The use of shading in paintings or sketches allows for depth and realism. Shading the truth only brings lies and deception to the forefront. I once colored a picture and was showing it to an artist. She said, “I love your use of shadow, it makes it look like the sun is shining.” I looked at the picture I had drawn, studied the colors as I could see where I pressed harder on the left side of the paper, and lightened the coloring as I moved to the right. I looked at her and admitted in all honesty, “It does look cool. But I never purposely tried to shade the picture. I guess I just got lucky.” Shading a colored picture is brilliant; shading the truth is another story.
We’ve always known people who’ve shaded the truth; we’ve even done it ourselves. Abraham introducing Sarah as his sister while ignoring the glaring truth that she was also his wife shaded the truth to the Egyptians (Gen. 12:10-13). However, it seems that the shading in our society has gotten darker not lighter. Stephen Colbert coined the phrase, “truthiness,” to describe a person or people who hold convictions as true, even though empirical evidence, logic, or intellectual examination of the facts say otherwise. At the beginning of the year, Kellyann Conway coined the phrase, “alternative facts” (i.e. truth) to counter the report of the low turnout for the Presidential Inauguration. If fact is fact, or truth is truth, then what exactly is an “alternative fact,” if not shading the truth?
This last week, in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, FaceBook lit up in what only became known as the next cycle news story perpetuated by those who like shading the truth. The facts slowly emerged, but never fast enough to counter the lies. What is true is the Lakewood Church, home of Joel Osteen’s mega church in the old Compact Center, never opened its doors for the displaced. Another truth is that the outcry against him was heard all over the internet. As the facts emerged, Lakewood was never asked to open their doors by the city, for fear of another Superdome tragedy from Hurricane Katrina (bad plumbing, no showers & fresh water, and reports of sexual abuse). The Compact Center received its own damage during the rains; between flooding and structural integrity issues, the city feared escalating problems. Besides, the city had made arrangements for a number of other places designated as refugee spots, and using the Compact Center was only a last resort plan.
In all candor, I am not a fan of Joel Osteen, but that doesn’t mean I don’t that I have no admiration for him. Not only do I admire his personal narrative of how he reluctantly entered the preaching ministry, but I also admire his ability to attract people who flock to his church every week in a culture where many (or most) churches are struggling to maintain status quo (Phil. 1:18 might apply here). My critique is that in his attempt to offer a “positive” message, the message he offers is rooted in the self-help, prosperity gospel. If we’re going to criticize someone, let’s make sure the accusations against them are the truth, without having to shade them for our advantage. Osteen never closed his doors to the people of Houston, but offered assistance where his church could.
FaceBook has become a breeding ground for Fake News, which is another word for lies. We share and post articles without determining their validity. We assume far too much, and it helps perpetuate lies. We post memes because they fit our conclusions. We’ve stopped reading, and when we do read we fail to allow for reflection on what we’ve read. We share articles without ever double checking the source, the agenda, or consulting with www.snopes.com (a website committed to filtering the truth from the lies).
Jesus claimed to be truth (Jn. 14:6). Paul exhorted his readers to embrace truth and reject lies (Eph. 4:25). David plays the role of Diogenes as he searches for anyone who will tell the truth, but he searches in vain (Ps. 12:1). Maybe it’s time for our discipleship to Jesus to force us out of the shades and into the light of truth.
Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. Only God Is Glorified!)