Hurling Insults Like Rocks
Passing on the Novacain
SHADING TRUTH: The Silhouette of Reality
As many as seventy-five times in the four gospels, Jesus declares, “I tell you the truth.” He does so to draw attention and to emphasize what follows. He’s also underscoring that what he is about to say is true and not a lie. Truth reaches to the core and very nature of who Jesus is. So much so that Jesus invokes God’s name when declaring, “I am the truth” in John 14:6.
As followers of Christ we are a people who step into truth, or into Truth, without trying to shade him with lies. Sometimes it’s a tall order.
In my lifetime a number of factors have converged that have created a perfect storm to cast a long shadow on truth. While I’m unsure as to if a “cause and effect” exists, certainly a correlation can be found in these factors.
► The Rise of Postmodernity: in an over simplification, truth lost any sense of universal or objective morality, reason or reality. Each individual for themselves what is right or wrong.
► The Eroding Trust in the Government/Institutions: the Vietnam Conflict, Watergate, economic downturns, abuse of power, over billing and self-serving leadership has led to a “drain the swamp” mentality.
► Church’s Fall from Grace: church has shifted from being the center of society to the fringes, and from the place of authority to the place of irrelevancy. Teaching is questioned, while transformation is too often dismissed.
► The Pushback against Academia: we are a society that educates its people while undermining the value of an education (i.e., questioning scientific evidence). As a society, we don’t read. In fact, we hate reading.
► The Attraction to Conspiracy Theories: people long to make sense of horrific/world events, to feel a sense of control and to make themselves look “good” because they are “in the know.” Thus, people are willing to chase and embrace these extravagant explanations.
► The Flood of Information: the internet and social media has given us more information without filters. Trying to wade through the sea of data is overwhelming and paralyzing. Anything posted on the internet is too often met with credibility instead of skepticism.
► Ideological Bias: we all live with blinders. We tend to filter information through our own beliefs. Sometimes it’s helpful to weed out the bad, but other times we throw out the flower that needs to grow.
Jesus calls us to truth. But the provided list sometimes makes it hard to find the truth. Sometimes I feel like “the truth doesn’t have a chance against such a convincing lie” (Andy Andrews). But Jesus keeps calling us to truth. We have to keep listening through the white noise. When truth is being shaded, remember how the silhouette offers nothing, but the reality is full of substance. Or said another way, the lie will grip to enslave with fear, while the truth will set us free (Jn. 8:21).
Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)
Bye Bye Pappa! Owning God’s Presence
Directionally Challenged
Between Batman & Superman
Leap of Faith
Choosing the ideal place for a pickup game of football can be a challenge for any sixth grade boy. Then again, they can turn a living room into a practice field on a count of “three.”
Being raised in Portland, Oregon, given the amount of daily rain accumulating allowed for great football games in the mud. However, getting all filthy during school hours was frowned upon, if not discouraged. So what are a group of boys, in recess on a drizzly day with a football going to do?
My elementary school offered two options for boys to play on a paved surface for a friendly game of touch football. The first was a long but narrow strip in the front of the school. It just wasn’t wide enough for football. The other was the patio in front of the building, where we played foursquare, jump rope and tag. It was wide enough but not very deep. Windows nearby were a potential problem as well as getting the ball stuck up on the patio roof, about eight feet tall.
As fate would have it, a group of sixth grade boys – Rodney, Brooks, Leon, Monte, Waylon – were playing a pickup game of football in a drizzly, wet day, when the ball somehow got booted up on the patio roof and wasn’t coming down. Game over. Ideas were thrown about how to retrieve the ball, including asking the janitor, Mr. Dodds. But he was elderly and wasn’t about to go up there. The best idea was to lift someone to the roof, but they needed someone small, wiry and light weight.
That’s where I enter the story. I was a first grader who fit the bill and just happened to be walking by (probably returning from the bathroom). The boys called out to me, asking me to help them out, to which I was more than eager to lend my service. They hoisted me to the roof where I easily retrieved the football and saved their game. For a moment, I was the hero. But then I had to come down, and that’s where I froze. Time was of the essence and suddenly I was flagged for “delay of game,” and must have become the villain.
From an eye-point vantage, getting up is easy because you’re visually near the target. But coming down looks like your peering into the Grand Canyon. I had two options. First, slide down on my belly to give me more control over the “fall,” but risk pulling the gutters off the building. We rejected that option. Better yet, jump into the arms of the biggest boy in the group. I knew these boys. They were good guys who hung out with my brothers. But they were sixth graders. And the biggest boy was Leon who couldn’t catch COVID-19 even if an infected person sneezed on him.
So there I was, standing between two choices I refused to make. The boys were calling for me to jump. They reached out their arms. They made their promises. They guaranteed I’d be caught. They wanted me to take a leap of faith, but I wasn’t gonna budge.
Such moments make me appreciate the disciples when they saw Jesus walking on the water (Mt. 14:22-36). They not only had to process the unbelievable: Jesus making strides on the waves as if it was laminate flooring. But they also had to decide how safe it was to step out of the boat, all in a matter of moments. They froze. At least eleven of them did. Peter accepts the challenge until committed, he sees the waves, and then he freezes. But ultimately, that’s what we call faith. Beyond the fear, and before the pride, you trust that the person telling you to jump will catch you. Or you trust the one calling you from the sea that if you focus on him, you can walk on water. And if he’s Jesus, you know you won’t slip through his fingers.
My oldest brother, Steve, walked by and saw the scene. He was a seventh grader and was changing classes. The boys informed him of the situation, how I was stuck up on the roof and wouldn’t come down. He came over, looked me in the eyes, extended his arms and said, “Jump, Jon. I’ll catch you.” Without even hesitating, I leaped safely into his arms. I realized, maybe not then but certainly now, that choosing who to trust in your “leap of faith” is the game-changer for you to live by faith.
Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)