A preferred culture
is just that. It is preferred. It is a goal toward which we aspire. The church
I am currently serving seeks to be a welcoming, passionate body
that shows compassion and a non-judgmental spirit in the context
of truth. First notice that this is what we are seeking to be. We are
not claiming to have arrived, but we are working toward this end. But, why this
culture. Why not just say, “We seek to uncompromisingly stand for truth,” or “We
seek to love and accept everybody?” I have friends who would embrace the first
statement about uncompromisingly standing for truth. I have friends who would
embrace the second statement about loving and accepting everybody. So which is
it? Why did we choose the preferred culture of being a welcoming, passionate
body that shows compassion and a non-judgmental spirit in the
context of truth?
In 2 John verse
four, John wrote, “I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children
walking in the truth.” Truth is
essential. Without truth we have nothing to believe. Without truth our faith is
a house built on sand, to use Jesus’ expression (see Mt 7:24-27). Truth is that
which correlates to reality. We cannot talk about my truth versus your truth. A
while back I heard a pastor challenge a group of students to find their truth.
He expressed a desire that they would discover and accept his truth, but that what
really mattered was that they find their truth. The problem is, that is not the
meaning of the word truth. True truth is that which corresponds to reality. My
truth, if it does not correspond to reality, is actually a lie. If I believe
with all my heart that I can walk on water that doesn’t make it so. If I
believe that there is a spot in the middle of the lake where the water is dry,
that doesn’t make it so. Our faith is built on the truth of who Jesus is and
that he died and rose again. That is not wishful thinking, or simply my truth.
It is truth evidenced and testified to by eye witnesses. We must
uncompromisingly stand for truth.
John wrote, “I
rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth” (2Jn 1:4). But in the very next
verse he wrote, “And now I ask you, . . . that we love
one another” (2Jn 1:5). Uncompromising truth is essential, but so is love. Now
John is specifically warning his readers about false teachers and so he goes on
to define love. “And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments”
(2Jn 1:6). Love cannot be separated from truth, yet for it to be love it must
be more than a commitment to truth. Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this,
that someone lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:12-13). Paul wrote in 1
Corinthians 13:4-8
Love is patient and
kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not
insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at
wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
Truth without love is harsh, demanding, and often legalistic. Love without truth is wishy-washy. It makes excuses for bad behavior, or just ignores it. It encourages people to find their truth rather than finding truth. Truth without love is destructive and divisive. Love without truth has no foundation and is therefore also destructive in the end. Even though it promises life, it delivers death. That is why we desire to be a welcoming, passionate body that shows compassion and a non-judgmental spirit in the context of truth. The Apostle John cannot separate those two concepts. He wrote in 1 John 3:18 “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” May that be true of me. May that be true of us as believers in Jesus Christ.
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