John writes in his gospel that: “From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:16,17) I love the fact that both grace and truth come through Jesus. Can I ask you to take a moment to think about yourself (not a hard thing for most of us!) and discern whether you tend toward being either a “grace” person or a “truth” person; that is, one at the expense of the other?
Probably, if we are honest, most of us naturally tend toward an either/or rather than the both/and of Jesus. How do you respond to a statement or position on a matter that doesn’t ring true for you? With respect to biblical orthodoxy, John Stott addresses this dilemma:
Thank God there are those in the contemporary church who are determined at all costs to defend and uphold God’s revealed truth. But sometimes they are conspicuously lacking in love. When they think they smell heresy, their nose begins to twitch, their muscles ripple, and the light of battle enters their eye. They seem to enjoy nothing more than a fight. Others make the opposite mistake. They are determined at all costs to maintain and exhibit brotherly love, but in order to do so are prepared even to sacrifice the central truths of revelation. Both these tendencies are unbalanced and unbiblical. Truth becomes hard if it is not softened by love; love becomes soft if it is not strengthened by truth. The apostle calls us to hold the two together, which should not be difficult for Spirit-filled believers, since the Holy Spirit is himself ‘the spirit of truth,’ and his first fruit is ‘love.” There is no other route than this to a fully mature Christian unity.1
This is why the Apostle Paul says that one mark of a church growing in maturity toward bearing the image of Christ is the practice of “speaking the truth in love.” (Ephesians 4:15-16)
I have been reflecting on this as we are preaching through the notoriously difficult Mark 13. Undoubtedly, across our church we have some differences of opinion with respect to its interpretation. This is not to say that there are multiple interpretations of biblical orthodoxy – we are not relativists! However, I do believe we are called to hold to our orthodoxy humbly and graciously. As pastors Andrew and I wholeheartedly affirm that God is infinitely knowable (1 Corinthians 2:10-13); yet none of us knows God infinitely.
I think it is interesting that this difficult passage comes immediately before the beautiful worship of Mary of Bethany in chapter 14. It is certainly true that the more fully we know God, the more fully we may worship him. Therefore, be passionate in your pursuit of biblical literacy and orthodoxy, but please remember that our passion behind this pursuit is not to prove our understanding to be superior to our brother’s, but to more fully worship a perfect, holy God.
Much love,
Pastor Gary
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John Stott, The Message of Ephesians, (BST: 1979)