Truth 101: Something Both Told and Lived

What is truth? ~ Pontius Pilate in John 18:38

Just Answer Truthfully!

It seems that there has always been confusion about “the truth.”  People insist that the truth exists.  One old television show insisted that “the truth is out there.”  In court, we take an oath to tell the truth, as if to say, “I promise that I am telling the truth when I tell you that I will tell the truth!”  Jesus was even asked the question, “What is truth?”  He was asked not by a philosopher or a theologian, but by a politician! Ironic, isn’t it?  But it really happened that way.  Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of the province of Israel, pulled Jesus aside after Jesus was arrested and brought to Pilate to be sentenced to death.  Pilate, after several questions, asked: “What is truth?” (John 18:38)

Jesus, in this scene, had just affirmed Pilate’s previous question, which was: “So, you are a king, then?” (Remember, Jesus was charged with sedition and blasphemy for allegedly claiming to be “King of the Jews.”).  Jesus’ response to Pilate: “What you say is true.  Everyone who is on the side of truth listens to me” (John 18:37). 

Pilate becomes confused, it seems, since he basically admits in the very next verse that he himself is struggling as to what the truth really is!  He is not alone.  And he is certainly not the first politician to suffer from this kind of confusion.  In fairness, even preacher types wrestle with this from time to time: What really is the truth?

Not Just a Set of Facts

Jesus helps us with this all the time.  The answer to what real truth is will not be found in endless philosophical games or debates, although debates surely have their place.  It is just that in debates, the “truth” is not always the winner. This includes court cases as well.  The winner in such matters is usually the one who is the most convincing.  Jesus experienced this a bit later in the above narrative when the crowd (many of whom had been paid off by the ones who arrested him) yelled “Crucify him!”  They were the loudest, Pilate did not have strong enough interest in the real truth, and Pilate gave in.  The winners of the case, we now know, were not the most truthful voices. 

So, this business of finding the truth can be more complicated than it first appears.  Facts get exchanged, spun toward a particular side, and are interpreted as either the truth or not the truth.  Facts matter, but only if they are facts that are not shaped by a one-sided, self-centered agenda.  To echo Pilate, then: What is truth, anyway?  Jesus’ own words can help us with this.

A Few True Things About Truth

First, truth centers on Jesus: His words and His ways.  Jesus says so Himself: “All who are on the side of truth listen to me.”  That is to say, all who have any interest in the truth listen and look to Jesus.  For Christians, this first step may go something like this: 

• Is what I am saying the kind of representation that Jesus would give of this situation?  
• Are my interpretations and attitude in line with Jesus’ approach to these things?  
• If not, then something is missing: most likely it is the “whole truth” that is missing (or at least part of the truth!). 

More specifically, is my reporting of the facts in harmony not only with the way in which Jesus would see them, but also shared in the same manner as Jesus?  What is His manner?  The Bible indicates that the manner of Jesus in all things is centered in love.  No wonder the Apostle Paul later writes that we are to “speak the truth in love,” so that we may “in all things grow into the maturity of Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). 

What Does That Really Mean?

It seems that based upon these two things – the manner and character of Christ (this whole "speaking the truth in love" approach– that I can simply share facts in a clouded, self-centered, or mean-spirited way and still miss the truth, if I am not interested in the most loving and Christ-like result.  And it seems that if I am claiming to love but I am leaving out key facts (the way those who arrested Jesus did, and the way false witnesses or spin doctors always do), then I am also missing the truth: the whole truth: the truth centered in the person and work of Jesus Himself. 

I am tired of the saturation of half-truths, which according to the Bible’s definition, really are not truths at all. 

When a person is in recovery from addiction, he or she must, according to the best counselors and researchers, take what the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous call a “fearless moral inventory.”  That means they must fearlessly yet lovingly start telling the truth about themselves, their choices, key events in their lives, and even their weaknesses.  Only then can there be any progress toward healing.

Not as Cold and Hard After All

There’s an old George Jones song that is aptly titled. The singer represents a voice that is confronting a man who has betrayed one he loves (it’s a country song… what did you expect?).  The words of the voice of confrontation go like this:

You don’t know who I am / But I know all about you;
I’ve come to talk to you tonight/ About the things I’ve seen you do;
I’ve come to set the record straight/ I’ve come to shine the light on you;
Let me introduce myself / I am the cold, hard truth. (Songwriter: Jamie O’hara)

The thing that scares people about the truth is that when we have hardened ourselves with lies and self-centeredness and the truth confronts us, it seems cold and hard.  It is quite humbling and sometimes even downright embarrassing to face the truth.  But the One who is the truth is not trying to be cold and hard at all.  Instead, He is seeking to make our lives a place where the truth – the love of Christ, the manner of Christ – is free to live. 

This freedom begins with a willingness to ask the question that Pilate asked: What is truth?  But it only comes to full fruition when we, unlike Pilate, are willing to allow the truth to cut away the self-centeredness that stands in the way of the full Truth – the person and work of Christ – to shine through our words and our actions.  The cold, hard truth is that we need more of this loving, transformative truth in all areas of our church and of our world.

Two Lessons From the Cross

The Cross: Separating Followers From Admirers

I recently read about an encounter that the great civil rights leader and Baptist preacher Clarence Jordan (a white man from Georgia who started an integrated Christian community) once had with his own brother.  Jordan’s brother was then a lawyer, who would later become a justice in the Georgia Supreme Court.  Clarence asked his brother to represent his racially integrated community as their attorney.  Clarence’s brother refused.  “Didn’t we agree to follow Jesus when we made our commitments to Christ?” Clarence asked his brother.  “Yes, but I follow Jesus up to a point,” Clarence’s brother replied.

“Is that point up to the cross?” Clarence asked.

“Yes,” his brother said.  “I will go to the cross, but I’m not about to get myself crucified!”

“Then,” Clarence replied sadly to his brother, “you are not a true disciple.  You are an admirer of Jesus, but not a disciple.”  [Thanks to Matt Friedman for this story]. 

The cross of Jesus is truly the crossroad of the entire Christian faith.  It is the benchmark of what it means to follow Jesus with one’s whole life.  Jesus’ admonition to His disciples about what it means to be a true Christian – Christ follower – is to “take up your cross and follow me.”  These words gained more impact as they observed Jesus suffering and dying on that first Good Friday.  The disciples watched as their Lord and Teacher literally took up the cross and obeyed God to the fullest extent, forgoing comforts and praise in order to demonstrate the extent of the love of God.  Clarence Jordan was right in his assessment.  Admirers stand at a distance and say, “I am glad Jesus did that.”  Followers are those who say, “Because Jesus did this, I do not have to fear even if it means sacrificing my own reputation, my own comfort, or my very life for the sake of the good news of Jesus.” 

This brings us to the two key lessons of the cross.  The cross is more than just a place where Jesus took our place.  It is a demonstration of the power of God’s promise to love and an illustration of what Jesus was trying to teach on that first Maundy Thursday (John 13): loving us to the very end and beyond

Lesson One: How Dark Sin Is

Good Friday services are generally somber, reflective and dark – literally dark.  Crosses are covered in black cloth.  Lights are low.  We recapture the mood as best we can of the night when the holy, loving, and righteous Son of God allowed Himself to be put to death unjustly so that the love of God can be seen.  And as we gaze at the full extent of the love of God in the death of One who is willing to be put to death unjustly due to His commitment to love and peace, we simultaneously see how dark sin can get.  How depraved can we be?  The answer as we “survey the wondrous cross,” to use the words of hymn writer Isaac Watts, is almost too much to bear.  No wonder the same hymn writer notes that as we observe the cross, our “richest gain becomes but loss,” and we “pour contempt on all our pride.”  Why?  Because any pride I had in my own goodness is called into question when I realize someone just like me – too much like me for comfort – did THAT to the holy, perfect, loving Son of God who was sent to bring me into God’s family. 

The cross is a dark place.  It is a reminder of how far we can go down the path of sin and death.  It is so tempting to look at the cross from a distance instead of taking up the cross, honestly bearing the reality of the depth of sin in my own life.  It is easy to see the cross in hindsight and not as a present reality for all of us. 

But there is light even in the dark shadows of the cross. 

Lesson Two: How Far God Will Go

Is there a “bridge too far” for God?  Is there a limit to His love?  I often hear people who wish to remind us that even though God is loving, we are not to forget that He is also a “righteous judge” and is a “God of wrath.” 

I think this kind of thinking misses the point and also looks at the cross from a distance.  The cross does demonstrate our sin, but it does so in light of the great love of God.  In the act of sacrificing His own life, Jesus exposes sin.  He does not do so, then, in harsh and punitive judgement, but in submissive love. If God were simply about wrath, then our first response would be defensive.  But God’s response to sin is sacrificial love, which catches us off guard.  Look how far God will go to show you the way to Himself, the cross cries out.  See how much God loves us, the cross reminds.  “How deep the Father’s love for us; How vast beyond all measure,” another hymn writer reminds.  This, too, is seen in the cross of Jesus. 

Putting the Lessons Together

These two lessons – the depth of sin and the heights of God’s love – are always working in tandem in the lives of those who “take up the cross” of Jesus Christ and become His disciples (not just admirers).  In the shadow of the cross, I am constantly reminded that my journey is to be one of humility.  My sin is part of the story of how the perfect and holy Son of God ended up there.  It could just as well have been me driving the nails.  When I embrace sin, I am indeed capable of such things, and so are we all! 

At the same time, the cross reminds me that as I walk in humility, I need not fear that I will be asked to “love too much” or to go too far in loving and serving others.  Jesus Himself has already gone the distance.  He has already gone as far as it is possible to God, and He bids me to follow Him there!  Therefore, all of my actions, attitudes, and interactions with all of the voices around me are filtered through the cross.  Is this attitude or action bathed in the humility that recognizes that sin runs deep in me and in all of us?  Is this attitude or action placing unworthy limits on the love of God that can be expressed through me because of the cross and the empty tomb of Jesus?  That, and not less than that, is taking up the cross.  May God help us.