Full Question: “Nowadays, there are so many compromises and delicacies in how to navigate the world, and I don’t think all of them are bad. How can we be uncompromising when it comes to Jesus and the truth and still retain our humanity and ability to connect with our peers?”

In order to answer this question, you have to be familiar with two important ideas that are of utmost importance in the New Testament: truth and love. Paul encourages us to grow while “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). Most Christians who err in the delicacies of navigating today’s world fail because they are not able to balance these two in a proper way. I will address each with a paragraph.

First, concerning the truth, you really have to know the Bible. The Bible takes stands on many current issues, like sex, sexual activity, marriage and race. (It is nice that so many of the cultural issues we face today were present in Greek and Roman times when New Testament was written.  There is really nothing new under the sun!) As a Christian, you do not have liberty to violate the clear positions that the Bible takes on these issues. If you don’t know the stands that the Bible takes and know how to interpret them, then you really need to spend time (I mean hours) to do homework. Read and study the relevant verses with a very open mind. Talk to those older and wiser than you are who you trust to give honest answers without hidden agendas. Before passing judgement on the church’s views of these issues, please make sure you have done this work. Once you think you know, please do not be proud. Still stay humble, so that you’re able to be helpfully adjusted so that your view can be more according to the Bible.

Second, concerning love, we really need to know how to do that. We need to learn to love a person for being a person. We may not agree with different positions they take, but we still deeply love the person. That means that we wish no harm upon them. A particularly complicated facet of our world today is the definition what constitutes harm. Some feel that if one person disagrees with the actions of another person, then they are harming them. This may sound reasonable, but it is not true. To address this, we must stick to our love with a firm spirit and not be swayed into “loving” too broadly. We genuinely care for people. We are interested in them. We wish no ill treatment of any human being. If they apologize, we forgive them. If they make a mistake in word or deed, we are open to receiving them back. We love them, because they are human beings.

All this may sound simple. “I understand now. It seems fairly straightforward to love in truth,” you might think. Applying it, however, is not that easy. In fact, when you take this way, you may find yourself very alone. You might feel like you are “true friends” of no one party. For instance, think about LGBTQ issues. The truth of the Bible constrains you to consider that the only legitimate sex act is that which takes place between a married woman and man. You stand with this. However, at the same time you love and show love for those who don’t see things this way. Here comes the complicated part. Some will say that if you really love them, you should approve of certain actions supported by the LGBTQ community. “Silence is not an option,” they may say. You can’t go there. So, you may feel like an outsider. On the other hand, others may say, “If you don’t believe in the actions, then you should support laws that seek to discriminate against these people.” You can’t do that either, because you don’t seek to harm. What is the result of your stand? You’ve made friends with no party. However, you are true to the principles of truth and love. This is just one example. We will face many issues that will demand our consideration and attention in order to walk the line with the Lord through our society.

            I would just like to close with one thought. Our goal as believers is not necessarily to get all these issues right, although that is important. In the end, our goal is to announce Jesus Christ as Savior. It would be terrible to meet the Lord and be able to say, “I was right in all the issues of my day. However, I didn’t really speak about You that much. I minimized the number of people who were mad at me, but I didn’t really preach You too much.” This would be a tragedy. In our society today there are many sayings about silence. Some say, “Silence is complicity.” Other say, “Silence is violence.” Both are trying to make people speak up and take a stand. I would like to pose a similar question to Christians who know the Savior. Are you being silent about Him? Is your silence complicity that you approve of the ways and direction of the world? Is your silence a cop-out for avoiding the only One who is real and will be around long after all the cultural questions are gone? Please, as we seek to fit into our changing society, let’s not lose sight of a central goal of our Christian life—presenting the Lord Jesus to others. Paul might have been speaking about this same silence he observed among believers when he famously wrote, “how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?” (Romans 10:14). This is truly the crying need of our generation.