Posted by:
Bible Blogger on
August 29, 2007 at
2:06AM EST
Are you willing to stand for Christ and His word or are you more interested in "getting along" with people?
I know for most people your first answer was to stay that you stand for
Christ and His word but I would ask you to take a hard look at what you
do and what you say then ask yourself if you're really standing for
Christ. There are times when you have to make a hard, public stand for
the truth of God's word even when it's unpopular and when it seems to
go against what your brothers and sisters in Christ seem to be doing.
You cannot deny the truth of God's word just because you don't want to
potentially cause "divisions" or "hurt feelings." Jesus wasn't
concerned with hurting the feelings of someone who was clearly in the
wrong when it came to His Father's word. He wasn't placing "stumbling
blocks" in the paths of others when what some want to call a "stumbling
block" is a solid truth of the Bible. You cannot sit idly by when
someone is clearly distorting God's word because you don't want to
potentially hurt "their faith." Sometimes a person's "faith" can be
wrong.
Most of all, you cannot try to silence the brother or sister in Christ
who is boldly standing for the Word of God in your quest to keep
everyone happy. Paul, Peter and the other Disciples were not silent
when the Sanhedrin told them to keep their mouth shut about Christ
because it was causing divisions. They were more interested in the
truth than for getting along with everyone and they didn't compromise
what was said because they were being told by peers not to cause hurt.
"And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” - Acts 5:27-32 (ESV)
Who was right and who was wrong here? Were the Disciples wrong because
they were putting a "stumbling block" in front of the "faith" of the
Sanhedrin? They were certainly standing up boldly for the truth and
they were doing it in a way that was hurting feelings and causing
problems. There are times today where we as Christians need to do the
same thing even if it's with other people who profess they believe in
Christ as Savior.
"Speaking the truth in love" is not always being meek, timid and afraid
to make a bold stand. Sometimes love is demonstrated by standing up
and telling someone that they are, in fact, dead wrong on what they're
trying to pass off as truth of the Gospel. If you allow someone to
continue to bring false teaching into the discussions because you want
to "respect their faith" then you are in effect saying that you do not
believe the Word of God is really God's word.
I think we as Christians have been so conditioned over the last decade
to make people happy that our first response is not to boldly stand for
God's truth but rather to avoid any potential conflicts. The idea that
you can only speak the truth in love by soothing words and phrases like
"well, we'll have to agree to disagree on doctrine" is not only not
found in Scripture but actually runs counter to Christ's teaching that
we are to stand firm for God's word.
Now, let me say to be clear, I'm not saying that you should go around
picking scriptural fights with people or seek out people to question
their doctrines. However, when that situation finds you then you need
to stand boldly for Christ's truth and not back down from the
confrontation just like Paul, just like Peter, just like James, just
like Stephen. You also need to avoid the temptation to attack the
Christian brother or sister standing boldly for God's word just because
you're not comfortable when someone else makes a bold stand for Him.
(2) Comments
Posted by: Amanda Meyers on August 29, 2007 4:09PM EST
0 rating(s)
Thank you so much. I have been going through a hard time lately. As a Christian I have been rediculed and punished for being Christian and when in these situations I am never really sure what I should do. I have been praying about it, and I honestly think that your blog was God's answer to me. Instead of keeping silent just to make the people go away, I should stand up for Christ. Thank you so much!
I hear ya! To tell the truth in love is to do just that. We have a charge to do what the word says all of the time, not some of the time or to spare feelings. Jesus didn't. There is only one faith and one God and if your "faith" doesn't line up with the word of God, then your "faith" is wrong.
