Truth Matters. And People Do Too!

It is Sunday morning. I am at home. Low blood counts (and a compromised immune system) prevent me from being around large crowds of people this morning. This is the first Sunday I have missed, except for being in the hospital, in a while. Thankfully, I convinced my wife that it was alright for her to go and take our four-year-old son. He loves Sunday School! Our daughter and a friend are visiting our former church here in town – a church we helped plant eight years ago.

I have a bit more energy today. My appetite is starting to return. And I am probably starting to regain some of the five pounds I lost this past week! My body, overall, is starting to feel normal again.

We had another letter from our son at West Point yesterday. Two letters in two days. He wrote to tell us of his excitement in meeting two other Christians in his platoon and his opportunity to witness to and discuss the Bible with three other guys in his squad. He said that he sees the sovereignty of God in working these things out and the power of the Holy Spirit in enabling him to witness. What an answer to prayer! As a Christian parent, there is always a bit of uncertainty as to how your child (now young adult) will stand for Christ on his own. By God’s grace, our son is learning to take a stand.

In 1 Thessalonians 2:7-9, Paul speaks of gentleness and compares his team to a nursing mother. The sacrificial love of a nursing mother for her child. Here is a man committed to speaking the truth demonstrating that truth does not have to and should not be presented coldly and impersonally. As he wrote in Ephesians 4:15, the truth should be spoken in love. Paul and his team were sensitive to the needs of others. They were willing to give of themselves (as a nursing mother gives herself to her baby). Paul was willing to work, making tents, so that he would not be a burden on those to whom he was trying to minister.

What an example for all believers. Sometimes, in our eagerness to proclaim the truth or defend the truth we can be insensitive to others, cold, and impersonal. We are willing to give the truth but not ourselves. At least, that is my natural tendency. Paul’s example is one of gentleness. Presenting the truth in such a way that people know that you care about them, not just your message. The truth matters. But it won’t matter much to the people we are trying to reach unless they know that they matter to us as well.