Speak the Truth in Confidence:

This last week was a very wild week as many Americans and even those in separate countries know.  Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist, was shot at a college campus while he was speaking and debating with college students, ultimately leading to his death. There were thousands present at the time of the shooting, creating havoc and leading many to be angry about the injustice, while others feeling as though he should not be honored.   

I am not going to say I am a person who really knew who Charlie was. I am not necessarily going to say I was a big fan.  Sometimes I am not very good about following things that are happening in the political media world or in the debate world. It is something I need to be better at.  However, I know he was a Christian as well as a person who was not afraid to speak truth and to speak about the Bible. 

I will be honest when I say I am not very good about speaking the beliefs I have in truth.  I really don’t like confrontations too often.  I hate getting into arguments or getting into tough conversations.  I often wish I was better and braver in these conversations.  I want to be able to speak my truth in love and in kindness. 

Recently, however, I have been called to speak truth.  I started to notice something I didn’t necessarily agree with.  I didn’t like how I thought a certain student was being treated who I was coaching in cross country.  I haven’t liked the certain words that have been said or used to describe this student by other adults who also work with him.  I had to speak the truth.  I had to talk to other adults involved, so we could all be called to teach and coach this particular student with more love and care than we had previously.  

This was scary because I don’t like confrontation.  I tried to be as reflective in my actions when I was having this conversation.  I didn’t want to come off as myself thinking I was better than anyone else. I didn’t want to come off wrong or to really disrupt the practices or the structure with all the other coaches.  However, it went very well.  They were all Christians as we work for a Christian school, so they appreciated me listening to the Holy Spirit and being willing to be convicted and speak from the heart.  I know not every hard discussion will go easily, but it is always just as worth it.  

This is something often brought up in the Bible as well, such as in Ephesians 4:15 which says, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”  This reminds us that we are supposed to spread God’s love.  We are meant to live our lives in truth and in justice and to tell others about this.  This doesn’t have to be done with harshness or in condemnation.  This should still be done in love.  These conversations still need to be spoken in kindness and in gentleness. 

The challenge for this week is to think about ways we can speak truth to those who are in the world or at least in your world or in your area.  Are there areas where you don’t usually speak about your beliefs or your values or your thoughts?  Are there times you are more bashful about your thoughts and ideas?  Are there times you are not as good about being brave?  Pray for bravery and the right words in these moments.  

I have also been trying to work on myself more in this area.  This is one of those reasons I have started to read the book called, “Toxic Empathy” by Allie Beth Stuckey.  This book has so far discussed pro-life v. pro-choice discussion, the transgender movement, and multiple others.  What is a true Christian’s stance on these issues and how can we share our love with others who have different perspectives about Christ?  We should not be afraid to speak God’s truth.  We shouldn’t be afraid to be empathetic about others who are hurting themselves more through their life decisions. 

I would highly recommend this book.  It has been a very good idea to look at this book and how we can best speak our faith in love and in truth. This book shows how we can be stewards of both truth and love and how we can win people to Jesus when we have these tough conversations.  This book does a good job of showing how we are not being completely truthful believers when we include this toxic empathy or not always listening to the world, but rather to the truth God gives.