Truth

I have a hard time with the truth. There are so many types of truth, but so many of them seem to be - well, not the truth.

I call the Apostle Paul to the witness stand.

Q Mr. Paul, or Mr. Apostle, isn't it true that you feel called to save people from a life of sin?

A Yes, "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." (1 Corinthians 9:22).

Q Have you ever enjoyed a sin while you were committing it?

A Yes I have. That is why, "I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do." (Romans 7:19).

Q Have you ever given way to rage and then later felt that it was a sin?

A Well, yes. I remember when Ananias told one of his men to hit me and I yelled, "God shall strike you, you whitewashed wall!" I did not know he was the high priest. (Acts 23:3).

Q And yet, would you not agree that your rage at Ananias probably helped you avoid a beating?

A You know, you're right. The Pharisees and Sadducees started going at each other so much that some soldiers came and escorted me out to safety. (Acts 23:10).

Q Now, do you ever think there will be a time when you will stop sinning?

A No, "...all men... are under the power of sin." (Romans 3:9).

Q And so, isn't it true that as an Apostle, you are trying to get us ordinary folks to give up something that you have enjoyed, something that has helped you in the past and something that you plan on doing for the rest of your life?

This parlour trick cross examination illustrates what might be called the "shaped truth." Rather than letting truthful statements lead me where they will, an advocate takes truthful statements and arranges or shapes them so they will lead others where he wants them to go. Nothing in the examination is untrue; it is just not the truth. King Solomon knew there was a risk in following an advocate's truth. In Proverbs 18, verse 17, he said, "The first to present his case seems right until another comes forward and questions him." An advocates truth can be relied on only if it survives the challenge of an opponent's truth.

The first truth we encounter in life is "childhood truth." As children we constantly are admonished to "tell the truth." We learn, sometimes with considerable force, that misstating the facts always is the opposite of truth. But as we grow older, we learn just how flexible those facts sometimes are: the blacks and whites of childhood merge into varying shades of gray.

Nearly every day in my practice, I hear what I would call "malicious truth." This church had to deal with this not too long ago. Does UBC have a deacon who is gay? How can the Baptist General Convention of Texas survive without knowing the truth? I guess we could paraphrase John 8: "the Baptist General Convention learned the truth and UBC was set free." I think this type of truth is what William Blake meant when he wrote: "The truth told with evil intent is worse than all the lies we can invent."

Then there is "multiple choice truth." The life of Christ is full of questions and many of them have multiple choice answers. Sometimes, I have felt that if I can just pick the right answer, I will know the truth. How many people did Jesus show himself to after the resurrection? Did Matthew have it right when he said two women and eleven disciples? Or was Mark right when he said it was only one woman, then two disciples and then later eleven disciples? Or did Luke have the right answer when he said that two women saw Jesus but did not know it was him until later that night at dinner when he magically disappeared and then reappeared among the women and eleven disciples? Which one of these is the truth? And by the way, who actually wrote Matthew, Mark and Luke? It is fairly obvious that looking for the right answer sheds no light on the truth of the resurrection.

Then there is that kind of truth that I, for one, am better off not knowing: the "awful truth." In the book of Genesis, the story of Eve and the apple depicts for me the loss of innocence when we acquire knowledge of good and evil and the separation from God that can occur if we choose evil over good. The story might also teach that there are some truths that are better left alone. I remember a Twilight Zone episode in which a man climbed into his attic, and inside an old chest of drawers found a pair of pince-nez glasses with the Latin inscription, "Know Thyself." He put the glasses on, looked in the mirror and went insane. Without my faith and God's grace as a filter, I do not know that I could accept the truth of my own character. And what about our physical insignificance? The truth is, we are less than nothing in the physical universe. Is that a truth on which we need to dwell?

In John 8, verses 31-32 Jesus promises that, "if you will continue in my word, you truly are my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free." These types of truth, and there are many more, do not make me free. They just make me confused. I've learned to accept the fact that some truths have turned gray and no longer are black or white. I must beware of that truth which I shape when I already know what I want to prove; I must examine my motives for wanting to know the truth about something or someone, because my own bad motives are the only truths I will discover. I must not expect right answers to reveal the truth; and I must learn that there are some truths that I may be better off without.

Of course, Jesus said, "if you continue in my word," then you will know the truth. In other words the truth may have nothing to do with what we know. The truth that is the real truth and that gives us spiritual freedom may be something that is revealed to us through what we do. And, all we have to do is continue in his word.

Now, if I could just learn the truth about what "continue in my word," means.