Speaking the Truth in Love

Allowing error to go uncorrected isn’t an act of kindness, but of hatred. Today, R.C. Sproul teaches that contending for the truth is an expression of our love for God and for our neighbor.

Is it the loving thing to allow serious theological error to continue unchallenged? Was Paul unloving when he disputed daily in the marketplace about the things of God? Was Jesus unloving when He contradicted the teaching of the Pharisees? Were the prophets of Israel, filled with the Holy Spirit, unloving when they rebuked and admonished the false prophets of Israel? Can you just hear somebody standing there at Mount Carmel saying: “Well, you guys can follow Elijah, but I’m not going to. He may have truth on his side, but he’s not loving. Just look at what he did. He called down fire on the priests and the prophets of Baal.” Contending for the truth of God is a sign of love, not the sign of the absence of love. If we love God, if we love Christ, if we love the church, then we must love the truth that defines the very Christian life.