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Truth Is Truth, Not "Positive" and "Negative"
TRUTH IS TRUTH, NOT "POSITIVE" AND "NEGATIVE"
The Bible knows nothing of the human practice of categorizing of truth as "positive" and "negative," but the Bible simply reveals the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Jesus said, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (Jn. 8:32). Labeling truth "positive" and "negative" is a manmade conception, a human grid imposed on God's truth. Since we live in the world, it is not surprising that we are sometimes influenced by these worldly conceptions about truth and preaching (Rom. 12:2).
What some complainer will call "negative" teaching turns out to be "positive" to the hungry humble soul seeking for God and truth and righteousness. When Jesus exposed the religious leaders for their hypocrisy and error, they considered it "negative" and mean-spirited, but "the common people heard him gladly" (Mk. 12:37) - the same truth was "positive" and constructive in their ears. How can that be? The difference is not in the nature of the message but in the nature of the hearer's heart. The same truth one soul receives and rejoices to hear, another soul resents, resists, and rejects as "negative" - the difference is in the souls of men not in the truth of God.
If we preach all truth without worrying about whether someone will call it "positive" or "negative," we will present a balanced diet of teaching which fulfills the obligations revealed in Acts 20:27 and 2 Timothy 4:2: "For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God," and, "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine" (2 Tim. 4:2).
We may need to refocus our thinking both as preachers and as listeners to conform to God's perspective that all truth is needed and healthy for our souls. Let us wholeheartedly embrace all truth rather than labeling it by human categories. With the author of Psalm 119 let us say, "Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold. Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way" (vv. 127-128). "Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever" (vs. 160). "My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness" (vs. 172).
