Velvet-Covered Brick

I love Donald Miller's writing, own most of his books, and I regularly follow his blog. He's witty, honest, and not afraid to gore some sacred cows of the Christian faith. Having said that, Miller is definitely not Christ, and his books are not Gospel. I don't often take issue with statements regarding religion that he makes, but a recent post on his blog was a bit dangerous in my mind. A couple of troublesome statements:

• "We are taught there are only two sides to an issue. This is, of course, absurd."
• "The truth is not so black and white."

In a sense, I agree, in that it is important to understand viewpoints other than one's own and that there are indeed some complicated issues in this world. However, sometimes truth is this simple. Sometimes it is black and white, right vs. wrong. I don't think Miller is a wishy-washy Christian based on this post; however, I do think his eagerness for his audience to embrace these ideas provides freedom for them to not have to find truth in the world. Perhaps, it provides them freedom to never have to accept others speaking the truth to them in love, either.

I've heard this idea of speaking the truth in love to others called a "velvet-covered brick." Sometimes the people you love in life screw up, go down a difficult path, make inadvertent mistakes, etc. Sometimes you're the person headed off the deep end. Situations like this call for a velvet-covered brick. Love is telling people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.

We seem to be heading further and further into a culture, especially in religious circles, that fear the truth in love. Miller sees Christians becoming too judgmental, too "black and white" on some issues; I see a trend towards less and less conviction in the name of inclusion.

I'm not calling for exclusion: if I was, I would lose most of my friends. Very few of my friends share my worldview. But I am calling for honesty and for a lack of fear in speaking truth.

I began reading Kevin DeYoung's blog this week, and I found something today that speaks to this issue:

"If there is no way to be simultaneously bold and humble; if there is no way to be a gentle, caring person while still speaking in clear tones about hurtful error; if there is no way to correct those who oppose sound doctrine without being a moral monster; if there’s no way to love truth and grace at the same time, then there’s no way to be a biblical Christian. Judgmentalism is a sin and Calvinists can be jerks. But not every judgment is sinful and not every truth is cruel just because Reformed people teach it."

I'm with him on that. Sometimes truth can be that simple.