I have preached before about how there has been a great rift in our society. Progressives have moved with the rift, and conservatives stood their ground. I posted something the other day on our Church’s Facebook page about standing our ground. And it’s only going to get tougher to do so, which means we’re going to have to get tougher because not only is the rift continuing to move, and not only is the world moving along with that rift, but unfortunately, we’re seeing Christians doing the same thing. It’s as if we’re Christians and denominations choosing to abandon what the Bible teaches and move with that rift because it’s easier to go with the flow than go against it.
How are we supposed to handle it? I mean, this split is the division in our society. And if I had to break it down to just one thing, it’s not the LGBTQ+ issue. It’s actually The Bible when you think about it. The Bible is what is tearing our society apart.
We’re standing on one side of that gap, saying this is what The Bible says, and with the conscience that comes from The Holy Spirit, I’m sticking to it. The others are standing on the other side of that division saying, “Well, The Bible says this too, “Love your neighbor” and “Do unto others; do not judge; he who is without sin, cast the first stone.””
I get it, but we’re accused of being divisive when we haven’t gone anywhere.
There was a time when there was a bridge across that ravine, and I think many people used that bridge to meet in the middle or shake hands with the other side, but now, I believe that bridge has fallen because it just wasn’t wide enough.
This division has caused enmity. What is the definition of enmity? Some of the synonyms are: friction, opposition, rivalry, feud, conflict, discord, bitterness, resentment…and the list goes on and on.
Do you sense enmity in our society today?
So what are we supposed to do about it? How can we be salt and light and the hope of the world when we’ve got to be standing our ground, and the World is just too focused on this one issue? They want to pick a fight. We don’t. We’d much rather be salt and light and not have to worry about this issue at all.
Not too long ago, I posted a meme about the “Four Generation Fade” about what happens when people don’t make church a priority; and how that affects the following generations. That didn’t even mention or even hint at the LGBTQ+ issue, but I’ve had two people my children’s age comment on it as if it did.
In my opinion, I think this can be a distraction from the Enemy, Satan, who wants us–that’s both sides of the argument–to focus on this division and not be or see the light.
So what do we do about all this? How do we handle being the light in an increasingly hostile environment while still standing our ground and holding the fort?
Today, I have so many scripture verses that I thought it would be easier if I just read through them as I went along instead of having you go back and forth and put a bookmark here, and another one there, and a finger there, and open there.
Scripture: So let me begin with John 1, but before I do, let me read to you a couple of quotes this morning. Not long ago, a well-known pastor named Tim Keller passed away, and this is something he once said in a sermon:
“Truth without love is imperious self-righteousness. Love without truth is cowardly self-indulgence.” Both are selfish.
John Newton, who wrote the song, “Amazing Grace,” once said: our natural temptation is to say what we should not say or to not say what we should say. One is cruel arrogance, the other cruel cowardice, and neither is love.
Do you get an idea of where we’re going this morning?
John 1:9-18:
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
I’m going to use the concept mentioned in verses 12 and 13 about being children of God a little later, but the essence of what I want to talk about today is found at the end of verse 14 and again in verse 17. It’s the phrase ‘grace and truth.’ Jesus was full of grace and truth. And when we look at the ministry of Jesus, if you were to put in one phrase how he taught and how he dealt with people, you could easily see that he did those things in truth and grace.
We Christians are living the two of these things if we are in step with The Spirit. The problem is that when you put two things together, such as this, it tends to be on a spectrum.
If you were to draw a line in the center of truth and grace, where would your pendulum swing? Jesus, of course, being perfect–being God in the flesh and without sin–perfectly enveloped truth and grace. We, on the other hand, are not perfect, so we are, by nature, more on one side than the other. Now, that’s not necessarily wrong, but it can cause some problems. Too much truth and not enough grace leads to legalism and judgmentalism––which was a problem between Jesus and the Pharisees; and too much grace and not enough truth leads to permissivism––which is where progressivism stands today.
I find myself to have a little more grace than truth, but when I was younger, I would have put myself at a little more truth than grace. The pendulum tends to swing some throughout life.
But the idea is to have both and be as close to balanced as possible. And Jesus, again, was the epitome of both. His pendulum was smack dab in the middle, and we have Him to look at as an example.
And my mind immediately goes to Jesus turning over tables and driving out the moneychangers with a whip. Where was the grace in that situation? I guess you could say that Jesus implemented grace because he could have done more, I suppose. He had the authority to but didn’t. In any case, I wouldn’t recommend us doing that because I have a feeling our truth and grace wouldn’t be so balanced.
We are not to have truth or grace but a healthy balance of both.
Everything in our society has gotten politicized. In fact, The World Economic Forum, the same place that wants Artificial Intelligence to rewrite The Bible to make it more ‘correct,’ also wants banks to have certain ‘Economic, Social and Governance systems’ in place in order to approve loans and so on. This will not only impact corporations but also you and me and the way we do church. That means standing our ground is going to have consequences.
Christians are not called to fit in with the world. We are called to stand with God no matter whether or not the rest of society has moved along with that rift. Ephesians 6:13 says, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”
So how do we stand? How do we balance truth and grace? Well, our demeanor has a lot to do with it. That’s why it’s so easy to get into trouble on social media because you can’t always read someone else’s demeanor.
When I was in my preaching class, I learned that 93 percent of communication is non-verbal. I think that’s why a lot of people fall for false teachers and corrupt politicians–they simply know how to communicate well. I think that’s one of Satan’s tactics–use non-verbal skills like poise and demeanor to convince people just about anything.
According to masterclass.com
The rule states that 7 percent of meaning is communicated through spoken word, 38 percent through tone of voice, and 55 percent through body language. It was developed by psychology professor Albert Mehrabian at the University of California, Los Angeles, who laid out the concept in his 1971 book Silent Messages (1971).
I could go on and on and on about that, but I think that all speaks well for itself. It’s not just about truth, but how we act with grace that matters. Let’s look at Ephesians 4, verses 11 through 16.
It’s really the last couple of verses from that that we’re going to focus on.
Eph. 4:11-16 says
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
And so, Paul says to the Ephesian church to speak the truth in love. It’s interesting that truth and love––or truth and grace––is equated with being a mature son or daughter of God.
We are not to be just “children of God” but “mature children of God.” No matter how old my children get, they will always be my children. They are no longer infants, they are young adults, but no matter what age they are, they will always be my children. I remember when I was a kid, my older brother and sister were in their late teens/early 20s, and my mom would refer to them as “the kids.” I thought, “They’re not kids. I’m a kid. They’re grown-ups now. Why does she keep calling them ‘kids?’” Well, now I know.
And as children of God, we’re supposed to ‘grow up’ and behave like we are heirs of His eternal kingdom.
And did you catch that our maturity as Children of God has to do with our ability to understand and handle the truth lovingly? Reminds me of that Jack Nicholson scene. Some people can’t handle the truth. But it’s our job to handle it. And to handle it in a loving manner. So what is a loving manner?
The fruit of the Spirit––love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
Also, 1 Cor. 13: 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
I’ll say it again, “Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.”
Love and truth go hand in hand.
But what happens when truth isn’t accepted, no matter how much love and grace we use? The Bible actually never tells us that everyone will accept the truth. Some will hear the truth in love and still reject it.
Romans 8:6-11 says:
6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
Here are Paul’s final instructions to Timothy. He said:
I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he comes to set up his Kingdom: 2 Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.
3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will reject the truth and chase after myths.
Sound like the world we’re living in?
We have to be willing to understand that no matter how much love and grace we apply to what we say and do, if we have to stand up for truth, what we believe isn’t going to be received or tolerated by everyone. In some cases, the only people who are going to agree with what we have to say are people who already agree with what we have to say. In other words, the people already on our side of the rift.
Remember earlier when I said that The Bible was the real crux, or the real reason for that shift? We stood with the rock of The Bible, while everyone else moved like the shifting sand.
Here’s what Jesus said in Matthew 10: 34-36:
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
A lot of people have a problem with those verses. They don’t sound nice, do they? As I said earlier, this is the “chasing out the moneychangers” side of Jesus. They don’t sound like the loving Jesus we learned about in Sunday School. They don’t sound like the Jesus who said to ‘love one another’ or ‘love your enemies.’ It even sounds contradictory to loving our enemies.
But the example of the money changers is a different situation; it’s the righteous anger of Jesus being displayed. It’s the same as when Jesus was so angry at the Pharisees and called them out on their wickedness. In Jesus’ great grace, there was also a great fire of righteousness that we can’t forget. And sometimes that righteousness, or truth, leads to a dividing line. As I said earlier, we have to hold our ground. There comes a time when we have to say, “This is it. This is the line that we do not cross.”
We have been very fortunate for the past 400 years, since The Pilgrims landed in Plymouth in 1620, to have a unified Christian belief system in this country–for the most part. There has been a rift between Protestants and Catholics, but there’s always been a bridge. I think that conservative Catholics and conservative Protestants are meeting on that bridge and shaking hands because we’re seeing that we’re on the same side of that cultural rift, and we’re uniting on the issues.
I see it even among Christians and Jews; not religiously speaking, we’re still holding to our beliefs, but we’re uniting on the issues.
But when it comes to progressives vs. conservatives–that rift is getting wider. Choosing Christ’s truth, with as much grace as we can muster, is still going to be on one side of that ever-widening dividing line. And family functions might change if they haven’t already.
Choosing Christ, especially in other countries where there is persecution, severely divides families. And it may come to that in our country sooner or later. Which side of the dividing line are you going to be on?
Whether it’s family or not, we must be on one side of the dividing line. At one time, The Church could be completely neutral on social issues. But now, The Church can no longer hold its own in the center of the rift and play neutral. It’s impossible now. We’ve seen Christians sued over simply saying no to participating in a gay wedding. What if this church says no to a gay wedding? What then? We have to accept the consequences.
In Matthew 5:38-48, Jesus told us how we are to endure persecution.
He said: 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Again, this talks about being a child of God. Going through these things and enduring them with ‘truth’ and ‘grace’ is an example of being a child of God. But doing so isn’t easy. It’s tough, isn’t it? The whole thing goes against our natural instinct.
And that’s why Jesus had to teach us this.
Let me give you a little background on this teaching. Because tax revenues did not cover all the Roman army’s needs, soldiers could take anything they needed. So Jesus is talking here about Romans legally demanding local inhabitants to provide for them whatever they needed––clothing off their back, their food, shelter, forced labor. And Jesus said to submit to them. Just as Paul said, at times, for slaves to obey their masters, it’s the same concept. You might not be in a situation you want to be in, but what is the Christ-like way to handle that situation? How would God want you to handle the situation you are in? It’s like Paul’s messages to the slaves–make the best of a bad situation; be humble and gentle.
Why do we do this? Because this is a way to show love for our enemies. But what about justice? What happens when we’ve been wronged or persecuted? What happens when we are fined or jailed for not performing a same-sex wedding? The IVP New Testament Commentary––in reference to these verses–says that we should be so unselfish and trust God so much that we leave our vindication with him.
Here’s another one from Romans. Paul says, 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
I know that listening to or watching the news or all of this pandering to issues that go against The Bible will make you go berserk. It should. It’s God’s righteous anger within you. It shows that you are a child of God and not a child of the devil, as Jesus, in his righteous anger, told the Pharisees that they were. Let God’s grace and peace guide you in whatever may come at you this week, at whatever you are challenged with in your beliefs, at whatever God might have you say. Maybe he won’t have you say anything. That’s always an option. And it’s Biblical. There are a ton of proverbs that talk about not engaging in an argument with a fool. So there’s a balance between truth and grace and not getting into foolish arguments.
In fact, here are some more of Paul’s wise words to Timothy:
23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
I’ll read this from Christianity.com before we close:
If you’ve ever tried to reason with an irrational person, you know that fools have no interest in letting reason in, they just want to get their cynicism and ignorance out.
The Bible cautions that fools delight in belittling anyone who tries to reason with them by stating that, “Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults” (Proverbs 9:7).
In other words, you set out on a fool’s errand when you insist on talking sense to someone whom you know resists being reasoned with.
By engaging with the fool in his argument of ignorance or manipulation, you’ll eventually be drawn into stooping to the mocker’s level and behaving foolishly yourself. Therefore, do yourself a favor and [do as Mr. T would do] pity the fool but avoid the pointless argument.
But if we are compelled by The Holy Spirit to speak the truth, we must speak the truth in love and allow someone’s response to be whatever it may be. And our reaction must be in love, not in foolish quarreling.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on First Baptist Church of Watkins Glen
Featured Image by Niklas Ohlrogge on Unsplash
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