A marriage made in heaven
However did the church manage to divorce truth from love? Perhaps because the desire of fallen human beings, even of Christians, to control others is far more easily attained through an assertion of "truth" than through love. There is no difference between the Roman demand, on pain of death, that Christians acknowledge "Caesar is Lord" and the Christians' demand that Muslim captives during the Crusades (or even, possibly, in Guantanamo Bay) acknowledge "Jesus is Lord". Whether or not the "truth" is actually true is not the point. In both cases, it is being appallingly misused.
In neither case is there any sign of love. Christians, during the Inquisition, even claimed that it was out of love that they burnt at the stake those they perceived to be heretics, in order to save their souls. But real love always respects the other, "always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres" (1 Cor. 13:7).
The apostles, writing to young Christians in the first century, place huge emphasis on truth. False belief leads to false teaching leads to false living, and undermines the gospel. But the apostles never divorce truth from love. In John's second letter, the two words appear together again and again. "It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, John writes (v.4), and continues, "his command is that you walk in love" (v.6).
We still see Christians who stand for truth, as they perceive it, with a fervent dogmatism that leaves little room for the love that respects and listens to the other. But in our generation the imbalance more often goes the other way. The pressures of our culture are pushing even Christians to reject propositions of truth and to embrace, in the interests of love, a tolerance that may well end up in "All roads lead to God".
Are we prepared, this week, to listen respectfully to the opinions of others, and then, with good humour and due humility, to speak the truth in love?
Love and truth - what God has joined together, let no-one tear apart.
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