The Way [more honesty] June 7

In the scripture John 18:38, when Jesus was asked by Pilate what was the truth, Christ was amazingly silent. I don’t intend to speculate what all that meant, but Jesus could have answered a great deal. But scripture already indicated the significant fact when Jesus said, “I am the Truth and the Way.” [John 14:6].

        Truth and the way are all around us. When I really look at a tree or a flower, I am seeing the Way. When I see a newborn, I see the Way. When I hear a heart-rendering song, I am reminded of the Way. When Jesus created all things [John 1:3;10, Ro.11:36, Col.1:15-16, Heb.1:2, Rev3:14], he built the Way into the cosmos.

What is this Way? Basically, it is the existence of absolute reality, a true and permanent realness, a basis for honest living. Along with this authenticity came Truth. Jesus, then, is the pure truth and genuine reality of all existence. No tricks or guesses here. The Way of Jesus points to salvation of the broken relationship of all humanity and shows truth alive and available to all who seek. From the Way and Truth emerges the issue of honesty.

        Right up front, you need to realize that honesty for us does not always mean accuracy. Honesty does not always mean doing the correct thing. Although doing the correct thing is certainly more favorable than the wrong thing. You may display honest feelings and thoughts yet be incorrect, inaccurate. I can say to you, “I’ve lied about something.” I told a truth but also revealed inaccuracy---lying. The nature of lying is inaccurate. So, in your journey, your growth is not enough just to honestly confess some error. The confession may only be a beginning.

        When the writer John 8:32 said, “know truth and the truth will set you free,” he was initially talking about Jesus as Truth without error. This is pure truth, not just accuracy, but flawless, undiluted factual  truth. The apostle Paul in 2 Cor.3:17 further emphasizes that the right truthfulness creates a liberty, in other words, an ability to live honesty that does not have a mixture of part truth or mixture of part freedom. Unfortunately, you can have part truth and part freedom but fall short of Jesus’ flawless truth. For instance, there exists a psychological guide that says we tend to believe 50% of some idea if we know little about it. Advertising sure knows this one. It is also why I believe people trust things like horoscope readings. Those readings display 50% truth immediately.

We need strength and a different perspective to grapple with truth issues. Jesus instilled in humankind a spirit of absolute truth that is accessible to humans. It is called the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s job helps interpret half-truths and helps us get free from any bondage rule of half-truth. He gives us the dynamic energy and fortitude to press toward discarding falsehood for a better way. I’m concerned, too many of us live half-truths, like advertising slogans or horoscopes.

        One of the issues that may have trapped you is how you define and view truth. Of course, there is universal truth in our world, like different seasons of Nature. These are facts we live with, like water is H2O, part hydrogen and part oxygen. As far as we know, here on earth, gravity is always gravity unless you use technology to go against it, like a rocket. There are many facts we live with but my concern here is not about those. I’m not talking about established, basic factual truths only.

        I am referring here to the aspect that truth has two perspectives in our day. There is truth that appears on the surface and truth beneath or behind surface. For instance, one of my 1940’s dining room chairs shows the truth of a chair. It has wood, cloth, maple finish and a certain design. You can touch it and say, “Yes, that’s a chair.” That is truth. But behind that nice piece of furniture, there is another truth: the original idea of that chair someone dreamed about. So, you have the truth you see, and behind it, the truth of the idea you don’t see. This illustrates a challenge we encounter, as we travel an honesty road. There will be outside truth you see and underneath truth you must discover and admit.

        For now, I ask you to commit to developing an openness that is willing to investigate truth. While somewhat scary, you are not alone in the endeavor. The Holy Spirit knows your every feeling and is with you. But facing yourself with a correct and trustworthy truth can lead to better values and better living. Take the journey with me. I think you will find immediate rewards.