Love and Truth

"You say you love me, but that doesn't make it real."  How many love songs have been written about that?  What we call love these days often tilts toward the extreme of "love avoids all conflict because it is nice" or toward the extreme of "love means telling you the truth about yourself when I am right!"  How do we share our deepest, most passionate beliefs about what is right and communicate our love and care at the same time?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, we are not good about communicating.  It's our selfish desire to look good, to be right, to  be superior to others that gets in the way of love.  Love us past our brokeness.  Teach us to love others so that they may come to know your love, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

I Corinthians 8

Comments

So some Corinthian Christians wrote Paul a letter or two regarding problems they were encountering, practical issues of day to day adventures learning to follow Jesus together and teaching pagans to become Christians. The question in chapter 8 that Paul picks up goes something like this,"Why can't we eat the meat from Temple Zeus? They always use the best sauce, and since we now know that their idols aren't real gods anyway, what difference does it make if we eat the good meat?" The reasoning is "since we know what it is true, we don't have to worry about it because we know our actions are right in God's eyes." And, "Why should we care what other people think of us?"

According to Paul, and through Paul according to God, there is more to following Jesus and helping other people follow Jesus than just the right answers. There is loving application of our knowledge. We need to understand where the people we are discipling are in their faith, what their current beliefs are, and where they are most vulnerable. We need to sensitively think about how our words and actions, no matter how correct they are, will impact our impressionable young Jesus followers.

In this case, it was not loving to simply grab a slab of ribs off the table at the market from a vendor in front of Temple Zeus and, knowing like everyone this was leftover sacrificial meet offered to an idol, proclaiming, "Since there are no idols I'm going to thoroughly enjoy these ribs!" To a person who once believed in Zeus, worshipped in that Temple, ate that meat for years while thinking it was to honor their god, and who had just begun to see that Jesus Christ is Lord and that Zeus is not, this would have been difficult and confusing. It might have even caused a crisis of faith and doubt. "Am I sure that Zeus won't hurl any thunderbolts at me? Is Zeus even real? What about this Jesus I am learning about? How can I know? Now that I am his follower, how can I do anything that even remotely resembles my old life?"

According to Paul, and God through Paul, though our theology may be sound, we must lovingly, carefully consider that tender, early shoots of faith in Jesus are easily trampled and uprooted. They need tending and thoughtful care. They need building up and gentle encouragement. Without this love and concern for our Christian family, especially our newest, youngest members, we may be right in mind but wrong in heart, and that is a sin.

The alternative way of teaching Jesus invites us to is to "speak the truth in love." Love takes into account where another person is compared to where God wants them to be, and it considers the best way forward for that particular person. Truth is communicated best through a loving relationship of trust and encouragement. Loving application of the truths of life in Jesus is what builds up his Kingdom. Let's be good builders then, shall we?

Prayer

Holy Spirit, enable us to tie love and truth together for the sake of our salvation and the salvation of your creation.  Amen.

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