Hey!, Wanna See Some Sin?
"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgressions and . . . their sins." Isa. 58:1.
22. Lies
22. 19. To tell the truth.
Some say that the only "rational" reason to lie is to escape "serious danger to self or others". Of course, "danger" is then expanded by definition to include everything from death, down to embarrassment and even inconvenience.
The purpose of human life is to learn to "fear God", in the sense that a child would "fear" to do something of which his parents would disapprove. The ultimate purpose of human life is not to escape embarrassment or even to escape physical death as, sooner or later, we all die. The purpose is to live so that when we die, we can not be labeled a "liar" by God's standards.
What is truth?
"Truth is ". . . that which is conformable to fact, honest, exact, correct, right, not false or erroneous, not counterfeit." Scripture tells us that Jesus is the perfect expression of truth (John 14:6). We can interpret that truth is not merely verbal expression but also sincerity and integrity of character."
http://members.aol.com/elrophe/lying.htm
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The common lies about truth:
There is no absolute truth.
Truth is relative, subjective, variable.There is no authority for truth except the individual.
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The Truth about Truth:
God the Father is the Author of Truth, John 17:3, 1 Jn. 1:5
God's Son is the Incarnation of Truth, John 1:14, John 14:6
God's Spirit is the Revelation of Truth, John 14:17, 16:13
God’s Word is the Inscription of Truth, John 17:17, 1 Cor. 2:10
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What is truth? (Post modernistic version):
"What is truth? There was Jesus standing directly in front of Pilate, there was truth personified, but Pilate couldn't see it. He wasn't even looking for it.
And he certainly wasn't listening to anything Jesus was saying. He ignored the plain truth which Jesus was speaking and living out right in front of him. He closed his own eyes and ears to truth, and opened himself only to the voice of the crowd and the culture around him. For Pilate, truth was simply what he thought the crowd wanted to hear. Sometimes political leaders slip into this sort of expediency. Sometimes us regular civilians do to.
But this was the dominant voice of Pilate's day. The crowd and culture seems to be the dominant voice in every age. And there is a cultural, postmodern voice crying out today echoing through the halls of history Pilate's question, "What is truth? What is truth?" The postmodern answer seems to be that
-truth is relative to the situation …
-it should be inoffensive …
-and different truths for different times, people and cultures are okay, even if they are self-contradictory …
-truth changes and we have the ability and right to create it for ourselves and use it for our ends.This is the postmodernism response to Pilate's question: "What is truth?""
Liar, Liar, The Lost Art of Truth-Telling
Keith M. Zafren March 7, 1999
http://www.the-river.org/resources/messages/1999/990307keith.html
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Why do people tell the truth?:"Only two things will prevent us from lying: conscience and fear of consequences. There are few ramifications for many lies we tell because of the nature of lying. The more lies you tell, the better you get at telling them, and the better you get at that, the slimmer the chances you'll get caught. You don't have to worry about the consequences if your lies are never found out."
"Sweet little lies abound in permissive culture" By Porscha Burke
Cavalier Daily Viewpoint, University of Virginia.
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/.Archives/1998/November/5/edporscha.asp
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Becoming a "non-liar":
"And yes, most of those 200 lies per day are "little white ones," but once the lying habit is there, the person becomes capable of telling the occasional "whopper," and those can be very harmful to the self, and to others directly involved, as well as to society as a whole … and they are also illegal in some circumstances, with good cause (as in fraud, financial misrepresentation, negligence or false advertising). Plus, as Einstein once said: "Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important affairs." (And he was one pretty smart cookie!)
Humans . . . have created and must now live in a vast sea of lies, deceptions, half-truths and spun (by "spin doctors") perceptions of reality. . . . I don’t know how they can cope with that, or why they would even want to. In fact, any newspaper can show clearly that they are not coping with it, or at least not generally, and not very well at the best of times. Sadly, we do not yet have a . . .device to fix all of that. . . . . However, I do have a perfectly good brain, and my brain is entirely capable of telling me when I am doing the lying, so I can bring an immediate end to my own false or misleading output simply by taking a firm decision, by adopting a "zero tolerance" policy for myself. In other words, it is possible for all people to decide to never lie, about anything (except in fun, or to save your life if faced with a threat). In my view, it is also necessary for humanity to stop lying, cold turkey, now, permanently.
I did that in the mid-1980s … and yes, it has been a struggle, mostly because I was alone in this unlikely adventure. I expect it will be much easier for you than it was for me, and I also expect it will be no big deal at all for those who stop lying when perhaps a quarter of the human race has already given it up. And in the second or third generation of non-liars, I fully expect that ordinary people will be thoroughly astounded that their ancestors told lies at all, and will have to struggle mightily to figure out why anyone would ever indulge in such a ridiculous, self-defeating, hurtful and unproductive behavior."
"There is, in my humble opinion, no point whatsoever in going through life with something akin to the "Christian problem," where you define yourself privately, as well as publicly, as a Christian, and then act virtually the same as the non-believer. If you are rational, you do not lie, and if you have a zero-tolerance policy with regard to lying, your own and that of others, then you will simply never forget that zero means "zero," not "almost zero."]
"Lying is a game that [non-liars] don’t play (except when it is done in fun or as a defense), and if we do not explain that fact to our . . . . friends and family members, they will not know who we now are—who we have become—and therefore they will never learn to respect us for who we really are, nor will they ever be inclined to follow our example. That is a difficult thing to do sometimes—explaining to other people that you no longer lie, about anything. Often, they won’t even believe you at first! I’ve had that experience! I tell somebody that I don’t lie any more, and they immediately call me a liar … by not believing me! The idea of not lying at all is so foreign to [non-liars] that they can’t really conceive of it, conceive of you not lying, or of them not lying, or even of them accepting that you have completely stopped lying! You have to not get upset about the insult of not being believed. All you can do is look the other person in the eyes and say again that you really have stopped lying, forever. After you have said it twice, if the person continues to doubt you, it’s time to move on. Endless repetition will not make them believe you, and saying it twice is quite enough."
" . . . Also, please take note that our approach is not the same as the "radical truth" movement, a controversial psychotherapy model that advises us to blurt out every single thing we feel or think. I think that approach is ill advised, often harmful, and plain goofy.""The problem, as in the interpretation of self-defense within international disputes, is that people will take threats that are not serious and imagine that they are serious … or even imagine that some words represent a threat when they do not, and can not reasonably be interpreted that way. (If you analyze any recent war, you will find no party that sees itself as the "aggressor"—virtually everyone will define their own aggressions as simple "self defense," no matter how obvious or ridiculous the rationalization may be.) For a [non-liar], the best position to take is to never lie at all, about anything. And on the hopefully rare occasions when you decide that you have to tell a rational lie, when the immediate threat has passed, make sure you resolve the situation truthfully before you continue on with the rest of your life."
http://www.human3.com/link7.htm
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More than just not telling lies:
"Not telling lies is relatively easy. Being truly honest is a spiritual discipline that is the work of a lifetime. Honesty is much more than not lying to my neighbor. Honesty asks me to be open to the truths of the world, to be true to my self and to be truthful with the people I know.
Note: This sermon draws heavily upon and is an extended reflection upon Sissela Bokís modern classic, Lying."
"Lying", Peter Morales, Senior Minister, June 3, 2001
http://www.dimensional.com/~juc/sermons/lying.html
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The Art of Truthfulness:
"Every true art form takes tremendous discipline to master and to maintain. Whether it is music or sports, sculpting, painting, or dancing, writing or photography, true art forms are learned, perfected, and maintained only with years of enormous amounts of work. And once attained, if you don't regularly use it, over time, you'll lose it.
The same kind of thing really could be said about truth-telling. It really is an art form in itself because becoming a truthful person is not easy because of the pain and embarrassment often associated with truth-telling, but it is so worth it. Truth-telling can be hard to grow into, to consistently practice and maintain. However, as a well-known maxim says, you only eat an elephant one bite at a time. Truth-telling is something we build into our character one truthful moment at a time. So we can start any time and grow over time.
You probably know that no one has to teach a child to lie. Lying comes naturally to children, but you have to work pretty hard to teach a child to tell the truth. Lying is just natural to the human condition. If we are going to grow in truth-telling, we are going to have to work hard against our nature and culture.
And even once we learn to speak truth, if we don't consistently use that character quality, we will lose it. Have you noticed how we don't really ever slip into truth-telling? "Oops, I just told the truth again." But it is very easy to slip into deception. Isn't it? A little white lie here, a bit of exaggeration there, here a half-truth, there a half-lie, everywhere some more lies.
That's true for individuals. And it's true for societies too. Is that news to anyone?"
Liar, Liar, The Lost Art of Truth-Telling
Keith M. Zafren March 7, 1999
http://www.the-river.org/resources/messages/1999/990307keith.html
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"IS A PERSON EVER JUSTIFIED TO LIE?The commentator who said, "God's Word clearly teaches that no lie is ever justified'' was one hundred per cent correct, for no lie is ever justified. The "Golden Rule'' -- "As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise'' (Luke 6:31) -- excludes all lying to our fellowman. Its equivalent in the Old Testament reads: "These are the things that ye SHALL DO; speak ye every man the truth to his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates'' (Zech. 8:16). No one could love his neighbor as himself and lie to him or about him. The Bible demands that all Christians must love their neighbors (Gal. 5:14). "Shall we continue in sin (lying), that grace may abound? God forbid'' (Rom. 6:1,2)."
"DOES A PERSON EVER HAVE TO LIE?
Some people may think that there are times and circumstances which demand that a person must tell a lie, and the Devil may make things appear thus; but he is lying when he is trying to get anyone to believe that such is necessary or unavoidable. There is never a circumstance or time when one should lie or must lie. Remember that God has promised that He will make a way of escape for us in every trying circumstance (1 Cor. 10:13)."
http://www.apostolic.net/lying2.htm
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Some wisdom concerning "truth":"Lie not, neither to thyself, nor man, nor God. It is for cowards to lie." -- George Herbert
Whenever you have truth it must be given with love, or the message and the messenger will be rejected. -- Mahatma Gandhi
Telling someone the truth is a loving act. -- Mal Pancoast
Learn to see things as they really are, not as we imagine they are. -- Vernon HowardThe man who fears no truth has nothing to fear from lies. -- Thomas Jefferson
Beware of the half truth. You may have gotten hold of the wrong half. -- Source Unknown
No matter what you believe, it doesn't change the facts.-- Al Kersha
"Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so you apologize for truth." - Benjamin Disraeli
"If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it." - Marcus Aurelius
"In great matters men show themselves as they wish to be seen; in small matters, as they are." - Gamaliel Bradford
"True friendship can afford true knowledge. It does not depend on darkness and ignorance." - Henry David Thoreau
"The greatest homage to truth is to use it." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
"A thing is not necessarily true because badly uttered, nor false because spoken magnificently." - St. Augustine
"The open-minded see the truth in different things: the narrow-minded see only the differences." - Author Unknown
"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." - Aldous Huxley
"The best theology would need no advocates; it would prove itself." - Karl Barth
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." - John Adams
"How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg." - Abraham Lincoln
"Truth can be a dangerous thing. It is quite patient and relentless." - R. Scott Richards
"It takes two to speak truth - One to speak, and another to hear." - Henry David Thoreau
"Chase after the truth like all hell and you'll free yourself, even though you never touch its coattails." - Clarence Darrow
"Nothing that was worthy in the past departs; no truth or goodness realized by man ever dies, or can die." - Thomas Carlyle
"I believe it is an established maxim in morals that he who makes an assertion without knowing whether it is true or false is guilty of falsehood, and the accidental truth of the assertion does not justify or excuse him." - Abraham Lincoln
"Most of the change we think we see in life is due to truths being in and out of favor." - Robert Frost
"It is astonishing what force, purity, and wisdom it requires for a human being to keep clear of falsehoods." - Margaret Fuller
"Nature understands no jesting. She is always true, always serious, always severe. She is always right, and the errors are always those of man." - Goethe
"Live truth instead of professing it." - Elbert Hubbard
Every one wishes to have truth on his side, but it is not every one that sincerely wishes to be on the side of truth. -Whately
Truth lies in character. Christ did not simply speak the truth; He was truth; truth, through and through; for truth is a thing not of words but of life and being -Robertson
Truth is by its very nature intolerant, exclusive, for every truth is the denial of its opposing error. -Luthhard
Fear is not in the habit of speaking truth. When perfect sincerity is expected, perfect freedom must be allowed; nor has anyone who is apt to be angry when he hears the truth, any cause to wonder that he does not hear it. -Tacitus
All extremes are error. The reverse of error is not truth, but error still. Truth lies between extremes. -Cecil
"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything." - Mark Twain
Where is there dignity unless there is honesty? -Marcus Tullius Cicero
"The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple." --Oscar Wilde
"As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand." --Josh Billings
Truth is always the strongest argument. Sophocles (B.C. 495-406)
Truth is a deep kindness that teaches us to be content in our everyday life and share with the people the same happiness. --Kahlil Gibran
Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. --Henry David Thoreau
Truth is always exciting. Speak it, then, Life is dull without it. - Pearl S. Buck
Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it may be outraged by silence. - Henri-Frederic Amiel
Truth, like the juice of the poppy, in small quantities, calms men; in larger, heats and irritates them, and is attended by fatal consequences in excess. Walter Savage Landor, Imaginary Conversations (1824-53)
"Truth may be stretched, but it cannot be broken, and always gets above falsehood, as oil does above water."~Miguel de Cervantes
You have proved my heart; you have visited me in the night; you have tried me, and shall find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress (Psa. 17:3).Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer (Psa. 19:14).
I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me (Psa. 39:1).
Whoso keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles (Prov. 21:23).
Be not rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and you upon earth: therefore let your words be few...Suffer not your mouth to cause your flesh to sin; neither say you before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at your voice, and destroy the work of your hands? (Eccl. 5:2,6).
A man has joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it! (Prov. 15:23).
The heart of the righteous studies to answer: but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things...Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: (Prov. 15:28; Jas. 1:19).
For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: (1 Pet. 3:10).
Men occasionally stumble on the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.-- Sir Winston Churchill
Truth will always be truth, regardless of lack of understanding, disbelief or ignorance.-- W. Clement Stone
Sources:
http://www.madwed.com/quotes/Quotations/Newsletters/Leadership_Lies/body_leadership_lies.html
http://www.cyberquotations.com/sorted/qTruth.htm
http://webpages.ainet.com/gosner/quotationsarch/quotations1/topics/truth.htmBeing always truthful is difficult. Being always truthful without doing harm, moreso. -M.H.
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1. TRUTH IS ROOTED IN THE CHARACTER OF GOD.
Numbers 23:19
God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should change. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?What a sad contrast is made here between the pure and holy nature of God who is truth and our human nature given to deception, exaggeration, and lies. God is not like us. He can be trusted. He does not lie. In fact, because of the holiness of His nature, He not only does not lie, He cannot lie. It would go against everything He is at His core.
In Titus 1:2, He is described as, "God, who cannot lie." And in Hebrews 6:18 it says that, "it is impossible for God to lie." God is not a man that He should lie. He will not. He cannot. It isn't even possible. God will always tell you the truth and will always fulfill His promises.
This is where we must begin. Without a God who is true, whose very nature is truth, there can be no ultimate truth or reality apart from our own subjective experience. If an unchanging God of truth does not exist, there is no reference point or standard against which to measure if something is true or not.
And that is exactly our postmodern dilemma.
Though people influenced by postmodernism are very open to spiritual things and many paths to finding a spiritual or "higher power" experience, for most, the God of the Bible has essentially been disregarded as an unrealistic option.
Our generation has become accepting (and the current terminology would be "tolerant") of everything but "intolerance" itself. And evangelical Christianity and the God it worships is often viewed as perhaps the most intolerant force in modern American culture. Sometimes, I'm sad to say, for good reason. It's interesting, though, how intolerant our tolerant society is of Christians who say there really is right and wrong based on the character and truth of God.
In fact, some of you may be struggling right now with this presentation of the God of the Bible as the God of absolute truth because of the exclusive nature of what the Bible implies by this. So I want to acknowledge how difficult and unpopular a message this is today. It's no surprise it is widely rejected in our postmodern culture. Try to hang in there with me at least for this morning and maybe just be willing to listen with an open heart and mind.
Friends, what I observe in our culture today is that having cast aside God as described in the Bible, we find ourselves adrift upon a sea of pluralism; that is, the acceptance of many different spiritual experiences and many paths to searching for the truth we know we're missing. Having moved away from God's absolute leadership in our lives, we find ourselves cut off from the one source of ultimate and universal truth. And rather than own our rejection of God and our flight from Him, instead we choose to believe that truth itself does not exist.
Our postmodern death of truth is in reality an abandonment of God Himself.
No wonder a 1991 poll by George Barna reported that 72% of Americans between the ages of 18-25 (that's three out of four) do not believe any absolute truth exists. That percentage is probably even higher today eight years later. And because it is believed that there is no absolute (universal, unchanging) standard by which to determine truth, it is concluded that no religion can make an exclusive claim to truth. Rather we must accept all religions as equals. We must be tolerant of all versions of truth. And, quite honestly, that is the right position to take if there is no God who is truth and whose truth is intended to be universal.
If we are ever going to move toward the lost art of truth-telling, we must first move back toward the God the Bible reveals. For truth itself is rooted in God's pure and holy character. He does not change; God's truthful character is the source of all truth. But, as long as we flee from God, truth-telling will not be a realistic lifestyle or character choice for us.
If you struggle with the concept of truth or truth-telling, allowing yourself to become more rooted in God's character will help you grow.
There's so much there to digest and think about. I will leave you to do more of that on your own this week. And I've included in your notes some book recommendations to help you do that.
I'm going to go on and talk a little bit about a second thing I have learned in response to Pilate's question, "What is truth?" And that is that:
2. TRUTH IS REVEALED IN THE WORD OF GOD.
This is one of the main lessons Jesus tried to communicate during His short ministry here on earth. He taught His followers over and over again the importance of the Bible. Jesus viewed the Old Testament (which is the largest section of the Bible; the part that was written before the time of Jesus) as God's literal words to people inspired by God's Spirit speaking to people as they wrote. Jesus regularly referred to the written words of God in the Old Testament when He taught people spiritual things. The written Word of God was the foundation of everything Jesus taught. That was His reference point.
In fact, Jesus believed that there was a supernatural power in the written Word of God that could actually transform people's lives and make them more like God Himself. That's why He prayed for His followers the way He did. That's why He prayed that their lives would be made more and more holy through the truth of God's Word.
The night before Jesus was executed on the cross, He went to a garden with His followers and knelt there to pray to the Father in heaven. He prayed, and prayed, and prayed. His longest recorded prayer is written down in John 17 for us to listen in on. And it is in this prayer where Jesus prayed for His followers, that there lives would be transformed by truth… and He spoke very plainly where that truth would be found.
John 17:17
Father, make them holy through Your truth. Your Word is truth.This prayer of Jesus resonates with the teaching He had memorized as a young Jewish boy. As a faithful student of the Jewish Scriptures, Jesus very likely would have memorized as a youth Psalm 19 which celebrates the wonder of God's written Word. These are the kinds of things Jesus would have known and believed with all His heart.
Psalm 19:7-11
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight to life.
Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever.
The laws of the Lord are true; each one is fair.
They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold.
They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb.
They are a warning to those who hear them;
there is great reward for those who obey them.
This is the wonder of the Bible. However, in our postmodern distrust of authority and hierarchy, we've set the Bible aside, considering it to have no supernatural quality and no universal authority in our lives. And we are the worse for it.
By denying the Bible to be the written Word of God, we have distanced ourselves from God's truth. And by separating ourselves from truth, true life transformation, true healing, true meaning in life and fulfillment in relationships is lost to us.
Friends, we will not experience what we do not believe. And as we hold ourselves above the Bible and regard it as mere religious literature, we may read it, but we do not allow it to read us: that is, we do not surrender ourselves to its teaching and authority because we have assumed the role of leader in our own lives.
But if we hope in any way to find truth and to redevelop the lost art of truth-telling, we must move toward the Bible with a respect and wonder which revealed truth warrants. And through God's truth in the Bible, we will see our own lives reshaped and transformed just as millions of others have experienced throughout the centuries.
I Thessalonians 2:13
And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God's message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.You see, the mystical reality is that the Bible itself will transform those who receive it as God's words. But if we do not believe that, then we cut off the flow of power from the truth in the Bible into our own lives.
Truth, with a capital "T," absolute truth which exists for all time and for all people and does not change with circumstances and cultures is rooted in God's pure, holy, and unchanging character, and it is revealed through His written Word. And if we'll believe that, it will change our lives and bring the healing word God wants to speak into our darkness, our sin, and our woundedness.
I have learned these two things: God is true, and the Bible reveals His truth. I have experienced this personally. So I share it with you after many years of loving and trying to follow Jesus. I know that God is true and that one of the primary ways He reveals His truth is through His Word. If you struggle with the concept of truth or truth-telling, the Bible can be a great source of help to you.
The last thing I would share in response to Pilate's question, "What is truth?" is this:
3. TRUTH IS A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SON OF GOD.
Jesus said of Himself in John 14:6
I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.Now, that kind of exclusivity sounds so narrow-minded in our postmodern culture of tolerance and acceptance. But Jesus didn't say that He was one way, a truth, and one experience of life. He said He was the way, the truth, and the life.
Nor did He say that He was one way to the Father. He didn't even say He was the best way, implying that there were still other, yet lesser ways. He simply and quite exclusively said that He is the one and only way to enter into the presence and life of God the Father.
No wonder so many today reject Jesus and those who follow this teaching as arrogant and closed-minded. This is so counter-culture and so politically incorrect. We can see why the Jewish leaders of Jesus' day were so angry with Him and so insistent upon silencing Him, even by execution on the cross. I suspect Jesus would face a similar fate in our culture today where we seem to tolerate every form of religion but Christianity which affirms Jesus as the only truth and way to God the Father.
I don't think Jesus would survive long in our culture today. Not because Jesus was a Bible-beating, street corner preacher judging the world from His soapbox, but just because the things He said were true, and when we don't want to face truth, we often reject the messenger of it as well.
And for Jesus to stand in His culture or in ours and proclaim not only that there is absolute, unchanging truth and values rooted in the character of God and revealed in His words in the Bible, and that this truth applies equally to all people and all cultures, but that all this truth is found in relationship with Jesus and Him alone, that just wouldn't go over big with many people today.
That's why I say that I think Jesus is rejected today the same way He was two thousand years ago by a culture and people who were not ready to accept truth. To turn away from truth is to turn away from Jesus.
The point is that if we hope to experience truth and recover the lost art of truth-telling, to God, to ourselves, or to others, we must first find Jesus and learn to connect relationally with Him, because He is the truth, and apart from Him, we will know very little of what life and relationships were meant to be.
What is truth? It is Jesus Himself. To know Jesus is to experience truth.
To walk away from or look past Jesus is to reject truth. And that is exactly what Pilate did. Though looking into the face of Jesus, He chose not to see Jesus. He looked right past Jesus to the crowds behind Him because the crowds offered Pilate something he wanted more than truth: political power, prestige, position. Jesus offered truth and freedom, but this Pilate was not seeking. What we seek, we will find. Jesus Himself said that.
So what is it you are seeking this morning? If it's truth, you will experience it as you find Jesus. If it's something else, you may miss Jesus just as Pilate did, though He is present with us, and you may leave here this morning still asking Pilate's question, "What is truth?"
But the promise Jesus made two thousand years ago is still an open invitation today:
John 8:31-32
If you remain in My word, then you are truly followers of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.Jesus did not say that we will know a truth, but the truth. Nor did He say that the truth would be easy or pain-free. But He did promise here that it would bring freedom to us. Sometimes, the truth can actually make us miserable, for a while. But it will always lead to freedom if we will receive it and when it comes through relationship with Jesus. We'll be talking about that more throughout this series.
Let me summarize this way: if we have any desire or hope of learning the lost art of truth-telling as individuals or as a generation, these three things I have learned and experienced myself are a great place to start:
1. Truth is rooted in the character of God.Therefore, I must be too if I am going to develop this lost art of truth-telling. The eyes of my heart have to be opened to see God for who He really is.
2. Truth is revealed through the Word of God.
So the Bible must become a friend to me… and part of my day to day experience. My thinking, my decision making, my relationships need to come under the powerful teaching and authority of the truth of the Bible.
3. Truth is a relationship with the Son of God.
So Jesus becomes the most important and valuable relationship in my life. And as I come to know Him more and more, as I relate to Him and open more and more of myself to Him, I grow in truthfulness because I become more like Him who is the truth.
Apart from these things, there is a dark and ominous world where the death of truth is reality and where there is good reason to feel the deep loneliness and alienation of a meaningless existence.
But when the eyes of our heart are open to the holiness of God and the truth of His Word begins to transform our hearts and minds, and when we surrender ourselves relationally to the loyal love and strong leadership of Jesus…
truth comes alive within us
we get set free from a life without meaning and purpose
we get freed up to call sin exactly what it is because we now can finally experience forgiveness
and we can be honest about our real wounds because we are now free to hear God speak His healing words into our soul.These are the kinds of things we'll be exploring over the next few weeks together.
God would want us to know that truth is far from dead. It is just well hidden, like a treasure in a field. And if we will seek and believe, we will find and experience the very truth of God.
Liar, Liar, The Lost Art of Truth-Telling
Keith M. Zafren March 7, 1999
http://www.the-river.org/resources/messages/1999/990307keith.html
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