Students of the Truth

I'm a teacher...and often I discover that I am a bit too in love with the sound of my own voice.  I like the idea of impressing people with my knowledge and wit...so...I talk a lot in class.  Sometimes I talk too much...and as I am enraptured in my own words, it's happened that I've said the wrong things.  And let me tell you, if you ever think that young people are not listening to you when you try to lecture them, just wait until you make a mistake.  They are all too quick to call you on it right away!

When they call me out, O DEAR!  I do not like that one bit!  However, over the years, I have accepted it as a gift.  And I welcome their corrections, because the last thing I want to do is to lead them on the wrong path...so I commend them, instead.  I like it when my students call me on something, because that means they are thinking critically.  And ultimately, that is the best thing I can offer to them: opportunities to use their brain for discernment.

And that is the key: to discern truth.

What is truth?  Asked Pontius Pilate to Jesus.  The question was meant to be rhetoric...but there was and there is an answer since Truth was standing right in front of Him.  Truth is not a concept.  Truth is a Person.  Truth is Jesus. He testifies to the truth.  And as He states:  "Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice." (John 18: 37)

Are we listening?

Are we measuring and testing everything we hear, see, perceive, think, witness, against the truth.  I don't pretend to know all there is to be known about Our Great God.  Of course, nobody ever could.  If the creation could understand all there is to be understood about the Creator, He would not be much of a God, would He?  God is utterly undecipherable. He is indescribable.  He is unexplainable.  But, knowing all that about Himself, He still wants us to know Him as much as our humanity allows.  Therefore, He has given us His Word.  He has also given Himself to us in the Person of Jesus and He has endowed us with Himself within us, in the Person of the Holy Spirit.  Those are our sources of truth.

The world rejects them.  But as Christians, they are the rafts that keep us from drowning in the sea of confusion that is this age we live in.  If we don't hang on to them...if we don't measure everything this current age of information presents to us against the truth, we are in serious danger of being led astray by the myriad of false teachings that plague today's society.  We live in a world where misguided opinions pass for valid truth.  Powerful forces have destroyed the sacred as unholy practices become the norm just to please and appease public opinion.  And we are left in despair...confused...doubting the common sense of our core beliefs.

However, the truth remains.  Truth is a Person and He is Alive!  Christ Reigns over all the earth and regardless of the mess we have made of it, there will be a day when, at the sound of His Name Every Knee Will Bow. (Romans 14:11)

What to do, in the meantime?  Keep calm, and trust His plan!

As we wait for the Lord, we can do as my students do:  beware of the intentional or unintentional false teachings that might be filtering through the channels we are tuned into.  Discern the truth and measure all against the teachings of the Bible.  Then, in love and respect, try our best to call out the lies/confusion and wait for the Holy Spirit to act.  It is out of our hands what happens once we speak up.  Chances are, we are not going to convince anybody who believes the consensus.  Chances are, we are not going to be able to stop anybody from going with the wave.  But we can always entrust them to the Holy One, to the One who can.

As students sitting at the desks of the classroom of life, it is our mission to use our God-given brain and polish our ability to think critically.  But we are also called to love and our efforts must be always guided by our love of others, not by a desire to be right.

May the Holy Spirit grant us a keen ability to discern the truth and a strong desire to act in love.