Never Sacrifice The Truth For Peace

"Never let us be guilty of sacrificing any portion of truth on the altar of peace."

- J. C. Ryle

I was just in this situation where the truth was not heard, no matter how often it was said or repeated. I was then accused of, as I'll call it, "non-truth's".

But here's what I noticed during this particular Facebook encounter. The other side was on a mission to prove me wrong. It didn’t matter what I said, how many times I said it, the opposition would respond with something, related to the discussion or not, in an attempt to somehow box me in, so as to score some Holy victory, some divine, "win".

I recognized what was going on almost immediately. All they wanted to do is persecute and convict. All they wanted to be was the Judge and Executioner.

I have a policy of “Do Not Engage” whenever I discover myself in such situations (Judge and Executioner)   and tend to make a quick exit away from them. Why? Because I am a firm believer of the following:

“Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” (Proverbs 4:14-18).

Pride and ego often times convince us to stay and battle it out when engaging someone with an agenda or someone who is on some type of a mission. These folks are easily spotted because nothing will alter their course or cause of persecution, not even the truth. Why? Their goal isn’t the truth. Their goal is persecution and conviction.

As C.S. Lewis so wisely stated, "Of all bad men, religious bad men are the worst."

I continued the exchange for a couple of posts longer than I normally would for the sole benefit of the reader, the non-participant of the discussion, the followers of the thread.

The purpose of me telling you all of this is to never sacrifice truth for peace. Talking with someone on a mission is an exercise in futility. All they want to do is persecute and convict. All they want to be is the Judge and Executioner. This leaves us with one option, the Godly option when we encounter the “Judge”. That option is to, “Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away”.

As I said earlier, pride and ego will keep us in the fight and make it a fight to the death, (figuratively speaking of course). Too many religious people think they’re in a Holy War when in fact, all they are doing is creating a Holy mess. Don’t do that. Don’t exacerbate the problem. Do what the word of God says to do and bail. This maintains your integrity, the integrity of the word and is the only way to guarantee peace.

Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. The sooner the better.

Bill Hitchcock