“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.  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.”  Ephesians 4:14-15

I totally understand that many Christians are ridiculed for speaking the truth while overlooking the “in love” part.  So often when foundations of our faith, hills we have been willing to die on, are questioned or even flat-out declared wrong, many Christians become fearful and respond with anger, defense, and (in their own mind) truthful; however, they do not respond in love. Certainly, they are overcome with many emotions except the one emotion that should trump them all–love. I think most believers would agree this fearful, angry, knee-jerk reaction is not only wrong, but is not a good reflection of our Savior.

But, what happens when the other side of the coin is violated?  Many Christians, who I believe truly love the Lord and whose motives are good, say things “in love” while violating the Word of God.

You see, the thing is, the Word of God is not a literary piece given for us to sift through, deciding which truths we will and will not agree with. Believers cannot simply turn around and declare “love” as the reasoning behind tweaking truth into more of their liking. When there is a truth in God’s Word, that challenges the lifestyle of someone we love, out of emotion, we want to make their fall on that particular directive a little lighter. So, rather than approaching our loved one, in love and truth, we want to move the mark. Motivated out of love…but, now there’s no truth in it. The thing about truth is…it is either truth or it isn’t.

Recently Jen Hatmaker, the Christian speaker and author, made an interesting declaration about the “holiness” of the homosexual lifestyle during an interview with Johnathan Merritt from Religion News Service.

In a follow-up piece, Merritt states, “In the interview, Hatmaker did not deny a line in the Apostles Creed. She did not promote a historical heresy. She merely claimed that after a careful study of the scriptures, she had arrived at a different understanding of same-sex relationships. But this was enough to outrage some conservative Christians. Lifeway Christian Stores even banned her books from their shelves.”

I do want to make clear that Hatmaker didn’t just say that we should love gay people or anyone who has different belief systems than we do; she said that monogamous same-sex marriages are holy in the sight of God.  Now, she may have said that in love, but that is not truth.

Merritt goes on to say, “To express views as Jen Hatmaker did took guts. It took courage. She knew there would be blowback from the evangelical mafia for stating what she believed, but she stood up and spoke up anyway. She knew that angry letters would follow, that she might lose some fans and followers and readers. But she decided to speak the truth anyway.”

Here’s the thing, we can’t say that, “She knew there would be blowback…but she decided to speak the truth anyway” and then blast Lifeway for not selling her books.  Lifeway sold her books to begin with because she was speaking the truth in love and their esteem of the Word was shared with her. I agree that Hatmaker can speak her opinion (which by the way the author calls truth, which the Word disagrees with) and publicly if she so chooses. That is her prerogative. However, courage means one is willing to accept any response, even disagreement and/or discontinuation of book sales. Courage doesn’t mean expressing one’s unbiblical point of view without being prepared for the outcome. Claiming “the religious machine” or “conservative evangelical mafia” have turned on you just isn’t the case. Christians bought into Hatmaker’s brand when she championed biblical principles. Now that she doesn’t, those same people will no longer buy her brand—simple as that.

The fact is that I don’t hate non-Christians, Muslims, gays, Jen Hatmaker, pro-choice people, or Christians who I disagree with…and neither do most Christians. But out of love for people and a commitment to support the truth of God’s Word, we must continue to speak truth in love. Christians who will jump on the band wagon of arguments that are off base and false…don’t love more, they just aren’t courageous enough to speak truth as well.

I am thankful to serve a God whose thoughts are not my thoughts and whose ways are not my ways. I can’t possibly understand Him completely and truth be told, we need it that way. He set the marks out of His love for us. Now, as His followers, we can’t go around claiming that the loving thing to do is move them.

My love,