Redeeming God

Liberating you from bad ideas about God

Learn the MOST ESSENTIAL truths for following Jesus.

Get FREE articles and audio teachings in my discipleship emails!


  • Join Us!
  • Scripture
  • Theology
  • My Books
  • About
  • Discipleship
  • Courses
    • What is Hell?
    • Skeleton Church
    • The Gospel According to Scripture
    • The Gospel Dictionary
    • The Re-Justification of God
    • What is Prayer?
    • Adventures in Fishing for Men
    • What are the Spiritual Gifts?
    • How to Study the Bible
    • Courses FAQ
  • Forum
    • Introduce Yourself
    • Old Testament
    • New Testament
    • Theology Questions
    • Life & Ministry
You are here: Home / The Trap of Truth

The Trap of Truth

By Jeremy Myers
4 Comments

The Trap of Truth

Trap of TruthThere is a trap in the pursuit of truth, and many pastors, professors, and Christians in general have fallen into it. I have fallen into it, and over the past four years or so, am trying to climb my way out of the pit.

The trap is this: if we are not careful, the pursuit of truth gets in the way of loving others.

For me, it happened this way:

In Bible College and Seminary, I was assigned many books to read and papers to write. Seminary was all about accuracy, truth, dotting every i, crossing every t, making sure I had the proper word count, and writing in Turabian format.

In class, we had discussions about election and predestination, open theism, inerrancy and inspiration of Scripture, millennialism, tribulationalism, dispensationalism, infra-, supra-, and sublapsarianism and many other “very important” subjects that you discuss every day over dinner.

At this time , I was working as an editor, where I sought out spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes in newsletters, theological journals, books, commentaries, and websites. I was entirely focused on searching and destroying tiny mistakes and errors, like a misplaced period, or an extra space.

Much of this crept into my every day life as well. I was so caught up in being right, so focused on being accurate, so intent on discovering and speaking truth, so engaged in answering questions (that nobody was really asking), that I forget that that truth is not end in itself. Love is the goal of truth.

Speaking the Truth in Love

In my pursuit of truth, I often neglected to love others. I forgot that while truth is important, truth in a vacuum causes arrogance and pride. I forgot that God gave us truth to help free people from bondage, rejection, and fear.

It is not that we can sacrifice truth on the altar of love, but somehow, both are needed to live like Jesus, and love others in this world. Our entire lives, I think, are spent learning to balance truth and love.

Have you ever fallen into the trap of truth? Maybe you have gone the other way, and have let truth slide in the name of love. What suggestions do you have for balancing truth and love?

This post is based on the Grace Commentary for Luke 6:6-11.


God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Bible Commentary on Luke

Advertisement

Learn the most essential truths for following Jesus!

Get FREE articles and audio teachings every week in my discipleship emails!


Comments

    Leave a Comment or Question Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Sam says

    September 8, 2011 at 11:26 am

    This post reminds me of the pastor I knew who could stand no error in doctrine/theology or in the church bulletin or newsletter. One day I sat in his office while he proofread the bulletin and asked him if he knew anything about a certain man who attended the church for whom I had no contact information.

    The pastor said he had heard a few weeks previously that the man was in the hospital, presumably dying. I asked the pastor if he or anyone else had visited the man in the hospital. The pastor looked at me rather incredulously and replied “No, he’s not a member and doesn’t even attend regularly.” (I later learned that the man had die a week or more before my conversation with the pastor.)

    Reply
    • Jeremy Myers says

      September 9, 2011 at 4:11 pm

      Wow. Searching for errors in the bulletin while neglecting people who are dying. I hope he found some BIG mistakes in that bulletin.

      Reply
  2. Steve Reed says

    September 8, 2011 at 11:38 am

    I did this a lot early on and wish I hadn’t. Without love, truth certainly does make room for arrogance. I dotted a lot of other peoples’ I’s and crossed their T’s. Funny, not one of them sees things my way as a result.

    Reply
    • Jeremy Myers says

      September 9, 2011 at 4:12 pm

      Yes, it often seems the search for truth is to help other people find our truth…. not to correct any false ideas we ourselves might believe.

      Reply

Leave a Comment or Question Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Join the discipleship group
Learn about the gospel and how to share it

Take my new course:

The Gospel According to Scripture
Best Books Every Christian Should Read
Study Scripture with me
Subscribe to my Podcast on iTunes
Subscribe to my Podcast on Amazon

Do you like my blog?
Try one of my books:

Click the image below to see what books are available.

Books by Jeremy Myers

Theological Study Archives

  • Theology – General
  • Theology Introduction
  • Theology of the Bible
  • Theology of God
  • Theology of Man
  • Theology of Sin
  • Theology of Jesus
  • Theology of Salvation
  • Theology of the Holy Spirit
  • Theology of the Church
  • Theology of Angels
  • Theology of the End Times
  • Theology Q&A

Bible Study Archives

  • Bible Studies on Genesis
  • Bible Studies on Esther
  • Bible Studies on Psalms
  • Bible Studies on Jonah
  • Bible Studies on Matthew
  • Bible Studies on Luke
  • Bible Studies on Romans
  • Bible Studies on Ephesians
  • Miscellaneous Bible Studies

Advertise or Donate

  • Advertise on RedeemingGod.com
  • Donate to Jeremy Myers

Search (and you Shall Find)

Get Books by Jeremy Myers

Books by Jeremy Myers

Schedule Jeremy for an interview

Click here to Contact Me!

© 2025 Redeeming God · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Knownhost and the Genesis Framework