When Jesus said, "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32) he was talking about himself who is the way, the truth and the life. However, it was based on a larger principle that God expects us to be seekers of truth. God expects us to be truthful as well. As the debate with his opponents progressed Jesus made a frontal attack on the devil and all those who model devil in their behaviour: "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! (John 8:44). What characterizes those who follow Jesus and those who follow Devil? Those who follow Jesus have a penchant for truth while the opposite camp has a penchant for lies.
This is an observation I made recently while studying how conflicts, differences of opinions and crises are dealt with in Christian communities. It seems that there is a quest for "peace" at the expense of truth and I strongly feel that this is not what Jesus would do.
Let us consider a hypothetical case. Two Christian believers have a problem involving money. Mr A claims that Mr B owes him some money which B denies. Revd C (could be their pastor or friend) gets involved as a mediator to resolve this problem. C is kind and a lover of peace. He would like to resolve this difference between the two Christian brothers as quickly as possible with as less damage as possible. So he offers A the sum of money he claims B owes him. C is willing to part with that amount for the sake of peace. This sort of problem solving gets a great round of applause from all of us. Looks great! Peace and sacrifice, love for brothers all that are involved here. However, I strongly feel in the light of the Word of God that that is not the right way to resolve this problem. What is lacking in this approach is the penchant for truth which is the hallmark of Christian believers.
There is another way of solving this crisis. Revd C seeks to establish if B really owes A any money or if A is making a false claim. If it is a false claim then rebuke A in a Christian spirit. However, if A is right and if B is not willing or unable to pay the amount of money that he owes A, then C as a lover of peace and willing to sacrifice can offer that money to A. In this scenario there is peace, sacrifice, love as well as truth.
Many times crises in Christian communities are solved without any concern for truth. We hush up, demand silence from those who are crying out for justice and to be heard just because we do not have the penchant for truth. We think establishing truth could be painful and may cause problems. So we don't venture in to it but circumvent the truth. This only helps to breed lies as we provide cover for them. Exposing lies in the process of seeking truth could be inconvenient and sometimes painful. But we need to take that pain and inconvenience for the sake of truth. It is this lack of penchant for truth that has made our churches and organizations to make "lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place" (Isaiah 28:15).
This is an observation I made recently while studying how conflicts, differences of opinions and crises are dealt with in Christian communities. It seems that there is a quest for "peace" at the expense of truth and I strongly feel that this is not what Jesus would do.
Let us consider a hypothetical case. Two Christian believers have a problem involving money. Mr A claims that Mr B owes him some money which B denies. Revd C (could be their pastor or friend) gets involved as a mediator to resolve this problem. C is kind and a lover of peace. He would like to resolve this difference between the two Christian brothers as quickly as possible with as less damage as possible. So he offers A the sum of money he claims B owes him. C is willing to part with that amount for the sake of peace. This sort of problem solving gets a great round of applause from all of us. Looks great! Peace and sacrifice, love for brothers all that are involved here. However, I strongly feel in the light of the Word of God that that is not the right way to resolve this problem. What is lacking in this approach is the penchant for truth which is the hallmark of Christian believers.
There is another way of solving this crisis. Revd C seeks to establish if B really owes A any money or if A is making a false claim. If it is a false claim then rebuke A in a Christian spirit. However, if A is right and if B is not willing or unable to pay the amount of money that he owes A, then C as a lover of peace and willing to sacrifice can offer that money to A. In this scenario there is peace, sacrifice, love as well as truth.
Many times crises in Christian communities are solved without any concern for truth. We hush up, demand silence from those who are crying out for justice and to be heard just because we do not have the penchant for truth. We think establishing truth could be painful and may cause problems. So we don't venture in to it but circumvent the truth. This only helps to breed lies as we provide cover for them. Exposing lies in the process of seeking truth could be inconvenient and sometimes painful. But we need to take that pain and inconvenience for the sake of truth. It is this lack of penchant for truth that has made our churches and organizations to make "lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place" (Isaiah 28:15).