Truth & Love
Have you ever seen a couple in person or on television and found yourself asking, “How did they get together?” You go on to wonder and say, “They don’t even look right together.” Early in my Christian walk I used to wonder why well known influential Christian leaders would associate themselves with prominent, famed, celebrated non-Christians. I thought to myself, “What do they have in common, one represents the light and the other represents the darkness.” Well, in both analysis I was wrong.
In fact, as I continued to read and study the Word of God, I found out that Jesus associated with people of questionable character.
“As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”’ – Matthew 9:9-12 (NIV)
Thus, the dichotomy of our Christian walk, being able to successfully witness the love of God to the people while yet remaining true to the passages within His Word. Yes, we should desire to win the lost unto Christ, but that win should not be at any cost. If the price tag of the win is the expense of truth, then it is better to be divided then united in love that’s founded on error. At no time did Jesus ever sacrifice truth while in the company of sinners, and He departed their presence by saying, “Go and sin no more.”
