Zechariah 13:3
“And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.”
A very important principle is being taught in this verse that will keep us from compromise. God tells the children of Israel about a day when all idols will be cut off. A day when even the names of these idols will no more be remembered. God says in that day when a person gets up to prophesy the untruths of these idols and false religions that even the parents of this person will stand against them and call them a liar and will have them killed. For a parent to stand against their child is a very strong statement and a strong stand for truth.
This is an important principle for Christians to learn. The principle of being more loyal to truth and right than to personalities and institutions. People tend to be loyal to a personality or an institution when God wants us to be loyal to truth and right. It doesn’t matter who the person is and what they have done, when a person begins to teach and preach things that are not right, we are not to continue to follow them, but we are to stay loyal to truth and right. Truth is to be more important than our loyalty to a person or an institution. There are a few of thoughts we need to consider.
First, your primary loyalty must be to truth. Many people get their loyalties mixed up. There is nothing wrong with being loyal to authorities or institutions as long as those authorities and institutions are loyal to truth; however, you are to stop being loyal to those authorities and institutions at the very moment they leave truth. You must be careful that you don’t love a person or an institution so much that you will close a blind eye when they leave truth.
Moreover, the true test of your love for truth is revealed when the person standing against truth is someone you dearly love. I have heard people say that they stand for truth only to see them compromise when their children choose to compromise. There is going to come a day in your life when your love of truth will be tested. It happens to everyone. It is easy to stand for truth when there is no face to compromise, but when you stand for truth when compromise has the face of someone you love shows your true love for truth. You must determine now that whether it is your child, a beloved preacher or an institution to which you have ties that leaves truth that you are going to stand with truth and against them. It is going to happen, and we will find out the depth of your Christianity when that day happens.
Furthermore, you need to have a tender and willing spirit to listen to rebuke when you are called the liar. Let me ask you, how well do you take rebuke? Friend, don’t let your pride come in the way when someone comes and points out what they perceive as a departure from truth. Many people have swelled up in pride when someone approached them about their error. Though it is not easy, you must have a tender enough spirit to consider that you could be wrong. Here is the test. If you love yourself, you will turn against the person who points out your departure from truth. If you love truth, you will take the admonition of another who points out your departure from truth and correct it. I pray that you will be the person who loves truth.