loved by Him!” or “This may sound crazy, but Jesus teaches that ____ leads to life…”

After affirming the students at the school, I then started talking about Jesus. I shared stories of how He loved people no matter what, how He was mad at the religious people for valuing truth above love, and how His words carry life.

Because I had set a platform of love and kindness, when we then spoke about Jesus’ answer to their questions it could now be received for what it was: Jesus’ way to experiencing life in all its fullness. I then ended that conversation by saying something along these lines,

“I don’t know what issues all of you are facing in this room. Maybe you’ve had to grapple with an unplanned pregnancy, maybe you are questioning your identity, maybe it’s something else… But what I do know is this, Jesus has come to give you life and life in all it’s fullness!”

Activate

This weeks challenge is to listen to someone with a different view than yourself. Follow the steps above, and see what God reveals to you about how He sees them.

Remember, when standing for truth, the goal is not to convince them of “right vs wrong”, it’s to lead them to Jesus who is “the way, the truth and the life, the only way to The Father!¹²

May we all follow Jesus’ example and stand for truth as we walk in love.

Let’s Go
James

P.S I wanted to speak about Government and Legislation but didn’t have the space. If you’re interested see this foot note for a couple of extra thoughts…¹³

1. John 13:35

2. Matthew 11:19

3. John 10:10

4. Luke 7 is a fantastic chapter that demonstrates this point

5. Luke 4:18-19

6. Mark 2:17

7. Matthew 9:36, 14:14, 15:32, 20:34

8. Matthew 11:19

9. Check out Jesus’ scathing critique of them here: Matthew 23:13-36

10. John 14:6

11. Matthew 9:36, 14:14, 15:32, 20:34

12. John 14:6

On Government and Legislation

13. I realise this post is already getting long, but I couldn’t leave off a couple of thoughts around government and legislation.

Many believers today are quick to rebut my above thoughts by saying that they are not speaking to individuals with a “right and wrong” lens, rather they are campaigning for legislation. I see two serious issues with that,

The Kingdom of God - Jesus could have tried to get the Romans to legislate His values and ideas. But He didn’t. Everything He did and said shows us that His Kingdom is not of this world, it is subversive, it is like yeast in dough, a tiny seed.

In fact, this was the third temptation Jesus faced in Luke 4 which He resisted. (See this post for more.) Jesus preferred His Kingdom to come through loving acts towards people, not through political force.

Social Media Era - Like it or not, if you are posting your “Truth” to the world on social media, those who do not follow Jesus can see it. How does this come across to them? We cannot continue to have a “I’ll just declare truth and let them deal with it” approach. It is not kind, loving or helpful as described by Scripture.

I realise that you may have your heart set on changing the laws in Australia or the US or wherever you are, and want to use your rights as a citizen to campaign for what you believe is good and right. I have no problem with that.

However, we must remember we are first a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven and we are to act in a way worthy of our calling. Although we live in this world, we do not and must not wage war like the world does! (2 Corinthians 10:3)