Speak Truth and Speak Often

“Truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth.”

That quote from Todd Wagner has always stuck with me through the years of ministry and has become even more pertinent now. No matter the temperament or the kind disposition of an individual, if they speak the truth about any given issue, they are labeled as “hateful” or “bigots”. As Christians, we are people of the Truth, and especially in the month that we are in, speaking about issues regarding sexuality and gender from a Biblical worldview will bring upon us a firestorm of opposition and slander.

However, what people don’t realize is silencing people or canceling the opportunity for the truth to be spoken is not promoting tolerance or helping anybody for that matter. Instead, it is dampening free thought, expression and that suppression will invariably come back on those who aim to silence others. In other words, those who are so aggressively out to cancel everybody will inevitably be canceled themselves.

To the Christian, it may be tempting to not speak out about what the Bible clearly teaches and for the sake of peace, remain silent on matters that are pressing in your community but is that really what Jesus Christ would do? Read the gospels and you will see that Jesus Christ was no stranger to controversy. Over and over again, we read that Jesus Christ confronted the issues of sin and wasn’t shy in telling people the truth that they desperately needed to hear. Jesus Christ spoke in love, yes, but he spoke nonetheless.

As we look at the community that we live in, it is obvious that there are things that we Christians need to address. For example, the state-mandated sex-ed curriculum and Critical Theory taught in our public schools, innocent children being slaughtered in Wenatchee by abortion at Planned Parenthood, and the devastation that the pandemic brought upon businesses and households. Those issues and so many more, need Christians to apply their Biblical worldview and speak to them with clarity and conviction.

Part of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, is to “teach them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Who is the “them” in Matthew 28? The nations. And what has Christ commanded? Repentance and faith toward God, obedience, and love. When the Christian doesn’t use every opportunity to speak or cowers because of the threat of being canceled, then they aren’t being faithful to the Great Commission.

I will concede that how we speak the truth does matter. Regrettably, there have been times in my life where what I wrote or what I spoke, although true and Biblical, was done in a way that was hardly winsome or gentle. However, would we rather have someone who says true things bluntly or without tact or someone so nice that they never dare offend anyone with hard truths? My mother passed away from breast cancer in 2020, but I am thankful that her doctor sat us down and told us the truth about my mother’s condition. It was difficult to take and upset the family a great deal, but it allowed us to make decisions that gave my mom a bit of comfort in the last year of her life. Apply that to the society we live in today—a world that is sick with sin—and the cure for it is to confront it directly with the message of Christ.

The Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:17, “For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity…” Unlike so many in Paul’s day (and ours) who would soften, or refuse to give or apply the whole counsel of God’s word for sake of offending people, he says we are men who are genuine and actually believe that every word of God is true and for all people. He continues, “…as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak Christ.” Christian, we too have been commissioned by God to be his ambassador (2 Cor. 5:20) making His truth known to the world. I pray that given the chance, we would not be afraid of the slander or the opposition from individuals, but that in the sight of God, we would speak Christ because heaven knows people need him.