Truth Series - Pride vs Truth

Just a quick pause in our series.

I have a question for you. Is it prideful to speak the truth?

In this age of tolerance, truth is:

1. completely subjective (what's good for you is fine with me, just don't judge me and I won't judge you)

2. expected to be kept silent

Because we have to accept everyone where they are, whether they are in sin through their actions or their beliefs, it is not acceptable to speak truth into the lives of those around us. Truth becomes divisive and the truth-talker is labeled as prideful or arrogant.

Is this true? Is it a matter of pride when we take a stand for truth?

Well, here's my answer. Speaking truth can be about pride or it can be about love. If you have to be right about everything and you are simply picking fights to show how smart and spiritual you are, then, yes, that is a pride issue.

But if you speak out for truth from a love of God as well as a love for others, then, no, it isn't a matter of pride.

Think about the topics we have discussed - creation, the flood and hell. What circumstance would you find yourself in defending these biblical truths? Why is it important to speak up at all?

First of all, I am working through this series as an exercise in how to find truth. Each of us needs to be confident in the teachings of God's Word. But that confidence does not come from one verse here and there. That confidence comes from a thorough study of any given topic, an understanding of the whole counsel of God and a daily walk which puts the Word into practice.

Second, once you know truth, it does change the way you look at life. It increases your faith and shows you that the gap between God and man is a lot bigger than you had originally understood. Truth becomes practical understanding of who God is and what He expects of us. It underscores our purpose for living. It is our strength in times of struggle and persecution. It increases our view of God and makes Him so much bigger than ourselves - a real comfort in life. Thus it produces in you a gratitude, a dependency and a longing for more truth.

Third, out of a love for our neighbor, we should desire that all know the truth. You've all watched a movie where a certain character doesn't have all the information that you as the viewer has. If only they knew what you knew, the movie may have a better outcome. That's the same thing with truth. You want people to have confidence in the life-changing truth of God's Word, and as you have see the difference truth makes in your life, you want others to have that same advantage.

And finally, we have been given truth by God and it is a privilege and a responsibility to defend it. Over the past two thousand years lives have been sacrificed for this truth and they have passed the torch on to us. Do you realize that today Satan has changed his course of action against the Word? Instead of trying to destroy it by wiping it off the face of the earth, he has decided to water it down and then multiply with so many variations so that no two Bibles are the same. What "christian" publishers are doing in the name of modernism is heresy! Gender neutral bibles (click here) and bibles for the homosexuals (click here) are just two examples. Another problem is man's feeble intention to put the Bible into the vernacular and modernize the language without regard to the original text. This misses the mark and becomes a tool of Satan. Very clever, indeed. Why wouldn't we defend, protect and stand for this precious gift that has been entrusted to us?

The good news is that God's Word endures, despite Satan and man.

So, is it prideful to speak the truth?

And is it possible to speak truth without pride?

What do you think?