Contending For The Faith Should Trump Conventionally Acceptable Tones

I never get tired of saying this....in matters of contending for the faith and the right division which the Word of God brings: when the conventionally acceptable tone of what is said, is revered over the truth content of what is actually said, it is an ignoble response to blunt the sharp edge of the reproving and rebuking truth by sentimentally appealing to an unbiblical view of Christian charity. Meekness and fear and respect and gentleness in giving a reasoned defense for the hope which the corpus of God's self-disclosing word produces in the soil of the heart that receives His good seed, is not a compromising humanistic friendliness with any person who propagates doctrine which is fundamentally inimical to the doctrine of God and the doctrine of Christ. 

Contending for the faith is an act of mercy, and granted, the truth must be spoken in love, but love does not equivocate in declaring God's word. Love rejoices in the truth, NOT in error. Contending for the faith is not a cavalier attitude of thirsting after contention or controversy, but rather it is active (not passive) obedience to Christ to faithfully take an unyielding stand in His grace for the clarity and purity and integrity of the faithful word as the Lord gave it to us. 

And this must begin with the Spirit's indispensable aid in building our faith in sound biblical discernment.

~Chris Okogwu

May I add that sometimes the truth must be said with full bluntess and sternness, depending on the one whom we are speaking to or about. I see that Jesus approached the Samaritan woman at the well totally different than his approach to the Pharisees and Sadducees. Same with Paul--he approached Lydia and the women at the riverside, differently than the false apostles (like in 2Corinthians). So it should be with us. Humility is before God, not hesitance before man. And our battle should come from loving God and His Word above all things, and then out of love for the souls of men. I hope that makes sense.