P4CM Blog

So I’m the father of a three year old, beautiful, no filter having, sinful little girl. Yes, I said it, she IS sinful and so are your kids and everyone in your family.

WOW! I must really hate your family to say something like that, right? I’ll get back to that soon. But first, my own sinful kid…

She has discovered lying but is by no stretch of the imagination a master of it (praise God). On the other hand she has yet to develop the ability to sugar coat hard truths, she sometimes blurts out the most unapologetically truthful statements about what she is experiencing or thinking at any given moment. “Daddy, you stink”, she said after I’d come in from washing the car on one of the warmest days of the summer.  She wasn’t being mean. She was being honest and from a child, such honesty is permissible. After all, she’s only three and has not learned proper truth telling etiquette. As she “matures” she will learn that when you encounter a person that smells bad you don’t TELL them they stink, you politely smile, say hello, hold your breath and walk away. This will prove to the world and to the smelly person that you are a kind-hearted individual who cares about the feelings of others.

Wait a minute. Is that right? Not telling a person the truth about their condition is being considerate and kind? Not being vocal about your views is proper etiquette? I was always taught that if you care about someone, you tell them the truth.

Sadly, this no longer seems to be the case. Today telling the truth in many circumstances is considered hateful. The primary concern is no longer truth. The primary concern is how we FEEL about the truth. If someone tells us the truth and it does not make us feel good, the motivation of the person telling the truth MUST be hate.

Before I go any further let me forewarn you, I am going to step on a few toes and for that YOU may even label me as hateful. You have been warned.

If a White person does not support and did not vote for President Obama, popular opinion is that this lack of support is most likely due to an internal hatred of Black people. If a Christian does not support gay marriage, the reason must be that Christians hate homosexuals. If a person does not support abortion he must hate women and want to launch a war against them. What kind of foolish logic is this? Disagreement is not hate and voicing that disagreement is not hate speech.  

Now do not get me wrong, I do believe hate speech is real and as believers we should have no part in such behavior (Eph. 4:29). But if my opinion is that those who desire to live in the United States should be allowed to do so as long as they do so legally, why should I be labeled as a hater of immigrants? I have received so much undeserved love from my heavenly Father that I would not dare turn around and hate those He has commanded me to love (John 15:12). Scripture clearly teaches that it is by my love that the world will know I am a disciple of Christ (John 13:35) and one of the things that Paul tells us about love in 1 Corinthians is that love “rejoices in the truth” and guess what, sometimes the truth hurts.

When your love for others is genuine, you will tell them the truth even if it hurts them. You prove your hate for another when you lie to them to spare their feelings.

So back to your family. The truth of the matter is everyone in your family is a sinner and so are you. Is that a hard truth? Yes. However, as believers are we not commissioned to deliver such hard truths? The first thing we are called to do when acknowledging Christ as our Savior is to repent. We must first agree with God that we are sinful, right? If we are going to share the Gospel message with someone how are we supposed to leave that part out? We can’t, right?  And for that, Christians are often mislabeled as being hateful…even by other Christians. Apparently, the proper way to approach the lost is: 1. Never call them lost 2. Never mention their sinful state. 3. Be extremely encouraging and 4. Talk a whole lot about love. That method is guaranteed to make a person FEEL great but they are unlikely to FEEL any conviction. How much do you really love them if you only give them a half truth?

No one wants to be called a hater. Trust me, I get it.  I don’t want to be called a hater either. But look at our Model. He was called a liar for telling the truth. In fact, it was the truth that got him executed. It is the truth that is getting Christians in China and the Middle East executed as well. Sadly in America, some Christians have bowed to political correctness and the self esteem movement and have joined in the demonization of those bold enough to call sin what it is.

Be mindful of the times folks. This world hates Truth and it emphatically denounces the notion of an “Absolute Truth.” You can follow that model if you want, but be prepared for where it leads.

If telling the truth is now hate speech, then I love hate speech and I pray that God will give me the boldness to speak it even to my own peril.

 

AD is a man who loves God, his wife and his children. For over 25 years God has used him to share the gospel message through the arts and event production. In 2012 he joined the P4CM marketing team, working behind the scenes to help broaden the reach of the ministry and the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. His goal in serving with P4CM is primarily to please God in his efforts and secondarily to be challenged to grow.