What Happens When We Keep Speaking the Truth?

Communication experts tell us it takes at least seven (7) times of someone hearing the same message for it to change behavior. Evangelists seem to agree it takes about seven times of hearing the gospel before someone typically accepts Christ.

So, what happens when we keep speaking the truth?

Let me put my nerdy hat on for a minute. If tens of thousands of Coloradans hear in one election cycle three petitioners talk about children should be protected beginning at conception, it would take three election cycles for that to change behavior.

If Coloradans who have never heard before that children are living beginning at conception hear it once on the radio, once on a billboard, and once from their pastor within a month's time, over three months it could change their behavior.

If a legislator hears seven people testify that children should be allowed to live from the moment they are conceived. Well, let's get real, we've all seen what happens there. Just kidding. Sorta.

The point is, the more people hear and see the same truth over and over again, the more it begins to resonate with them.

What happens when we keep telling the truth is we gain momentum. Professionals in marketing call this consistent messaging.

The great thing about telling the truth is that we all already know it. It's in our Bible. It's in our biology. It's in our spirit. We don't have to be clever about it. And we don't have to make it up. We just need to speak it. Scripture calls it planting good seed.

Truth is not a moving target. It's very stationary. It's very findable. It doesn't vary state by state or community by community. It's solid. You can build on it. You can jump up and down on it and you won't lose the argument. You won't give way to the next clever idea. You won't get swept downstream because you can hold onto it. It's stable. It's dependable. It's immovable. It's trustworthy.

The rest is just politics. Manipulating people to get them to vote a particular way without ever changing their minds. Without ever addressing the problem. Or offering a solution. Without ever cutting down the tree at the roots. Or removing the cancer that is rotting the cells.

Only God knows how to defeat evil. He even tells us how to do it. Resist it. Stop it. Repent from it. Turn around from it and go in the opposite direction. Cease. And learn to do good.

The stop to evil is an immediate decision, while doing good is a learning process. We're not very good at doing good. But it starts with a decision to quit doing the stuff we know is bad.

There is nothing more evil than slaughtering innocent tiny infants. At some point, we need to decide to quit doing it. We need to decide to tear down the altars of the idolatry in our hearts that thinks a political career is worth sacrificing them. Or donations and grants are worth sacrificing them. Or the opinions of others are worth sacrificing them.

At some point, we need to decide to turn away from the evil and start walking in the other direction. It changes our focus, our words, our perspective just depending on the direction we are facing.

What happens when we keep speaking the truth is that people start hearing it. And people's behavior starts changing. Not just the pregnant mother's actions, but the politician's actions. The prolife leader's actions. The pastor's sermons. The social worker's recommendations. The doctor's referrals. The nurse's reactions. The father's decisions. The laws we make, the laws we keep, and the justice we expect.

So, keep speaking the truth. Scripture promises, "we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9)