Cake and Truth

Imagine, if you will, a delicious homemade piece of red velvet cake with thick cream cheese frosting set before you (or pick whatever you favorite treat is; I happen to love a good red velvet cake!) Sitting beside you is someone who loves you dearly. It could be your spouse or a parent; perhaps it is your sister or a dear friend.

Grabbing a second plate, you look at your loved one and offer to share. Their eyes grow wide as they calmly say, “no, thank you. That’s not my type of thing.” But what they aren’t telling you is that the cake is contaminated. Somehow they found out, through God’s grace, that the cake contains poison and they have chosen not to eat it for themselves. But they don’t want to hurt your feelings or make you upset and they certainly don’t want to be labeled as “negative” and so they…

just let you eat it.

How would you feel about this person who watched you eat poison but never said anything? Is that someone who actually loves you?

I’d guess that we could all agree that this is not an act of love.

So why exactly is it that we do the same thing spiritually? Someone we love picks up a book or sings the praises of a podcast that is unbiblical to its core and we don’t speak up because we don’t want to be labeled or to cause conflict. But, I suggest to you, that willingly letting someone consume spiritual poison is just as dangerous– and probably more dangerous— for them than consuming physical poison. For one is regarding the temporal body and the other is regarding the eternal soul.

Yesterday, I came across a sarcastic, hateful remark about those who would dare to speak up against The Chosen, the Asbury “revival”, and the “He Gets Us” campaign. This individual specifically mentioned these things because they are currently what people, and even many Christians, are believing to be true representations of Christ and the Gospel. But…are they?

I am not going to go into why each thing is clearly not of God, although you can find out more about The Chosen TV series here and the “He Gets Us” campaign here. I hope to post something about the “revival” soon.

If you are someone who believes these things to be from God I truly hope that you will humbly and honestly seek the Lord in these things through study and meditation upon God’s Word. There, we find all we need to protect us from these wolfish movements. God is so faithful to those who will seek Him.

However, this post is for those of you who are already well aware that these things are not from God. Today, I want to encourage and embolden those of us who do see the danger in these things and refuse to speak up.The temptation to stay quiet is a powerful one for us all–including myself! If God has shown us the truth, why are we so afraid to share this with those we love?

Well, there are many reasons.

I’ve watched Satan put a stranglehold on spiritual truth-tellers to the point that most of us just don’t bother because it’s just too painful. We are labeled “negative” or “divisive” or any number of other things (and this comes mostly from fellow Christians). We are rejected and scorned. We are mocked and ridiculed or sidelined. The price for speaking up and telling the truth, particularly publicly (like on social media) is pretty high for most people. The price for speaking the truth to a family member or a dear friend is even more costly. And so most of us just… don’t.

Let’s face it, life is just easier when we don’t “rock the boat.”

But, when we pause to evaluate our refusal to speak truth in order to protect someone spiritually, at its heart we find that ugly nemesis: SELF-LOVE.

We just aren’t willing to pay the price to protect someone else.

John reminds us in I John 3:16–

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Would we ever lay down our lives for someone when we aren’t even willing to lay down a little comfort or the esteem of men to protect someone spiritually? And, in fact, perhaps this is a way to “lay down our lives” for our brethren? To willingly pay the high price that accompanies truth-telling in order to spiritually protect someone is a way to show that we love them more than we love ourselves.

Does God reveal the Truth in His Word to us so that we can just sit on it and protect ourselves? Or does He have a greater purpose? Think back in your own life– have you been grateful to someone for pointing out something you didn’t know in God’s Word that protected you? I know I sure have. Many times.

Yesterday, I heard a pastor say that if we never take the risk of climbing a mountain, we will never have the amazing experience of standing on the mountain. And if we never take the risk of getting hurt in playing football, we will never score a touchdown. And, so too, if we never are willing to endure the hurt of antagonism and rejection that comes from speaking the truth, we will never get the pure joy that comes not only when someone embraces the truth, but from knowing we are pleasing our heavenly Father in doing what He has called us to do.

What “speaking the truth in love” looks like for each of us is different. God has given us each different situations, areas, and opportunities in which to be a light for Him. But, if we are a redeemed child of God, then we all have in common the Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth as we study the Word of God (John 16:13) and the calling to speak the truth in love in order to help each other grow (Ephesians 4:14-16) and to protect one another (Ephesians 5:11).

May we take the opportunities we are given each day to point people towards Christ and towards TRUTH. May we care more about protecting others than protecting ourselves. And may we cast aside our desire to be liked or esteemed and, instead, love people enough to tell them the truth.