Interesting thing about truth…it’s true whether you want it to be or not. Sometimes we like it. Sometimes it doesn’t matter either way. Other times, however, we don’t particularly like it at all. It’s those times that we have to be very careful.
The Church in America today has to be very careful when it comes to truth. You see, so many of us tend to base what is true on how we feel about a certain thing. But truth isn’t based on our own individual feelings.
While there are some who might argue against the idea of absolute truths, their own argument fails the test of their claim. After all, if I were to say, “There are no absolute truths,” then can I really say that that statement itself is true?
But today, we see many truths that are not so popular and end up being thought of as not being true after all.
For example…many people today, even within the Church…don’t like the idea of waiting until they are married to have sex. Just because they don’t like it, doesn’t mean it’s not the right thing to do.
Also, people don’t like the idea of hell. Now, granted, I think that many people have a distorted concept of hell, but that’s another topic for another day. The point is, just because people don’t like the idea of hell doesn’t mean hell doesn’t exist.
How about a more popular one? Many people, I’d say perhaps even most people, don’t like the idea that Christ is the only way to God’s Kingdom. That doesn’t magically make other ways possible. It just means that people start to believe things like, “All I need to do is be a ‘good’ person, and I’ll go to heaven.” This idea is nice. It’s comfortable. It makes things so much easier and convenient. But it’s not true. No matter how much we might wish it were.
So, what’s the point of all this? Basically, it is just to remind everyone that how we feel about something has absolutely nothing to do with the truth value of that something.
If something is true, it’s true no matter how we feel about it. If we like it, it’s still true. If we’re ambivalent, it’s still true. If we don’t like it, it’s still true! We have to be very careful about what we believe to be true or not true because it is far to easy to make a judgment call based on how we feel about it.
Just because I don’t like the idea that some of my family seem to be on a path that will lead them away from heaven, that doesn’t mean I can just decide to accept the idea that since they’re generally good people, they’ll be with me in heaven. The only way to heaven is through Christ.
So, why do we do this? Why do we believe things based on how we feel about them? What affect does that have on us?
Well, look at it this way…if you believe that “good” people will all go to heaven, how hard will you try to share Christ with them? You won’t be likely to try very hard, will you? I mean, why bother? They’re good people. They’ll go to heaven anyway. So why stir up controversy and potentially make them uncomfortable when it won’t make any difference in the end, right?
Wrong!
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Nobody comes to the Father except through Him. Period. None. It’s a narrow path that leads to heaven and a nice, wide, well-populated road that leads the other way. Do you want the people you love on the wrong path?
That, of course, brings me to the main concern I already mentioned. We don’t want to make people uncomfortable by talking about Jesus. I agree. We don’t. I know I don’t. So, what do we do? Did you know that you can share Jesus without making people feel uncomfortable? Did you know that you can share Jesus in a way that doesn’t have to be filled with controversy or anger or judgment?
There is. And if you come back next week, I’ll go into a little bit of how that is possible. But I’ll give you a hint before we get to next week. The hint is one, single, four-letter word: Love!
Chew on that for the next few days and I’ll be back to expound on that a bit next week.
Until then…
Grace, love and peace.
