Acts 13:8-12
8 But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
How important is it that Christians look and sound nice at all times? If you observed the lives of many saints, there seems to be a belief among American Christians that says that we have to be syrupy sweet at all times if we are ever going to see anyone come to faith in our Lord.
However, If you look at the words of Paul above, you will notice that sweetness was not his only distinguishing quality. I am sure that Paul, at times, was very loving, kind, and gracious—all believers will be if they are truly believers. But when something evil was taking place around Paul, when a man was intentionally opposing the things of God, Paul did not speak with the tone of Ned Flanders from the Simpsons. No, Paul look the evildoer right in the eye and called him a son of the devil and enemy of all righteousness. That’s pretty harsh.
After Paul called this man very ugly names, he then pronounced a curse on him that left him without sight. Paul was willing that this man go through hardships because of his opposition to the Lord. Paul did not seem to think that doing so might potentially hinder this man’s salvation. Paul did not try to win this man with kindness. Instead, Paul spoke truth and pronounced a right judgment. The results of Paul’s words and actions were that God was glorified and others came to faith.
Christians, sappy sweetness is not the tool by which we will win the world. Yes, we show love; Jesus commanded us to do so. We are to love each other and the lost world. We are kind as often as we can be. But we do not change dead hearts to living ones by coating all our words and actions with sugar. No, we also must be, like Paul, people with the backbone to stand for what is right and to speak the truth. We need to be willing to call sin exactly what it is, even if that offends a lost person. No, we cannot assume that lost people will live by Christian standards. However, neither should we think that we do the lost any good by pretending that all the things that they do that oppose God are OK.
It is a hard line we have to walk. How do we speak the truth in love, even when that truth is harsh? How do we know when to speak with grace and when to call sin out? The answer to this question is wisdom. We need God’s wisdom. We need God’s Spirit. We need to walk closely with our Lord and prayerfully ask him to give us the right desires. We need to ask God to help us to know when to speak strongly and when to speak sweetly. We desperately need our Lord to guide us and to give us the grace and the courage to do what needs to be done to help the lost world know the truth of God.
Pastor Travis Peterson 