Friendemy
Scripture Reading: Psalm 84; Isaiah 20-23; Galatians 4
Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? - Galatians 4:16 -
The book of Galatians makes it abundantly clear that Paul cared about the people he ministered to. Relationships mattered to him. Galatians is a deep dive into the doctrine of justification by faith alone, but I don’t mean it is a theological dissertation. It isn’t an academic or scholarly paper on the subject.
That’s not to say that it isn’t smart and scholarly. It is. But it is personal as well. Paul was taking it personally. Not that he was a petulant man with his feelings on his shoulder and making it all about himself. But he was a man who cared about the people he was writing to. He considered them friends – more than friends – brothers and sisters.
And in this vein Galatians 4:16 reminds us of a harsh reality: Some people will only be your friend if you keep the truth to yourself. Some people don’t want to be told they are wrong. Some will go as far as to deem you an enemy if you speak the truth to them.
I think one of the best qualities we can nurture and grow in ourselves is the ability to allow someone to speak hard truth into our life without turning against them.
One of the reasons why so few people dare speak truth aloud is because they fear the blow back. They don’t want to lose friends. They value “peace” over righteousness. That’s a problem too.
It’s a fine line to walk...having the moral courage to say true things in a world steeped in lies without becoming an overbearing know-it-all. Learning when we have to speak up and when we ought to shut up is hard.
Both sides of the situation struggle. Those who need to be able to hear hard truths struggle with being able to humbly hear it without reacting with hate towards those who speak it. Those who need to speak up struggle with knowing when something needs to be said and when they ought to remain silent.
Pray for yourself and other today that we can all learn how to speak and hear truth even when it is hard.
