… and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
Summary: Speaking truth in love is not as easy as it sounds. Before we can speak truth, we have to know what truth is.
Ten verses ago, Paul taught us that “speaking truth in love” is key to becoming “the mature body of him who is the head, that is Christ.” In today’s passage, he tells us to “speak truthfully” to our neighbors in the body of Christ.
What does it mean to “speak truthfully?”
One of the things that is very difficult for us as humans to grasp is a proper understanding of truth. For example, the truth about what is good and what is evil depends on who is talking. When people talk, good and evil depend on what we see as good and bad. When God speaks, it is all about what he sees as good or bad.
Whose definition is the “truth?”
If I say to you, “Hey brother, what you’re doing is wrong!” I am only telling you half the story. The rest of the sentence goes like this: “ … what you’re doing is wrong because ________ [fill in the blank].”
It is what is in the “blank” that is important. It needs to be filled in and rarely is. The reason we don’t fill in the blank is because it is a lot more gratifying to leave the impression we are speaking for God. But are we?
When Jesus stood before Pilate on the day he was crucified, he told Pilate, “… the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:37) Pilate’s response is classic; “What is truth?” (Ibid, verse 38)
Jesus is the source of truth. Everything else is an opinion. We are wise if we remember that.
When Paul teaches us to speak “truthfully” with our neighbor, he is pointing us to the source of truth, Jesus.
Application: Consider what truth is before you speak.
Food for Thought: How do you tell if someone is speaking the kind of truth Paul is talking about?
I think that in context truth is not falsehood. In other words, truth is contrasted by falsehood or deception. If we speak truth it will be what corresponds to reality with no deception. We must not lie to one another, but be honest, truthful and transparent.
Paul’s reasoning is that we must not lie to one another, but be truthful, because we are all members of one another in the family of God.
Ultimately truth will correspond to God’s word – for Jesus is the living word and He is truth (John 1: 1 – 5, 14; John 14: 6; Hebrews 4: 12).
Rich,
Thanks! You are right: Truth has to correspond with God’s Word.
Amen!
If they say word for word what Paul said
LOL!!
Thanks TAN! 🙂
How do you tell if someone is speaking the kind of truth Paul is talking about?
Truth, timing and tact. Be led by the Spirit as you discern the situation and tactfully express the truth at the right time. I find it helpful to enter into a conversation rather than lecture another. When we speak the truth in the love of Christ, He will present the right time as well as the words and the love for another..
He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
Psalm 15:2-3
Jesus also instructs us, Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
Matthew 5:37
Thanks Ron!
I have to confess that being a writer I am always outside the “Yes or No” boundary. 🙂