Today is the conclusion of Christmastide (the 12 days of Christmas) and the Epiphany (the day on which we celebrate the coming of the wise men to acknowledge that revelation of Christ in the flesh). The concept of an epiphany has been spread out in modern parlance to mean any sort of revelation of truth to an individual. Hold onto that notion of truth.
A contemporary Christian apologist and thinker named Frank Turek was presenting in a large auditorium with a few hundred people. He said, “Raise your hand if you know and love anyone who has rejected or is not interested in the faith of Jesus Christ.” All the hands in the room shot up. “Okay, now, keep your hand up if the person you are thinking of desires to know the truth about things in life.” All the hands, with perhaps one or two exceptions, went down.
I am paraphrasing from memory. Those aren’t actual quotes. Even so, the main point stands: When our scriptures say Christ is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” (John 14:6) that means folks will not be drawn to him if they desire darkness and confusion. The biblical understanding of ourselves is that we are all born in darkness and confusion, desiring darkness and confusion, until Christ in his preventing grace enlightens our minds and teaches our hearts to hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt. 5:6).
Many authors of our scriptures warned that many would claim a place in the church who are not actually lovers of Christ. The intimacy and integrity of authentic churches offer many tertiary benefits that draw worldly people. The scriptures warn that the flock must be protected from the wolves, and that the purity of the church must be defended until Christ comes again in glory. Despite our modern sensibilities, members of the priesthood of all believers are expected to discern who in the body is not truly pursuing Christ. How can that be done without turning into a paranoid witch hunt? Jesus himself tells us: “You will know them by their fruits.”
Here is a fuller context of those words:
“Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
- Matthew 7:14-21
Not many are actually walking the straight and narrow way. There are many false prophets in the church: those who claim to speak God’s words by the power of the Holy Spirit, but who actually have no fellowship with the Spirit. True followers will bear “good” fruit. What is that fruit? Obedience. Obeying the Lord’s commands. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments” (John 14:15).
There are many commandments to be found in the scriptures. We believe Christ, the Word made flesh, has issued them all, even those in the Old Testament. Red letter Christians severely misunderstand the nature of Christ and the Word of God. If commandments are in the scriptures, they matter. Granted, some features of the New Covenant fulfill or augment previous commandments. Even so, none of them are to be disregarded out of hand or dismissed lightly.
Are there commandments around truth? Have we been told what our relationship with truth is supposed to look like?
This is an eminently practical question. In the world, people who seek truth behave very differently. For instance, in the academy, truth is key. Yet many colleges have chosen to mirror modern pieties, rather than scrutinize and upend them. On consider modern mainstream media: The majority of those generating content share in a worldview about who the good guys are and what the future looks like. Those who question this metanarrative rarely last long swimming in such hostile waters. In government, the lack of transparency or accountability, the propensity to classify and obfuscate indicates a great fear of truth and exposure. Truth seekers have a way of life marked by critical thinking and questioning assumptions. Worldly people desire comfortable lies rather than truth. Postmodernity readily argues that there isn’t even such a thing as truth. Rather, there is only what different people experience, all experiences being of equal worth. In what ways are you failing to practice, seek, acknowledge truth?
On an individual level, one’s relationship with the truth is essential. Avoidance and denial are common faithless responses to truth. When an individual refuses to think about the consequences of her actions, that is an avoidance of truth. When folks continue to nurse addictions and idolatries, or when they refuse to correct bad behavior in the church…these things stand against a concern for truth. How many churches fail to correct a wayward pastor because it would be uncomfortable? How many pastors elect not to talk about money, sex and abortion, drug use, divorce because they fear men more than they love truth? I believe it is much more normal for churches and their people to fear men rather than to love truth.
Christians believe in truth. As quoted above, Jesus IS the truth. When we confess that Christ is Lord, we acknowledge that truth is to be a central defining characteristic of our lives. Christians who fail to value and practice truth-seeking are failing to be Christian. They might claim Jesus with their lips, but they are practicing idolatry in their lives.
When we consider that obedience is the fruit we must bear, then that seems to connect pretty naturally to a desire to know truth, to conform one’s life to truth. Yet so often people in pews seem to be insecure about their faith, as though, if they learned enough truth, they would not be able to believe anymore. The evil one has convinced many that critical thought is an enemy of faith. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth: faith seeks understanding. We are to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Jesus prayed for us on the night he was arrested. He prayed, “Sanctify them in your truth: your word is truth” (John 17:17). This means that, if the Lord is active in our lives, then we are confident that the Lord’s truth as known through his scriptures cannot be proven false by anything else that is true, for “every word of God proves true” (Prov. 30:5). Others might problematize the content of what we believe. It is important to know that, even if the world sees a problem, there is no real problem. The world has always taken offense to God, whose foolishness is wiser than human wisdom.
I think my favorite verses about truth being our way of life come from Ephesians, though: “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another” (4:25). One of my favorites:
“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
- Ephesians 4:15
I just think it so strange that a faith based on fearless truth seeking and truth telling can be so easily corrupted by the human proclivity towards dishonesty and secretiveness.
There are certain ways of life in which Christianity is supposed to be distinct, or a ‘peculiar’ people (1 Peter 2:9). It seems to me that this relationship with the truth should be one of these key markers of a true Christian.
I do not imagine that my writing about this will somehow change the waters in which we are all swimming. But I do hope that those who have chosen to spend their time reading this little treatise might reconsider their relationship with the truth. I would encourage you to renounce the dishonesty that is so normal in relationships. I would urge you to abandon any way of life that is marked by avoiding those things that cause fear or discomfort. I would warn you about the terrible fallout from denial.
We are to be a sober and alert people, trusting in God, who is true. We must stand against this present age of subjective relativism. We must give up on the ways of this world and insist on the culture of Christ. We do this, first and foremost, in our own lives, as well as the shared life of our churches.
Truth-tellers are uniquely hated in dysfunctional family dynamics, whether they be in actual families, or in local churches, or even in denominations. Let us resolve not to hate those who tell the truth, but rather the ugly truth that deserves our hatred.
Well, yeah.
Thank you Jeffery.