I grew up in the metropolis of Springfield, Florida, which is a suburban municipality of Panama City. When my wife and I moved from Florida in 1975, the population of Springfield was just under 7,000. Today it is around 9,000 residents. There was and is a church in Springfield called (wait for it) the Springfield Community Church. By the way, this church has been there since 1951. One of the things about SCC was they had a television program every Sunday morning that we would watch as we prepared to go to our church. A family singing group on that telecast, called The Jacksons (relax, there was only 4 of them), had somewhat of a theme song, written by Lee Roy Abernathy, entitled “I’m Building a Bridge.” They actually made a 45 RPM record (raise your hand if you know what that is) and our family obtained one.
What does that have to do with this issue of the Kernels of Truth? Oh, nothing really, I just thought I would reminisce a little bit. No, actually I was thinking about that song as I pondered the topic for this April 2024 issue of The Kernels.
Pastor Charles Simpson recently gained his heavenly promotion after almost 70 years of ministering the gospel and pastoring a plethora of leaders in the body of Christ. Brother Charles had a wealth of quotes and sayings that many of us have plagiarized for decades. Now that he has preceded us into heaven, those quotes are coming with added frequency. One axiom I heard him say many, many times was this one. “Love is the bridge over which truth travels. In one of his writings, he added the word “difficult” to describe the truth that travels over the bridge of love.
As I pondered that statement, I thought about how that in our current culture that is governed by social media of every sort, we have lost the ability to deal with one another with civility. We (I don’t have a mouse in my pocket, so I am speaking to all of us), have forgotten the value of love; real God-authored love.
Worse yet, because we have so many political divisions in the body of Christ, we wind up “screaming” (think all caps) at one another attempting to preserve our sacred position. Maybe even worse, instead of seeing a lost and dying generation of people, we only see a political or societal opponent to engage in a tense conversation, attempting to hold our ground (it is kind of like the Confederate army trying to hold on to Richmond).
As we approach the world, we must ask the most important question – what message are we communicating and through what vehicle is it being presented? The gospel of Jesus Christ is more important to be proclaimed than the promotion of any political party or organization. We must return back to the basics of God’s love and examine our hearts, intentions, and ultimately, our priorities. I hear all too often of people being disenchanted with the church and church people. Well, the fact is people who are just church people kind of turn me off as well, but people who are Jesus people are an encouragement and blessing to me.
We have a persona problem when we cannot talk to someone about the good news of the kingdom of God and the King of that kingdom, because someone has preceded us with antagonism, rather than compassion. If we want those with whom we are engaging with and for the gospel of Jesus Christ to hear what we have to say, it cannot be accompanied with condemnation, badgering, and attempting to do the work reserved for the Holy Spirit. We must revisit what this love really looks like. For the truth that we are attempting to communicate to a lost culture will only be received when it travels over that bridge of love which first came from God.
“We love, because He first loved us.” This appears in the apostle John’s first letter, in chapter 4 and verse 19. The source of all true love is God Himself…in fact John writes in another place (actually, two more places) that “God is love.” Love is not what God does, but who He is.
The word “love” appears 506 times in the English Standard Version of the Bible; 184 of those appearances are in the New Testament. In the New Testament, we know the root of this word to be “agape.” In the Old Testament, most often, the word is “chesed.” What’s different about the Old Testament is that most often the word “love” is accompanied with the word “steadfast.” So, God’s posture towards us is a love that is steadfast and permanent. The love of God is faithful love in action. It is persistent and unconditional faithfulness. This is why Jesus would tell Nicodemus that “…God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son…” so we would not perish, but have eternal life. It was His steadfast and faithful love for humanity that caused Him to make so great a sacrifice.
God’s love is always seeking the greatest benefit for its target. If we have love for those we are trying to reach, then our end game cannot be just to gain more church members, but we must operate in such a way that will be beneficial to them. If you are engaging with someone and presenting the truth of the gospel, the impact of your words will be meaningless if they have not traveled across that bridge called “love.” We have all heard the old adage (I believe it was first attributed to Theodore Roosevelt) that says “’Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Nowhere is this more true than when we are attempting to communicate the truth of Jesus Christ to someone. If they don’t have a sense that you care about them and that you don’t just see them as a notch in your Bible, then that truth isn’t going to travel well. But if you have adequately conveyed your genuine concern for them and their plight, then your gospel message, regardless of what shape or form it takes, will find receptivity in the heart of those folks.
Now a few thoughts about communicating the truth without diluting the message. Some may read this and think that I am advocating some watering down of the message to make it more receptive. The truth of God cannot be diluted or altered to make it more palatable. It must be presented in its purest form, without compromise. This does not mean that we have a license to beat people up with the truth, but it means that if we really care about their souls, we will be careful to express the simple, but effective truth of God. And if we do so in such a manner that says we have their benefit foremost in our mind, the truth will not need to be tempered or weakened.
As Jesus encountered Nicodemus that night with his challenging questions, He simply stated the truth of the gospel message when He told him “You must be born again.” He could have invited him to visit the synagogue or He could have spoke down to this ruler of the Jews with disdain and condemnation. But rather He just spoke to him the truth that would ultimately change Nicodemus’ life and spoke it in such a way it was able to travel over the bridge of love which the Son of God emanated to a landing place in the heart of him.
When Jesus approached the well in Sychar of Samaria, He met a woman who had come out in the hottest part of the day to fill her water bucket. Jesus would have had plenty of opportunity to address the lifestyle of this woman (there was a reason she came to the well when no one would be there). He could have wagged His finger at her and railed against her decisions, including her living arrangements. But instead He simply asked her for a drink of water. This established a connection between Him and her that would lead to Him revealing to her that she had been talking with the Messiah. Yes, He spoke the truth to her regarding her several husbands and her current roommate, who was not her husband. Note, He didn’t do this with condemnation or even telling her the downside of that lifestyle. He simply wanted her to know that He saw her – and yet He still engaged with her in conversation. So, instead of attempting to correct her lifestyle, He offered her the living water of life that would spring up into eternal life. He knew the living water producing eternal life in her would be what caused her to face her own sin and allow her heart to be changed. He could do this because His approach to her was one that demonstrated His primary interest was her betterment and improvement. She knew He cared, so what He had been saying had meaning to her. Therefore the truth Jesus was speaking to her traveled over that bridge of God’s love, and even though it exposed some things about her, she was receptive to it. So much so that she left her water bucket (hey, you forgot something), and ran into town proclaiming, “Come see a Man!” John writes for us near the end of this story these words.
“Many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony…and many more believed because of His word.”
Finally, in the matter of the woman “caught” in adultery, Jesus dealt with her tenderly and with compassion. He did not excuse her sin (where was the guy!), but pointed out the hypocrisy of those attempting to trick Jesus and condemn her. Their approach had nothing to do with what was best for her, but for the furthering of their own agenda. Jesus’ dealings with her were obviously rooted in what was beneficial for her. Sure, He told her to go and sin no more (acknowledging what she had been doing was indeed a sin), but He also told her that He would not condemn her. The truth had made its way to her over the bridge of love which Jesus had communicated to her.
Paul writes that we should be “speaking the truth in love.” Paul understood this was the only way the truth was ever going to be effective in dealing with other human beings. So whether you are encountering someone who is lost and needs to have a relationship with Jesus, or you are dealing with a brother or sister in Christ, speaking the truth with love in your heart for the other person with certainly find its way to that bridge and the good news will certainly produce good results in the heart of the individual.
“I’m building a bridge, God gave me the plans.”
Brother Charles Simpson wrote one time that his all-time favorite song was “The Love of God” by Frederick Lehman. Here is the first verse and chorus of that song.
THE LOVE OF GOD
Frederick Lehman – 1917
The love of God is greater far
than tongue or pen can ever tell;
it goes beyond the highest star,
and reaches to the lowest hell.
The wand’ring child is reconciled by God’s beloved Son.
The aching soul again made whole,
and priceless pardon won.
Refrain:
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
the saints’ and angels’ song.
