Someone posited a question in that great bastion of wisdom, Facebook: "What is more important: truth or kindness?" There were dozens of responses, and they all said that kindness was more important than truth. What have we come to? I suppose it's better to lie than to be unkind? It's better to be sweet than to uphold justice? I'm afeared for this generation.
Maybe these are just some really nice people who don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Maybe our current culture has made folks step back and reevaluate their tone. I'm afraid that we've lost the foundations that make a society able to stand, when things become difficult. Because if truth matters less than kindness, there's no path to follow...it all becomes relative to any given situation.
I looked up the words "truth" and "mercy" in the scriptures. They are used together over and over, inseparable from one another. In Psalm 85, it even says "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other." So it's not that we should choose one or the other. It's that both are necessary. Truth without kindness or love is a hollow master. Kindness without truth is a gradual slouch towards meaninglessness. "Speak the truth in love" is another scripture whose application requires thought and wisdom.
The truth can hurt, and not everything has to be said, just because it's true. The signposts of truth are what lead one to repentance. Then it's mercy that gives hope and light for life. We need them both, especially now.
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