Now, let's think about that: "in love."
We speak the truth in love.
Certainly, Paul is not merely talking
about being just nice,
likable or friendly.
I suspect that the Apostle Paul
would by lots of people
not be considered a nice guy.
Oh, he loved, but he said hard things.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said very hard things.
And I'm not saying that there's anything wrong
with being nice or likable or friendly.
But that's too often the picture put forward
by this world around us.
You notice how the world tries
to define what Christianity is.
People will tell us:
Well, Christianity is like this.
This is what it's like.
Oh really?
Why do you think that?
Well, they've invented what they think
Christianity is supposed to be like.
(incomplete thought)
The world basically has this idea:
Christians are harmless.
There is an aspect to that.
But Christians as long as they're nice
and loving and show a friendly spirit,
never condemn or judge,
as long as they're never insistent about anything,
as long as they're agreeable and smile at everything,
the world will basically leave us alone
in our pathetic-ness, right?
In our weakness.
Now there's a good way to be weak.
And there is a bad way to be weak.
(incomplete thought)
As long as the church is inoffensive,
and they're not uncompromising,
they don't insist on the truth,
then as long as we don't criticize
or denounce or condemn anything...
But why? Because if the world hears that
then they count us to be devoid of love.
So the world says.
But we would do well to remember
what's being said here.
We are to speak the truth in love.
That's important.
Truth.
That means we're unbending in our love.
And there's a reason.
I mean, is there not reason to be unbending?
People go to hell through deception.
Being blown about by every wind of doctrine.
There's human cunning.
There's craftiness and deceitful schemes.
What is being schemed?
It's the destruction of men's souls.
There's a devil who seeks to deceive,
to destroy, to damn.
We're not playing a lightweight game here.
And I'll tell you this,
truth sets men free.
Truth saves men's souls.
Truth.
Thy Word is truth.
Jesus Christ is truth.
We are to preach the truth in love.
Truth.
We're not told to cultivate
some sort of vagueness or obscure kindness.
Well, we're just going to be kind
no matter what anybody says,
what anybody does,
what anybody believes,
we're just going to smile at everybody
and we're going to be the nice guys
and we're going to be known
as the church or as the religion
that just tolerates everything
and we pat everybody on the back
and we smile and we say
well, it's all going to work out.
That's not the idea.
This is not some kind of ambiguous
or obscure or unclear loving spirit.
Brethren, we must be uncompromising
when it comes to truth.
We cannot hesitate to be narrow.
We must not put niceness before truth ever
because error destroys.
Error damns.
And you know what?
You've got people - they come across looking nice,
but really they don't want any conflict,
and they're not willing to love people enough to tell the truth.
I was thinking as Bobby was going through that,
you think about Peter.
Peter was preaching to the people
and he said to them,
"You killed your Messiah."
Or you think of the Apostle Paul.
"You foolish Galatians!"
You think, Peter loved those people.
Paul loved those people.