Tell people the truth about God. Even when it’s hard.

For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.  –Acts 20:27

A friend going through a difficult time sent a message concerning a situation she was facing. Toward the end of the letter, making a case for straight-shooting from my direction, she said something I will not soon forget.

Pray for me if you like. Send me scripture if you like. Put me on a prayer chain if you want. But please don’t lie to me about God.

She was not trying to be dramatic, only to convey how strongly she wanted the truth. Even if it hurt, even if it went contrary to everything she was doing and believed, she wanted to know.

You have to respect that.

My impression is that so many doctrinal inquiries we preachers get are merely asking us to confirm what the questioners are already doing, to endorse all they have previously believed.

God help us not to lie to others about God.

This is our assignment from Scripture: tell the truth.

Several places in Paul’s final letter, he speaks of doing this very thing–declaring the message of the Lord no matter who it hurts or offends, regardless of whom it contradicts or convicts–and the cost he has been forced to pay as a result. Paul cautioned, “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires–because they have itching ears–they will heap up for themselves teachers and will turn their ears away from the truth…” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

Our assignment is to tell them the truth about God.  It’s our mission, our privilege, and sometimes the scariest thing we can do.

It’s not always easy…

There will be times when we will want to shave the rough edges off the gospel. Something inside us wants to bend it to fit people we like and adapt it for situations we want to accept.

I stood a few feet behind Billy Graham on one occasion when a reporter asked him a question he must have fielded a thousand times over his long ministry. “Dr. Graham, do you really believe Jesus Christ is the only way to God?”
Inside, my spirit stood on tiptoes. I wanted to hear this.

Over the years, I’ve known many a dear brother in the Lord who grew soft on this subject. It’s so tempting, so seductive, to say something people want to hear, such as “The Lord has all kinds of ways” and “Who are we to say only one way is ‘the’ way?” And from there, the slippery slope crescendoes downhill at a fast clip. Before long, the compromising believer has given away the heart of all that Christ did and the gospel teaches.

Dr. Graham didn’t bat an eye. “We are not left in the dark about this. Jesus Himself said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father except by Me.’ That’s the gospel of Jesus and it’s what I am committed to preach.” (Going by memory here; not an exact quote.)

Preaching the whole counsel of God requires that the proclaimer–the preacher–get the message straight, declare it without compromise, and be willing to take his lumps when some do not like it.

What it means to lie about God

As a pastor of a congregation, as a preacher of the gospel, as a counselor of the Word to individuals, I am lying about God when I do any of the following….

–When I conform the Lord’s message to the behavior of my audience in order to be acceptable to them.  Politicians do this all the time.  Many will try to sound courageous and say things like, “Personally, I’m against abortion, but who am I to force my personal beliefs on others?”  Imagine them saying, “I’m against people going into schools with guns and killing students, but I’m not going to tell others they can’t do that.”  Cowardice is cowardice.

–When I seek the approval of my audience more than the pleasure of the Father and tell them what they want to hear.

–When I am silent about a scripture text that would speak to the individual(s) I’m addressing but which I know they are not willing to receive.

–When I misrepresent God and make Him a “good old boy who wants everyone to have fun,” or a “grand old man who would not dare presume to tell us how to live,” or a toothless tiger who once uttered harsh things but no longer means them.

–When I tell people He is a God of love and leave the impression that He will not judge sin.

–When I tell them of Heaven but not of hell.

–When I speak of rewards to the faithful but not of punishment to the disobedient.

It’s a constant struggle, and not a war we can ever claim to have won.

Like King David, we can defeat the Philistines again and again, then be laid low by a temptation lying in wait on the next rooftop.

We can resist the New Age philosophy making the rounds today, but we must be on guard for the next satanic onslaught tomorrow.

We can speak the truth to those who call themselves Pro-Choice and who attack us as hypocrites for a plethora of reasons, but we must watch out for the next manifestation of political correctness that the enemy is concocting at this very moment.

We can guard against the inroads of liberal theology that want to add a healthy infusion of “the best thinking of man” into the Gospel of Jesus, but we must not drop our guard. The proponents of heresy work night and day and will return tomorrow with a new attack.

None of this is to imply that we know all there is to know about God.

In seeking not to lie about God, I do not want to make Him out to be worse or harsher or stricter or more demanding than He is.

God is a God of love, and that has to mean something.

It is our Father’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom, and that is a life-giving thought. (Luke 12:32)

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

In His presence there is fullness of joy; at His right hand, there are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 11:16)

If we being evil know how to give good things to our children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him. (Matthew 7:11)

God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) Thank God.

He is that kind of God.

It’s such a pleasure to tell the truth about God.

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