Today is about the truth, the truth in Christ, who is Ultimate Goodness.
We are known for and by our preferences. Our preferences and options which we hold dear, reveal us to all who know us. A preference is a greater liking for one idea, or it is our personal inclinations or desires which guide our choices reflecting subjective tastes or priorities. An option is a group of available choices or possibilities in a given situation which may or may not align with our preferences. Preferences are not dictated by options. Paul wrote in Philemon 1:8-9, “Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you.” He preferred to appeal to them by discussion, truth, and scripture rather than be a hardened rule-maker, walking around declaring commands and passing out penalties. He wanted them to come to righteous conclusions within themselves concerning being honest, being obedient to Christ, and telling the truth of who Jesus was and who they were in Christ. Did you get that? Not what we decide but what God has decided. His will far surpasses ours. It is wonderful to know you are a preference, but it’s another thing to then find out you were, actually, only an option. Kinda’ sad huh? Have you ever thought you were a preference only to find out you were merely an option?
If lying is a curse, and curses have no weight, then honesty is an honor, abides in glory, and glory has weight, as in, the weighty presence of the glory of God. We love and hate the truth, and yes, i realize, hate is a very intense word. We can’t hide from the truth, nor do we find it all too easy to tell sometimes. We say truth is serious, has heaviness and gravity, and is bottom-line important. Some consider it a burden to bear which causes pressure, yet the truth is always influential and necessary. Glory finds it’s feet in the truth. In our judicial proceedings, we are supposed to possess the weight of truth in all it’s ramifications while exercising the weight of authority, both being dispensed by the weight of the law. Our legal system has weight, authority has weight, and the truth has the ultimate weight.
If we want to possess the wisdom and authority to prosper the Kingdom of God in ministry, then making the truth an utmost action item on our list should be paramount. The truth is more than facts, more. it exposes the motivations behind the actions. As example, a man stole an apple, that’s a fact, but the truth is he had not eaten for three days and was so hungry he was compelled past his moral boundaries to take what was not his. As another example, a man was driving down the road when another vehicle approached and passed him at a high rate of speed, recklessly passing, causing him to swerve around. When he finally got closer to the other vehicle due to traffic, as he rolled his window down to angrily yell at the reckless driver, the reckless driver rolled down his window and said frantically, “My house is on fire.” That actually happened to a friend of mine. Ahhh, the truth was quite revealing, and grace was found for the other fellows circumstances.
On Sept19, 1692 in Salem Village during the witch trials, a man refused to be taken to court, and as a result, he was stripped of his clothes, a board was placed on his body and then heavy rocks were slowly laid on the board to crush the truth out of him in hopes of forcing him to admit what they wanted of him. It was like a metaphor in that the people believed the weight of truth, a rock, was going to crush a confession out of the man. It didn’t work, he didn’t confess anything but commitment to Christ, and he died, of course. Odd that no one confessed the truth they were wrong to do what they did. We can trace the idea of the weight of truth from Biblical truth to legal truth, and then the truth of individual conscience. But in the end, the truth, the whole truth in Christ, is like an anchor which keeps us grounded, even though the more honest and truthful we are about ourselves and the world around us, the more it all seems to contradict the truth as our society sees it.
Being honest and committed to telling the truth with all our heart gives us momentum in the Spirit, we have weight to accomplish and make a difference. Let’s not be mistaken, owning the truth about ourselves can be terribly not easy, but if we want to step into ministry, then we’ll need His authority. And if we’re going to get authority from the Lord, we’ll have to let Him develop our character, and that requires honesty which may seem crushing to some, and liberating to others, all at the same time. We can’t hide from it, and we can’t hardly bear to own it, but own it we must.
How bad are we willing to be truthful with what the Lord has given us? In 2 Chronicles 18, Ahab and Jehoshaphat were going to go to war against Ramoth-gilead. Jehoshaphat, who wasn’t so sure about going to war, called for Ahab to bring out the prophets to hear what they had to say. The most prominent prophets of Ahab came and said, “Yes, go up! You’ll be fabulous!” Jehoshaphat still wasn’t so sure, so he asked if there was a man of God in the house. Ahab said he had one guy in prison but he never said anything nice about the King. In those days, to prophesy anything to the king other than what he wanted to hear was a good way to get killed, but this guy, Micaiah (me-kaw-yeh-hoo’), was dedicated to telling the truth as the Lord gave it to him. When asked if they should go to war, at first, he said, “Oh yes, go up, you’ll be great”, and Ahab commanded him to tell the truth. So, he did. He told Ahab he was going to die. Ahab was angered and said he’d deal with Micaiah when he got back. Micaiah said, “If i ever see you again, i’m no man of God”, wherewith, Ahab said to feed him on bread and water, and that’s the last we hear of the man of God. The prophet spoke the truth, even to the peril of his own life because devotion to God was more important than saving his own life. Micaiah had hi-fidelity, he was loyal to his source to the end.
Jesus is the truth and there are no lies in him. We dishonor ourselves and the gospel with the lies we tell ourselves. The Lord wants us to have planet changing authority, but it doesn’t come by unrealistic ideas of ourselves being more than God says we are. With each other, the Lord inspires us to build friendships with those who are willing to own a bridge between each other which can bear up under the weight of the truth. i’ll say again, false hope is far more cruel than the truth ever thought about being. Think about that.
Being honest, honors the Lord. Telling the truth is Christ like. Being responsible for our actions is part of telling the truth and being honorable. It takes real God-built character to live like that.
My paraphrase of John 16: 13, When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act with fidelity and truth are his delight.
Incidentally, fidelity means loyal to our source, Christ Jesus. Psalm 145:18, “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”