Recently my son and I have been discussing telling the whole truth and not misleading through partial truth. I would give him an example and he would think about it and then tell me what the whole truth should have been in that situation. If you read the title, I Don’t Eat Pizza, you likely gasped and wondered what is wrong with me. The issue with the title is that it misled you by leaving off the rest of the statement. It should read, “I don’t eat pizza with pineapple or anchovies on it.” That tells a whole different story – I do eat the majority of pizza, just not select toppings.

People, both Christians and non, tend to use the Bible in much the same way. They pick verses or parts of verses that seem to make their point. Doing so is misleading through partial truth. Depending on which part is used, it can often lead to division when it’s used to prove a point, not to show love. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.

While the truth of the Bible should always be given in love, that doesn’t mean it will always be completely happy news. When I am cooking the pizza, I warn my kids that the oven and pan are hot. They can then choose whether to heed the information provided or reject it. I’ve heard the argument recently that I should just tell them the happy parts and let them figure out the rest on their own. Omitting the unpleasant part of the truth (consequences) would lead to greater harm. So, it’s more loving to give the full truth rather than just the parts that make people happy. “As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,” Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭14‬-‭15‬.

Speak the truth, the whole truth, in a loving manner. Sacrificing truth for love or love for truth will mislead many and cause division, even within the church.