The Naked Truth
According to the familiar legend of the "Emperor's Clothes," three evil men seek to exploit their ruler by offering to create a magnificent robe for him for a very high price. The Emperor goes along with the proposition, and the three men pretend to be sewing up the great garment. Then they announce that the garment is finished and proceed to go through the motions of putting the phantom robe on the Monarch.
"Surely you can see what fine clothing this is," one of them says. "Only a fool could not see it so!" The mesmerized ruler is convinced that this is indeed the finest robe in the Empire. Soon, all the people in the kingdom are convinced that he is wearing the most beautiful robe ever made and that only a fool would not agree. Finally, the Emperor goes out among his people in a grand procession. Although he is completely naked, the people cheer, and they marvel at the beauty of the non-existent garment. However, there is one exception – a young boy who, in his innocence, is unaffected by the people's departure from reality. Seeing things as they are, the boy shouts out for all to hear, "Look! The Emperor has no clothes on!" After which all the people feel like complete fools — including their Monarch.
In Ephesians, the Apostle Paul writes, "Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ; from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint which is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love" (Ephesians 4:15-16).
Paul has given us the formula for speaking the truth to another, not in a foolish way -- or in a brutal way -- but in a most life-enhancing way. He tells us to "Speak the truth in love":
Speak of the kind of Love that means living for the other person. It doesn't mean the kind of brutal honesty that diminishes another. It means that you speak the truth in a way that enhances the other person's life. You speak the truth, but you find ways to do it, which uplifts the other person's spirit and helps the other person become whole. In the words of one prominent psychiatrist: "In a good relationship, each person tries to enhance rather than hurt the other person's ego." That's a psychological perspective for what Paul was talking about two thousand years ago.
If we want to speak the truth in a way that enhances other persons' lives, then the question of how to tell the truth becomes very important. There are different ways of saying the same thing. In the example of Paul, we see that sometimes he is very gentle, occasionally very firm; sometimes he speaks directly, sometimes indirectly. To one Church, he uses a particular set of words, and to another, he makes the same point differently. He tries to speak the truth in ways that would help the people he is addressing.
The Key to Happiness is Truth. But, our truth must be told and given with love.