Mistrust ignites more conflict than any other cause. Even when there are other mitigating origins for a conflict, suspicion is frequently hiding in the background. At some level, all serious conflict is about the truth and how people interpret it. And as a general rule of thumb, most individuals assume their enemies are completely lacking in integrity.
The three-legged stool of the Lutheran Reformation bases all of the church’s teachings on three fundamental assertions: sola fide (Latin for “by faith alone”), sola Scriptura (“by Scripture alone”), and sola gratia (“by grace alone”).
Our faith in God and his ever-abiding promises to redeem us rests on the assumption that God is telling us the truth in his revealed Word. Without that, you and I have no hope. Our relationship with God has value only if (1) he is telling us the truth and (2) we believe what he says. Given the importance of truth, then, we shouldn’t be too surprised to find that Scripture is bursting with references to honesty and integrity—both God’s and ours.
If our relationship with God rests entirely on whether he is telling us the truth, we can also conclude that our relationships with others will likewise need to be anchored in the confidence that others place in our words. Even in the secular world of business and commerce, no one would be able to function without an element of trust (at the very least, trust in a signed contract). One would hope that the Christian community would at least rise above the standards set by secular enterprise. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.
The apostle Paul addresses the matter of truth and trust by pointing out that the things we say to others (or write to others) should be a reflection of our Savior’s truthfulness and integrity. He starts, then, at the very highest level of communication, citing the gospel as the ultimate truth message that anyone could ever convey. This divine truth is itself living; and it gives life to all who believe it.
The eternal futures of souls, purchased and won with holy blood, depend on the integrity of God’s Word and how it is shared among us. God’s people—the church— cannot allow false teachings to stand among us unchallenged because false teachings (and the false teachers who promote false teachings) put people’s faith at risk. At the same time, our personal lives must rise above the world’s standards for integrity. For Christians, it is not enough to be honest up to a point; God wants us to be honest to a fault. Deception of any kind can undermine the confidence people have in the things we say to them about Jesus and his love for them. Manipulation of either the facts or of people is dishonest. Spin is wrong because its intent is to make something appear to be what it is not. Spreading false rumors about others is sin. But it is just as wrong to denigrate the reputations of others with innuendo. Withholding information from someone who has a right to know destroys trust. It is wrong to knowingly do so, but so is misleading people into believing something you know to be untrue. Cheating on taxes or while taking tests is not only unethical, it is immoral. For Christians, truth must be understood as an uncompromisable core value. When it comes to matters of truth and trust, we have an obligation to hold one another to a high standard of Christian integrity.
The apostle Paul wrote:
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:11-16)
Excerpt from Heart At Peace: Biblical Strategies for Christian Conflict, 2014 Northwestern Publishing House. All rights reserved.