Blunt love

There are some TV shows that inspire people.

While it's really hard to do in a reality TV show and I believe no reality TV show is perfectly accurate, I still like the Biggest Loser.

While there are things that I question with the show, I still like how the trainers get in peoples face.

From the start of the show till the end they are pushing contestants further to try and get them to lose weight.

Sometimes downright mean, but always blunt.

They don't hide the truth why people get big and they push people to their limit.

Everytime I watched the show it made me want to workout.

People grow when they are given the reality of the situation in a loving sometimes blunt way.

How do we do this in everyday life?

Be blunt but be loving at the same time?

Is this even possible?

I am reading through Luke 3 right now.

The first section is talking about John the Baptist.

He's known as the preparer for Jesus coming.

He was full of the Spirit of God.

As a respected man, people came up and asked John questions.

John didn't hide from the questions and he responded.

Here are some of the Q and A's from Luke 3:10-14…

"What should we do then?" The crowd asked.

John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same."

Tax collectors also came to be baptized. "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?"

"Don't collect any more than you are required to," he told them.

Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?"

He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely – be content with your pay.""

John spoke the truth to the people.

He didn't dance around the subject, he told them the answer.

I thought he did a good job of answering the people and telling them things to improve life.

Yet when he told this to Herod the tetrarch, he was thrown in jail because he told him the things he did were wrong.

So here goes the dilemma, at what point are we blunt with people and what point are we loving with people?

Can you be blunt and loving at the same time?

I come across blunt people from time to time.

There are some I respect greatly and others….well I am supposed to love them because I am Christian.

There is a guy named Greg, I just love because he is blunt.

If I have an idea I might ask Greg what he thinks because he will give me an answer and be straight with it.

I have a lot of respect for Greg because of this.

If I want an honest opinion I will go to Greg.

He does this in an honest and loving way.

There are other people that are blunt but different.

To your face they might be nice, encouraging and fun to be around, but soon as you turn your back, they are blunt and already talking against you or your ideas.

How do we find the middle?

Where are we right now when it comes to being blunt?

I find myself in the middle sometimes, I do well sometimes but I am weak at others.

I think that John was in the middle he was blunt but loving and encouraging.

Christians can easily be portrayed as blunt but not in a good way.

Some (remember the word some) Christians can be flat out blunt when it comes to politics, homosexuality, war and abortion.

While there is a loving way to do this and some do.

There is also the not loving way to do this.

I have heard the blunt statements that can lead all the way up to you are going to hell for this…

Some of the same people say they are sharing God's word and we are not hiding the truth from people.

Do we get stuck thinking Jesus was blunt and we are supposed to do this?

Jesus was blunt with some people (Mostly the Pharisees) yet he was loving at the same time.

Is there a way we can do both?

Would a Church stop protesting soldiers funerals if we did this right?

What about abortion critics?

What about people that admit they are gay?

John the Baptist did a great job at not hiding the truth and being blunt.

It got him thrown in jail.

In other places in the world that happens with faith, not as much in the US.

Just like the Biggest Loser trainers were blunt, they did it to change the people for the better and showed a loving side later.

How do we come across to people today?

Is it in a loving way?

Is it a blunt way?

Is it in the middle?

How can we be blunt and loving at the same time?

This is what John leaves me wondering today.

Have a great day.