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Past Ponderings

Sunday, January 3, 2021

How Do You Handle The Truth? (Galatians 4:12-20)

VIDEO

 How Do You Handle The Truth? (Galatians 4:12-20)

GIST: Convey the truth and receive the truth because we all need the Truth.

Last week, we began this transitional section of chapter 4. We’re moving from what could be considered the doctrinal section into what could be called more the application section of the letter. Really, we just tip-toed into that portion because we only looked at two verses ☺️. Nonetheless, those two verses gave us a picture of what a ministering heart should look like as we portray the truth, cross-cultural lines, and take advantage of the moments God gives us every day. The section we’ll zero in on this morning touches on a serious pitfall of living with a ministering heart, that is, of serving Jesus and sharing His truth. Packed in here, I think we see warnings for us as both speakers and hearers of the truth. 

Today, I want to go ahead and give you my gist statement. Then, we’ll just walk through the passage together so we can see how it develops. In fact, by the time we get to the more formalized “points”, we’ll actually be in our takeaways ☺️. I know that’s not my standard format, but I hope if makes sense once I’m done ☺️. So… as a kind of broad gist, I want us to see that we must: convey the truth and receive the truth because we all need the Truth. These early Gentile believers had received the truth Paul conveyed to them compassionately... with compassion...until the Judiazers came. Now they’re turning from the truth of grace to those who convey lies for selfish gains. 

Given the nature of my word choice here and our societal context, I think it’s important to establish what I mean by Truth. I don’t want to be misunderstood. Often, when we hear people talk about telling the truth and others being able to handle it, we start thinking about telling people what we think they need to hear… whether or not that has anything to do with any real standard of truth. So, let me clarify, for all of us (myself included): the truth we’re called to carry unashamedly is the truth of Jesus. His gospel. His salvation. His grace. I wanted to make sure to clarify that, so this doesn’t just fuel our natural and sinful tendency to want to say rude things and follow up with, “Well, the truth hurts”. The truth can hurt, but we’re not the standards of that truth. 

Ok, lengthy intro out the way, let’s actually walk through the text. ☺️ We’ll start with the verses we read last week.


“12 Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are.“

Remember, Paul is begging them to imitate his approach and reaction to grace. He’s not calling them to become little Pauls, but rather to make their whole life about trying to imitate Jesus and encouraging that in others

He continues by making this observation that gives us insight into the nature of his first interactions with them→ 


“You did me no wrong. 13 You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, 14 and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.”

Two things strike me here. First, as we observed last week, Paul came to them and stayed with them as a result of some physical illness (likely something which impacted his eyesight). Nonetheless, he knew this was in part of God’s providence, so he used the opportunity to point them to Jesus. Furthermore, though his arrival was unexpected, and apparently not super convenient to them, they received him and the message he carried with compassion. Many commentators speculate that either Paul’s condition made him a burden to them in some way because he was in need of some physical assistance, or it disfigured him in some way that made him unpleasant to look at. This one seems pretty popular which is interesting because the only ancient description we have of Paul tells us he wasn’t much of a looker to start with ☺️. Either way, they treated him with the same respect and attentiveness  an angel of God or Christ Jesus would warrant. That’s a big deal, and it paints a picture of the intimacy these individuals developed with the apostle. They met him in a moment of weakness and saw him shine for Jesus anyway, and their lives were completely transformed. Yet, that seems to have changed. Look at what he says next→ 


“15 What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?”

He hasn’t changed in his approach to them. He still wants to carry the truth of the gospel to them. However, they have now rejected him. That intimacy has become animosity under the influence of these false teachers telling them they need more than Jesus. This section is super sad and presents us with at least two very serious realities to consider.

First, truth rejection is a natural result of truth telling. When I started studying this passage more closely several weeks ago, I saw it frequently connected to pastoral ministry. It was used as a warning to pastor to expect these kinds of reactions to faithful ministry. Commonly, pastors are received enthusiastically when they start pastoring at any given place, but once the new wears off, their faults become more obvious and their zeal for the truth less appreciated. What was once viewed as passion for God’s Word is now considered meddling as they face opposition because of their commitment to the truth. If you’ve been around churches much, you’ve definitely observed this pattern. 

However, many other situations can also lead to tensions between pastors and their congregations, so I think this passage needs to be more broadly applied. Like we observed last week, this whole section is undoubtedly ministry-connected. However, pastors are not even close to the only ministers. We’re all called to carry the truth of Jesus to the world. When we do this, it will sometimes be received with excitement. Rejoice in that! It will also result in people becoming very angry with you. Expect that, and love them through it as you continue to bring them the truth they need (more on this in the takeaways). 

The second point I want us to notice this morning is that this rejection of the truth also robs the rejector of true joy. Paul asks them what happen to their blessedness. They were joyful before because they were walking in Jesus’ amazing grace! Now that they’re trying to live life in their own strength, they’re miserable. This is true of anyone who tries living without His grace.

After seeing the relationship between Paul and these Gentiles, we get a picture of what their relationship was like with the Judiazers who came after him→ 


“17 They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.”

Here we see the heart of the false teachers: flattery for their own good. This isn’t a point we’ve really seen made yet. We knew the Judiazers were telling them they needed to follow the ceremonial laws in order to really be saved. Now, we see why. They’re buttering them up and making this position seem inviting, so they can get the credit. These Gentiles are notches for their spiritual belts. They’re creating followers of their teachings instead of followers of Christ. 

The result is the Galatians joining them in their hypocrisy and being “shut out”. Shut out of what? They’re separating them from grace! They’re calling them into lives of slavery when they’ve been called to freedom in Jesus. 

Paul then ends this sections with a beautiful picture of a shepherd’s heart→ 


 “18 It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, 19 my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you! 20 I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.”

Here, we see Paul’s heart: he wants them to live! This image of childbirth is profound. He’s making much of them for a good purpose because like a woman in labor, he is willing to endure suffering so they can have real life! That’s so beautiful. No mother goes through labor so their baby came stay attached to the umbilical chord and remain in a state of dependance. Mothers endure labor pains because they want to see their babies grow. They want to walk with them as they experience life and help them flourish. They want to be there to wipe those tears and bandage those scrapes. They want to be there when they experience frustrations and when they overcome obstacles. That should be the heart of any minister of the gospel! We shouldn’t want much to be made of us, but to watch those with whom we’ve shared the gospel grow in Jesus and continue following after Him. Paul wants to be with them, so they can hear the tone of his voice and experience this anguish he has for their salvation!

Now, let’s uses of takeaways to bring these points into some kind of structure ☺️.  

 

TAKEAWAYS

1. Convey The Truth.

  • Your words need to be drenched in His!

  • His purpose, which is their salvation, should be your mission...rather than self-seeking motives. We have a responsibility to use our tongues for His glory. Are we using them for this?

  • And we need to do this even if people don’t want to hear it. And they won’t. 

Tim Keller expressed this in his commentary on Galatians better than I could: “If you love a person so selfishly that you cannot risk their anger, you won’t ever tell them the truth they need to hear. If, on the other hand, you tell a person the truth they need, but with harshness and not with the agony of a lover, they won’t listen to it. But if you speak the truth with lots of love evident at the same time, there is a great chance that what you say will penetrate the heart and heal.”


2. Receive The Truth.

  • Even if it hurts for the right reasons. And the truth of the gospel which calls out sin and calls us to a life of imitating Jesus… will hurt sometimes.

  • Even if the lie makes you feel better. Oh, and don’t they?

  • Because this is where lasting joy rests. In rejecting truth, never forget that you’re rejecting what you think you’re chasing after. Fulfillment. Purpose. Belonging. Those are found in Jesus.


3. Because We All Need The Truth.

  • The world doesn’t need our preferences. We all need His grace.


See the Minnie. See the Mickey. (<-- By Adelynn Upchurch 1/02/2020)

 


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