All good and true moostraks, but I think you misunderstand my statement about whether defending the truth belittles the spark of love in our fellow men. Was St. Stephen the first martyr belittling the spark of love in the fellow Jews by proclaiming that Jesus is the Son of God as he was being stoned to death by them? Should he have said instead 'fine everyone, we all worship the same Father so let's just all get along'? Indeed, by his death many came to Christ and were saved. Similarly with other events in the history of the Church, where men and women converted many to Christ by their own blood being shed in order to testify to the truth that Jesus is Lord and is risen from the dead, not shirking from being witnesses of Christ, for He Himself said that 'Blessed are those who are persecuted for my sake'. Defending such truths have led countless others to salvation and has not only ignited the spark of love in their fellow man but the divine flame of love filling their entire spirit.
Matthew 10:
“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."
Moostraks, the problem is not defending the truth, but how we defend the truth. If it accusatory or mocking, then it can create ill will and contention as you said and is counterproductive in our mission as servants of Christ, and I am guilty of such inappropriate methods. But that doesn't mean that the truths are still not truths because I or anyone else have difficulty relaying it to others who may have different ideas of what is truth.
You may teach your one children differently from the other, but I imagine you still maintain the same truths to them all. And the truth spoken by Jesus Christ are not ones we can mince and twist and pick and choose if we are to consider ourselves Christians. Christ has said clearly Who He is and how all men find their salvation, namely through Him alone. If another person thinks that I cast them aside because of repeating this, then they cast not me aside, but Christ Himself Who first spoke it. Our witness is not to sugarcoat and say 'its okay, its okay, Christ is just one way in which God came to reveal Himself to the world and we can find salvation in different ways'. No. Our witness is that in Christ alone do we find salvation, in Christ alone has the Father been revealed in full, and in Christ alone do find eternal life. Neither casting others to condemnation or judging the hearts of others, but focusing upon our own sins and failings and defending the Christian truths even with our very blood. As for everyone else, we pray for them to come to the truth and place their eternal souls in the merciful hands of God.
again from the same chapter in Mark:
“ And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved...
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.
“Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
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