LOVE SPEAKS PLAINLY

Ezra 7:1-8:20; 1 Corinthians 4:1-21; Psalm 30:1-12; Proverbs 20:28-30

“And you, Ezra, are to use the wisdom your God has given you to appoint magistrates and judges who know your God’s laws to govern all the people in the province west of the Euphrates River. Teach the law to anyone who does not know it. Anyone who refuses to obey the law of your God and the law of the king will be punished immediately, either by death, banishment, confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.”

“For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?”

“When I was prosperous, I said, ‘Nothing can stop me now!’ Your favor, O Lord, made me as secure as a mountain. Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered. I cried out to you, O Lord. I begged the Lord for mercy, saying, ‘What will you gain if I die, if I sink into the grave? Can my dust praise you? Can it tell of your faithfulness? Hear me, Lord, and have mercy on me. Help me, O Lord.’ You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy….”

“The glory of the young is their strength; the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old. Physical punishment cleanses away evil; such discipline purifies the heart.”

There have been relatively few times I have gotten into trouble when the communication was clear about expectations and performance. Similarly, most of my problems with personal relationships have come up when I have wrongly assumed what another was thinking, or vice versa. Plain talk is not universally appreciated by those on the receiving end of it. But like bad tasting, effective medicine, plain talk is always the best way to address a problem. Of greater moment, there are times in everyone’s life where it is absolutely imperative that there be no misunderstanding. Some thoughts are so important miscommunication cannot be risked. Legacies and marriages, for example, should never be entrusted to guess work. In short, if we do not love others enough to “speak the truth in love,” and to be honest about relevant circumstances and/or emotions, it’s a clear sign God is not finished with us yet.

Ignorance is never blessed. It’s ignorant. Those who allow or promote it are never acting out of love. We do no favors for our family, friends or colleagues when we allow them to drift in a sea of unawareness or confusion. Knowledge may or may not equate to power, but the lack of knowledge almost always translates to impotence and frustration. These can ripen into feelings of outright betrayal when the light finally dawns. And it almost always does, eventually.

John 14-16, the Last Supper discourse, contains Jesus’ most plain spoken words in all of Scripture. No more parables, no more symbolism, He was down to His final hours and wanted to be sure His Word and message were clear to those who would carry them to the world after Him. It was not a time for political correctness or for worrying about hurt feelings. It was a time for Truth.

Ezra, charged with the responsibility of rebuilding the Hebrew faith in Jerusalem, required clear and unambiguous directions from King Artaxerxes, just as did those along the way whom Artaxerxes charged with the responsibility of supporting Ezra in his mission. It was too important a ministry to be left to fate or chance. Ezra and the people both needed to fully understand the magnitude of the responsibility and opportunity being thrust upon them. The Hebrews also, in all probability, needed to be convinced Artaxerxes’ professed support would not collapse after they once more uprooted themselves and returned to Jerusalem. (Who has not faced similar uncertainty when asked by the Boss to transfer to another state? The first, almost instinctive question is, “Will it last?”)

Paul likewise shared plain talk with the Corinthians. He was not afraid to fuss when a fussing was deserved. He unapologetically corrected when correction was needed. He praised when encouragement was appropriate. But in all these things, he spoke out of a foundational love. He did not deny his flock the truth out of any misguided concern for personal feelings. He certainly never, ever fudged the truth to cover or protect himself or so he could benefit at others’ expense.

So, today’s point is deceptively simple: love never denies another the blessings of the Truth or the truth. There are no exceptions. Nor should we go to such great lengths to make the truth more palatable that we dilute or confuse its message. Truth is truth, and if it is watered down in any way, it necessarily becomes something else, and something less. Since only the truth will set us free, we can be fairly certain that anything less than the unadulterated truth will have the opposite effect. When we manipulate the truth for our own purposes – however well-intentioned we may be – we leave those affected by it ensnared in ignorance and misunderstanding. While soft peddling the truth may save us from personal hurt, awkwardness or ill-will, we are never acting out of true love when we misrepresent it.

Two things remain. First, no matter how hard the truth may be, that is no excuse for brutality. Just as love never denies the truth, neither does love ever take advantage of it. “This hurts me more than it hurts you” is nonsensical hogwash, and we do well to ban the thought from our lexicon. Whenever the truth is spoken or the Truth shared, we need to be certain we are acting in love, not out of judgment or spite. If we cannot trust ourselves to speak out of love, in all probability, we need to take a closer look at what we are calling the “truth” before we speak at all. Second, love speaks in complete sentences and finishes every thought. The end point of all loving communication should be that there can always be forgiveness, and that redemption is always possible. This goes for sinners as well as victims. The Holy Spirit redeems circumstances as well as individuals, and love’s thoughts are never finished unless they conclude with that message. After all, isn’t that the plain meaning of the Cross? Jesus forgave and restored the criminal who died beside Him the moment that man opened his heart to the Truth of God. Christ also used the opportunity of the Crucifixion (unfamiliar terminology, perhaps, but nonetheless truthful) to redeem and resurrect the whole circumstance of humanity. By His sacrifice, failure went from being a certainty to being a decision. We are once more able to share in the eternal perspective – we can think with the mind of Christ. Redemption is possible. We also remain able to reject the Truth. We do not love those with whom we will not share that black and white truth.

Christians have nothing to fear from the Truth or the truth. Neither should we fear repercussions of the truth in any iteration. We have the Lord’s promise that as long as we are willing to accept and share truth, no matter how difficult or uncomfortable it may be, joy and redemption will follow. That’s what love says, and that’s what love does.