The Velvet Hammer

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ (Eph 4:15).  

You need the right tool for the job.  And when it comes to God's transformation of you and me into the image of Jesus, there's only one tool to use.  The Velvet Hammer.  OK, Paul doesn't call it that specifically but that certainly is what he's describing.  "Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ" (v15).  "Speaking the truth in love" is indeed the Velvet Hammer.  

The Velvet Hammer is saying what needs to be said but doing it with heart and care for the person you're talking to.  Speaking the truth WITHOUT love is just hurtful.  You're just slamming someone with a sledgehammer.  They might change but they might not survive.  Speaking love WITHOUT truth is just a warm fuzzy.  You're just brushing their skin with velvet.  They feel better but nothing really changes.  When it comes to transformation, there's no better tool than the Velvet Hammer.

The Gospel is the PERFECT example of "speaking the truth in love" (v15).  God tells us the very hard truth of who we are.  Sinners.  Rebels.  Lawbreakers.  Broken.  Incomplete.  But Jesus reaches out to us in His overwhelming love and grace.  Despite who we are and what we've done, He's come to save us.  He's come to love us.  He's come to do for us what we could never ever do for ourselves in a gazillion years.  Jesus is the personification of the Velvet Hammer.  He spoke the "truth in love."  And He still does.  

Mark Driscoll says soft words make hard people and hard words make soft people.  He compares the truth of God's Word to a meat tenderizer.  The more it pounds you, the softer your heart becomes.  The result is divine transformation.  The soft words leave our hearts tough and full of gristle.  Nothing changes.  We need our friends and our leaders to speak the "truth in love" to us.  We desperately need the Velvet Hammer in order to be truly transformed.

The Velvet Hammer has a very clear purpose.  Our spiritual growth and maturity.  Paul lets his friends back in Ephesus know that God has sent "the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherd/teachers" (Eph 4:11) so they can "build up the body of Christ" (Eph 4:12).  In other words, "we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ" (v15).  Through the loving truth of His Word, God is maturing us and transforming us into the image of His Son (Rom 8:29).  With each stroke of the Velvet Hammer, we look more and more like Jesus.  Thank you, sir.  May I have another?  

While there's a personal aspect of our spiritual growth, Paul is actually talking about the maturity of the local church here.  Following Jesus is a team sport.  As we develop together as a church, we're becoming more and more like the One "who is the head" (v15).  It's a reminder that this is His church.  He's in charge (Col 1:18).  He's the real Senior Pastor.  He's the true Chief Shepherd (1Pet 5:4).  He leads us.  He's accountable for us.  We are HIS church.  And God is growing us up and carefully crafting us to be intimately connected with Christ (Col 2:19).  He does this through His regular and consistent use of His Velvet Hammer.  

The Velvet Hammer of speaking the truth in love.