In Galatians 4:16 the apostle Paul asks the question, “Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” Too often when confronted with unpleasant truths or concepts with which we are uncomfortable, we tend to want to “kill the messenger”. In other words we tend to take out our displeasure on the person presenting the information rather than deal with the topic at hand. When confronted with these unpleasant, at least to us, propositions we should not be in so much of a hurry to find fault. First of all we should not attribute evil motives to the person presenting the information. Perhaps they ARE wrong but that doesn’t mean that they are making their case from bad motives. Maybe they truly believe they are right and they are really trying to be helpful. Secondly, we should consider the possibility that they ARE right. Often times we become angry with people who have views contrary to ours because deep down inside we know that they are right and we are wrong. Often the level of anger we feel is in direct proportion to how dearly we hold to the idea they are speaking against or how much we dislike the idea they are presenting. In cases like this it is much easier to find fault with the other person than to challenge our own beliefs and practices.
We should never compromise religious truth but at the same time we must always be prepared to “test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). In all areas of life, when we are confronted with information that we find unpalatable, we should seek to imitate those good people of Berea who, “received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” Don’t rush to kill the messenger, check to see if the message is true.