What if you went to a place to eat, ordered a four-course meal, and paid for it in advance, but all they brought out to you was the appetizer and then expected you to give them a good tip on top of that?

What would you think if your employer said, “I know you worked 40 hours, and I promised to pay you a specific rate for each hour, but I only pay a portion of what that amounts to each payday?”

Would you be okay with such actions? Would you feel misled and lied to?

Why, then, should any follower of Christ be okay with partial truths delivered to them? Half-truths can lead us astray and can hinder our spiritual growth. We should seek the whole truth for our own sake and the sake of our spiritual journey.  If what is being preached has to omit better than half of what is revealed in the New Testament to be spoken, is that really the whole truth?

If a minister avoids large portions of the truth delivered to us by the Holy Spirit in the New Testament letters of Scripture because it will cast a shadow over some new idea that seems popular to many, is delivering the whole truth?

If all a fellowship of people receives is one specific idea about God and the work of Christ, even though there are many things revealed concerning them in the New Testament, is that delivering the whole truth?

Here in the United States of America, right now, in 2024, people cannot be assured they truly know all that is needed to be known about any political candidate.  They are expected to vote based on bits and pieces of information, and much of that comes from statements taken out of context to steer opinions in a preselected direction.  The reason for this is that the media only uses sound bites selected to lead people to think a certain way.  It seems impossible to truly know accurately what to think.  So, a person simply has to choose a side based on how a candidate makes them feel rather than having a solid sense of what they truly stand for.

I share this not to be political but to demonstrate how sound bites, or mere small portions of the truth purposefully selected versus the whole, can affect things.  Especially portions of truth designed to put the spotlight on just one particular topic until it becomes embellished in an unhealthy way. Spiritual leaders with integrity understand the importance of delivering the whole counsel of God in Scripture just as Paul and others in Scripture did.

Acts 20:25 “And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. 28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.

Paul, as an apostle who loved and cared about the truth, was speaking to the elders of the church at Ephesus.  He could say with all integrity that he had declared to them the whole counsel of God.  We also know by the Scriptures that Paul was a great defender of the true gospel concerning Christ.  He took the handling of the word of God delivered to the churches seriously.  That is why he was committed to the whole counsel of God and not just to select the more popular parts that would make him popular with more people. He was willing to be misunderstood, persecuted, and even cast aside for his integrity in the handling of the truth.  The preservation of the gospel and the whole counsel of God was worth the suffering and sacrifice he had to endure to make sure it was delivered to the churches.  Paul was about the whole, not just a part.