Truth With Love

The great Christian thinker Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984) always emphasized truth with love.  This is exactly the right approach in dealing with all people, believers and unbelievers alike.  We should confront people with the truth and reality because we have love for them and love for God.  Love of God demands love of truth and love for people.  

Unbelievers need to be confronted with the reality that God is there.  It must be the God of the Bible (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)  not just any god.  People must be confronted with the truth of the Bible which is the Word of God.  We must be willing to say that all religions are not true, only Christianity is the true religion.  We must be willing to proclaim that Jesus is the only way to heaven and that all other roads lead to hell.  We must be willing to confront various worldviews held by other people as false.  

The reality that we have sinned against a holy God and therefore deserve to face his wrath is something that unbelievers need to be confronted with.  People need to repent of their sins and trust in Christ alone for salvation.  Also we must take a stand on issues such as abortion and homosexual marriage.  Now matter how unpopular it may be we must stand for the truth.  Of course our motivation for this should be love for people.  We should desire that they be right with God and want to see them go to heaven and not hell.  

Those inside the church also need to be confronted with the truth.  All beliefs and lifestyles cannot be allowed.  At some point we must draw the line.  Those with unbiblical views and doctrines should be confronted.  We must stand on the belief that the Bible is the literal, Word of God  without error in all areas it speaks to.  Also those living in open unrepentant sin must be confronted.  Church discipline must be exercised and if necessary some people must be put out of the church.  Of course church discipline is rarely used in the modern church.  Any church wishing to be Biblical will have to use church discipline though.  The purity of the church is very important.  Of course it must be done in a loving way.  The ultimate hope is that the person will repent of his sin and return to the Christ.  

In our time few people are willing to confront others with the truth.  It must be done if we love God and people.  Our culture continues to decline because people are not willing to confront it with the truth.  The modern church is weak because we are not willing to confront those inside it with the truth.  Truth with love is the only hope for a dying culture.