WHY CHRISTIANS NEED TO STAND UP FOR THE TRUTH

Vanessa Dawn
Dec 3, 2016
10 min read

Everyone knows we live in times like the world has never seen. We call it the information age. In 1900, human knowledge doubled every 100 years; in 2016, knowledge doubles every 13 months. By 2020, it will double every 12 hours. The number of internet devices in 1992 was 1,000,000; in 2014, it was 10,000,000,000. It is estimated that a week’s worth of New York Times contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th century.

So, with all this information, you would think that there was less deception, less falsehood. This is not the case. With the explosion of the information age, there has also been an explosion of MISinformation. Lies and deception are lurking around every corner, disguised as the latest news article or journal publication. Many people think they are experts on a topic simply because they did some research on Google and Wikipedia. Most people think they are not vulnerable to deception, but most people have been deceived about things they many never even realize. Propaganda and political agendas color every news broadcast and influence what topics and events people know and talk about. In their coverage (or non-coverage) of certain issues, the media actually has the power to influence what people think. Yet, most citizens are blissfully and sometimes willfully ignorant of this. People choose to only pay attention to sources that confirm what they think. It is called confirmation bias. This limits people to never hearing things that would change their minds if their minds were only open to new information outside the box of their worldview.

In addition, to complicate matters more, there is now the idea that truth is relative. It is the idea that “what’s true for you is true for you”, and “who am I to tell someone what is true?” It cannot be underestimated how dangerous this thought pattern is. Our society has begun to silence truth by pretending that there is no absolute truth.

Christians have sat on the sidelines quietly while this way of thinking has taken over society over the last 20-30 years. We have not wanted to be so bold and brash as to go against the mainstream and proclaim that there is, in fact, absolute truth. Why? One reason is because a lot of times, this absolute truth goes completely against the lies propagated in the name of “personal” truths. We have been silenced by the line, “Who are you to judge me?” Wanting to be peaceable and “loving”, we have allowed lies and deception to take over because we have been silent rather than fighting lies with truth. This is the main reason society has descended into the utter chaos and moral depravity we see today. It has now gotten to the point that this depravity is not only celebrated, but even called “good”. As a result of this, what is truly good has now become viewed as evil because deception has become so rampant that those few who are willing to speak out against it are viewed as the party poopers and “haters” who want to spoil all the fun.

So, why is it so important to stand up for the truth? Wouldn’t it be better to just let everyone live how they want and think what they want? What is it really hurting for someone to believe something that is not true? What about ‘live and let live’? When gay marriage was legalized in the summer of 2015, I immediately wrote a reactionary post of Facebook, decrying the ruling and proclaiming that love had already won when Jesus died on the cross to set us free from sins such as these. The day I wrote this post, I received a message from a well-meaning friend basically saying that I needed to keep my mouth shut because that would be the more tolerant thing to do. He said he had friends who were gay, and that they always pleasantly commented that he was not homophobic because he never spoke against homosexuality. He had the idea that this made him more loving. I told him that it is actually more like hate to stay silent when you know a friend is on their way to hell. I said it is actually love to warn people of the coming consequences for their actions. The analogy I used was this: “If you saw your friends on a train ride straight down to hell, would you smile and wave? Or would you scream out a frantic warning that they were on a road to imminent destruction?” He said he was going to call to discuss this later, but I never heard from him again.

So many Christians today are still taking this approach, silently allowing their friends to go to hell unwarned, smiling and waving as if there was nothing wrong. They call it “love”, but it is actually anything BUT love. How can you say you love someone, and never tell them the truth? My friend, like so many, has the idea that if we just “love” them by being kind and friendly, that is enough. But there were two sides to Jesus. Contrary to what Joel Osteen and others would have you believe, Jesus is NOT just grace. The Bible says He is full of grace AND truth (John 1:17). In fact, He is not only full of truth, He actually IS the truth. Jesus said “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). As I told my friend, you cannot share just half the gospel and leave the other half out. The gospel is summed up perfectly in John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So, there we have the awesome promise of eternal life, but there is a flip side to this because it lays out a choice. If we believe in and follow Jesus, we have everlasting life, BUT if we do not then we PERISH. What makes eternal life so great and exciting is that Jesus set us free from the punishment we deserve for our sins – everlasting hell. You cannot share Jesus – the truth – with someone while glossing over sin like it’s not so bad. You cannot share Jesus – the truth – with someone while leaving out the other half of the story, the fact that without Jesus you will die and go to hell. You cannot pretend to love someone while pretending their sin, which will send them to hell, is okay!

By that same token, if you are not sharing the complete truth of the gospel, which is Jesus, then you are actually helping the enemy, Satan, the father of all lies. All lies come from Satan. You may think that just leaving out this inconvenient part of the gospel is not a lie, but you are wrong. A lie by omission is still a lie; it is deception. If you are not combating lies with truth, you are allowing lies to grow and spread, which is working for the old devil himself. “Hold up, you are being overly dramatic,” you may be thinking. Let me tell you why this is such a serious thing: to sum it up, lies create bondage. Jesus came to eliminate bondage, to set the captives free (Luke 4:18), so if you are doing something that hinders that cause, you are working for the enemy. Jesus even said “Whoever is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not gather with me scatters” (Luke 11:23). No one has ever been set free by lies. As said, “you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32). Only the truth can set you free. Only Jesus can set you free. Without Him, you are living in darkness, a world of lies and bondage.

As Christians, we are commanded to spread the truth – to preach the gospel, proclaim the message, and persist in it whether convenient or not (2 Timothy 4:2). Jesus commanded us to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19). It was not an option; it was a command. If we are followers of Christ, we have an obligation to share Jesus with the world, which means sharing the whole, unabridged truth. We are not to change it to make it look prettier to the world. We are not to sugar coat things. We are to share the truth in love. Jesus said that whoever loves Him will keep His commands (John 14:21). So, if you do not share the gospel for fear of offending the world, you are making yourself a friend of the world, which is to be an enemy of God “Adulteresses! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the world’s friend becomes God’s enemy” (James 4:4). If you are wondering what this verse means when by “adulteresses”, it is talking about the church – those who claim to know Him. He is addressing those who are actually apostates, who depart from the faith by forsaking their groom, Jesus, to pursue another love, the world. (Disclaimer: don’t confuse this with being loving towards the world. We are to be loving always. What this means is don’t pursue the world’s approval; don’t become like the world.) “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2). “Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15)

If you are a Christian who glosses over the truth in order to appease your worldly friends, rather than proclaiming the truth as Jesus commanded in order to please your Heavenly Father, you are not only making yourself an enemy of God, and allowing your friends to go to hell, but you also will have blood on your hands when you stand before the Throne on Judgment Day. But, don’t take my word for it. Here’s what God Himself said about this in the Bible: “If I say to the wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him–you don’t speak out to warn him about his wicked way in order to save his life–that wicked person will die for his iniquity. Yet I will hold you responsible for his blood.” (Ezekiel 3:18)

This is pretty serious. So, my prayer is that God will give us all the boldness to speak out against sin, no matter what the world thinks about it (or us). We will be called bigots and haters. Jesus said, “You will be hated by all nations because of My name” (Matthew 24:9) The second epistle of Timothy says “all who will live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). Our job is not to please the world, but to tell them the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). If this scares you, pray to God for boldness and courage. We can only live this life we are called to live by grace and empowerment from on high, only by His strength at work within us. Take courage in the fact that if you lift up Jesus, He will draw all people to Himself (John 12:32). He is the light of the world, shining in the blackest darkness. Like a moth to a flame, they will come to Him. But only if we tell them the truth in love. “But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14). Not everyone you share the truth with will repent right away or ever, but your job is not to make them repent. Your job is to sow the seed, and let the Holy Spirit convict them according to the truth. You may never see the sprout of that seed, but it has been planted, and your reward is great in heaven.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:

Indeed, we have all received grace after grace from His fullness, for the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:16-17)

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18)

“Anyone who is not with Me is against Me, and anyone who does not gather with Me scatters.” (Luke 11:23)

Proclaim the message; persist in it whether convenient or not; rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching. (2 Timothy 4:2)

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

The one who has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. And the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father. I also will love him and will reveal Myself to him.” (John 14:21)

Adulteresses! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the world’s friend becomes God’s enemy. (James 4:4)

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2)

“Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15)

“Then they will hand you over for persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of My name” (Matthew 24:9)

In fact, all those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Timothy 3:12)

But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ. (Eph. 4:15)