Our culture is steeped in "pretend" or as some have called it "pretense", either way it is a way of feeling better without having to be truthful.
Truth brings comfort and strength, pretend merely delays the healing and growing process.
Romans 12:9-13 "9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,[a] serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality."
Genuineness brings healing from difficult situations. It is never good or right to pretend something just to manipulate your own feelings.
Often people pretend their movie idols are good people and the reverse is to pretend the righteous ones who do not like their idols are bad.
We live in a culture that now indulges in calling what is good "evil" and calling what is evil "good."
When we correct another believer according to the scriptures, we are met with anger and rebellion. They have been taught all their lives that they are the most important person in the world and all their thoughts and ideas are not wrong, but right as long as they think so.
I have met more people who are staunch about their defense of wrong thinking than those who would be steadfast about the truth of the Bible.
2 Timothy 2:14-18
An Unashamed Workman
"14 Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers.
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
16 But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness,
17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,
18 men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some."
There are many people now in the church who will fight to defend their sin, so much so that they are willing to ruin relationships with anyone who will not nod their head quietly and smile big smiles, in approval of everything they say.
Those who dare to speak the truth from the Word are treated as though they have a plague, to be avoided and gossiped about. I am quite sure that some reading this would be able to raise their hand in agreement.
O.K., so what do we do with this? It's really quite simple, speak our minds in love without guile, ignore those who want to fight and learn where they are to avoid them. We are not called to make everyone happy, only to speak truth, if others find that offensive, then we will need to find those who love to hear truth. Allow others to avoid us, do not seek after those who have clearly resisted truth.
Our prayer ought to be that one day those who left us in contempt will return born again and in a different Spirit.
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