How do you embrace honesty?
- Give up what is already painfully obvious
- Tell the Truth without telling all the truth
- Embrace the Gospel in your failure to live the gospel
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GRACE & PEACE 
This is interesting Dennis…I want to respond to this one and will shortly…..?
I understand giving up what is already obvious But the telling of the truth without the whole truth (it’s not the truth at all) I’m having a bit of a hard time to sort that one out. ( probably my think brain) The last one, Embracing the Gospel, I don’t think we can do anything without doing that, especially in our failure. Which one can maybe argue very well, that includes almost all we do and are.
Did I miss the point here?
Allender is not suggesting deception, as it would be easy to surmise from point 2. What he means is that we need to be honest, tell the truth not untruth. But we must be wise in our telling of the truth.
For instance, let’s say that a man struggles with lust. Perhaps he is intent that he will not act on his problem, but it is a problem nevertheless. Suppose he is in a work situation where a female colleague is the occasional object of his lustful thoughts. She neither desires nor encourages this, and she is unaware. In fact, she would be uncomfortable if she were aware of it.
Truth in this situation would be for this man to admit that he has a problem. Depending upon the forum and certain relationships he may disclose more of the nature of his problem… But would it be appropriate for him to tell “all the truth” all the time? Should he disclose his problem and the specifics of this problem to his co-worker it is only doing harm.
This may be a poor illustration, but do you see the point? There are many situations where the same principle holds true, even if not as titilating as this scenario. (ANd this scenario I used is loosely based on a real situation I was aware of that was handled poorly.)
The point is Truth is always in order, falsehood is never in order. But, in many situations telling truthful deatails is only harmful, not healthy.
Let me follow up with point 3.
The Gospel calls us to live holy lives. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to say “No” to sin, and grow in righteosness.
At the same time we continue to struggle with sin. Galatains speaks of Believers having two natures are war with one another within us – Sinful vs. Spirit. Out of love, and in grace, God the Holy Spirit reveals our sin to us, prompting us to repent, AND believe the Gospel all over again – that Christ died for sinners like me, not for those who are good in their own estimation. This is not re-conversion, it is renewal.
Believeing the Gospel, each day, allows me to tell the truth to myself. Because I believe the Gospel I don’t have to fear the truth. The bigger truth is that despite myself, I am forgiven and loved by God – God only knows why!
When I fail to live out the demands of the Gospel I must turn to the Gospel. It is my only hope. And the more I am aware of my failure to live out the Gospel, the greater the Gospel becomes to me.
Sounds Right Dennis, Thanks