Suppose “the Truth” were vanilla ice cream. When you add toppings, the base remains the same, yet it is no longer simply vanilla ice cream. It no longer looks or tastes the same.

God’s Word is the pure Truth our Creator gave us. It should look and taste the same to everyone who receives it. Unity in Christ cannot be achieved by adding preferential toppings. God’s Word is perfect as given. Unity is possible only when we consume it the way God delivered it—without human additions.

In the effort to make worship, praise, and the teaching of God’s Word more exciting or appealing, many have created toppings. Applying these toppings effectively declares that we know better than God, who gave us plain vanilla. No matter how sincere the desire to attract the lost, when we add to God’s Word we are no longer presenting the Lord’s church; we are presenting a version shaped by human preference.

With such toppings, the truth is no longer simply truth. It has been embellished. It no longer looks or tastes the same. You cannot teach variations of the truth and still call it the truth. When anything is added to or taken from what is perfect, the perfect becomes imperfect. God’s Word is our solid foundation; when it is altered, the foundation becomes sand.

Plain Truth is what God gave us. It cannot be improved by the flavor of the month or a sprinkle of crunch.

Scripture severely warns us not to add to or take away from His Word. In the pursuit of followers, many lose sight of sound doctrine and become exactly what the Bible describes:

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4, NASB1995).

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6, NASB1995).

According to Scripture, there is only one way to the Father—through Jesus. Let us pursue the pure teachings of Christ and resist the temptation to add flavor to God’s Word.

  • 2 Timothy 4:3 (tickling ears)
  • Revelation 22:18-19 (warning)
  • Deuteronomy 4:1-2 (warning)
  • Deuteronomy 12:32 (command)
  • Malachi 3:6 (unchanging)
  • 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (All Scripture)
  • John 1:1, 14 (Jesus was with God from the beginning)

See also: Proverbs 30:5-6; 1 Corinthians 4:6.

God First!