In chapter 3 of his book Twelve Ordinary Men: How the Master Shaped His Disciples for Greatness, and What He Wants to Do with You, John MacArthur describes the apostles James and John like this:
James and John were nicknamed [Boanerges] “Sons of Thunder” [by Jesus] because of their reckless tendencies.
Later, in chapter 5 on John – The Apostle of Love, he describes just how reckless and rough John could be:
The two men [brothers, James and John] had similar temperaments, … they were inseparable in the Gospel accounts. John was right there with James, eager to call down fire from heaven against the Samaritans.
But Jesus changes John and he becomes known as the apostle of love. In the same chapter MacArthur offers the following observation on love and truth:
Zeal for the truth must be balanced by love for people. Truth without love has no decency; it’s just brutality. On the other hand, love without truth has no character; it’s just hypocrisy.
Upon reading that observation, it became immediately clear to me how it applied to the current debate on Human Sexuality and Marriage in the Church. Although in its history the Church has brutally spoken truth without love, it does not excuse its current detractors of the hypocrisy of love without truth. There’s too much at stake to be that reckless.
