The Truth Need Not Be Masked, But Sin Often Does To Be Digested

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.’ (2 Corinthians 4:2)

‘Wake up and smell the coffee‘ – or if you’re an Anglo-phile – ‘smell the tea‘.  I am not a coffee drinker, but my wife and daughter are, and most people who I know are. My daughter-in-law is one who likes the popular drive-thru coffee chain as there is one next to the dialysis clinic she is a nurse at in central Virginia. If I must get a drink from there, I typically will order a Chai Latte, as that is not a coffee, but a tea. 

I’m certain many of you are wondering why I, a big burly full-figured fellow, would like such a ‘foo-foo’ drink, and the answer is simple; I hate coffee.  My hatred for coffee stems from Army boot camp over forty years ago, when the only thing to drink that was hot during the cold winter months at Fort Dix, New Jersey was US Army-issued black coffee, with no cream or sugar. 

In a word, it was disgusting but I drank it as it was wet, had caffeine and it was hot.  But it was disgusting in taste and in smell.  If the only thing between me and dehydration was a cup of black coffee today, I would probably dry up into a dust cloud and blow away (albeit a pretty sizable and hairy dust cloud). 

That said, if one offers me a Turtle Mocha (another foo-foo drink), one with a double-shot of espresso but also with chocolate syrup, milk, whipped cream, and chocolate dust/chips mixed in, I will drink that, though it is close to the bottom of the beverage list (regular black coffee being at the very bottom).  That’s because the nauseous-to-me smell and taste of the coffee is masked by the sweetness of chocolate and caramel, the smoothness of added milk, and the smell of whipped cream. (I also have to be pretty tired to need or want that explosion of caffeine.)  

The coffee has to be masked for me to drink.  Tea?  Sweet or unsweet tea, Chai Latte-flavored or not, cold or warm, I can drink that right up.  Coffee better be more like a chocolate milkshake or it’s not happening for me. Masking coffee with chocolate, cream, and milk and calling it a Turtle Mocha is a deception in order for me to drink it.  I will not drink coffee any other way; it must be disguised as a foo-foo drink or it’s just a waste of resources. 

In much the same way, the world (as led by Satan) tries to disguise sin to make it palatable to the people, including Christians.  Sin is disgusting, but mask it in pleasantries and it can become the ‘flavor-of-the-week’ that everyone wants.  Mask abortion as ‘women’s empowerment in choosing how to treat their own bodies’, tell unwed young women ‘think of your future’, and call the clinics ‘Planned Parenthood’ and you cover up millions of unborn children killed each year. 

Tell children in kindergarten that ‘if you are a boy, but you feel like a girl – be a girl’ and mask it as ‘lifestyle choices’; label boys who want to be boys as having ‘toxic masculinity’ in order to mask the emotional emasculation of the males in today’s society.  In American and global politics, the shift to atheistic socialist/communist policies is deemed ‘progressive’ to the left and ‘compassionate conservatism’ to the right, masking the true intentions to make subjects from the American citizenry. 

Sin has always masked it’s true intention; in the Garden of Eden Satan disguised God’s warning of Death upon eating the ‘forbidden fruit’, as ‘no, God really doesn’t care if you eat it – and you’ll be just like God when you do eat it!’.  David tried to mask his adultery with the murder of Uriah, and then marry the widow Bathsheba as an act of kindness, instead of the act of lust and betrayal that it was. 

Some evil needs to be covered righteously, not for deception but to avoid sin.  In Islam, women cover themselves in burqas to avoid being the objects of lust.  In contrast, the growth in porn, and the skimpy styles in modern fashion have ‘uncovered’ and let loose the sins of deviancy and immoral sexual behaviors. 

Jesus, through Paul, implores his followers to that God’s way is the Truth, uncensored and free of deception.  We do have to use tact and be mindful to our audience in sharing the Gospel to others, but we also must be honest in our responses to questions.  There is fine line we Christians must walk when sharing the Gospel to others. 

We don’t yell ‘REPENT!’ and smack those who we are sharing with in the head with the Bible to make the point, but we cannot sugarcoat the Truth or modify it to make it more palatable to them. We do not deceive or distort, but we must use tact. 

On occasion, when others ask about the order of Creation or are there other ways to get to Heaven, the answers are direct quotes from Scripture.  The Word of the Lord does not need to be masked; God and His will and His word needs no cream or sugar added.  The amount for consumption can be adjusted, but the product doesn’t need additives. 

Pray that the evils that need to be covered are covered, the evils that need to be exposed are shown in the Light, and that the Truth of the Gospel of Christ is always free and open, as the Truth needs no sugar or cream to be digested!