The Second Enemy of Truth

Last week we looked at the trial of Jesus before His crucifixion and identified the first enemy of truth -- a skepticism which assumes there is no truth or that if truth exists, it can't be found.

But Jesus' experience at His trial also pointed to another enemy of truth. It is an enemy that Christians can easily fall prey to. It is a danger that postmoderns are quick to point out: They claim that if anyone is arrogant enough to claim knowledge of truth, it isn't long before they will demand oppressive allegiance to that truth.

The second enemy of truth is to assume that you know all of it. This was the attitude of the High Priests who "questioned" Jesus. Ultimately, they had no intention of finding out what was true. The Priests already knew what the judgment would be. Repression (or prejudice) of the truth is just as deadly as assuming it doesn't exist. Are we ever guilty of such?

If you ask the "average man on the street" to describe what they think of when they hear the word Christian, the responses often include words like mean-spirited, narrow-minded, and bitter. If we are honest, there are times when we might deserve some of those labels. It is easy to fall into the trap of declaring we know the truth and demanding others to acknowledge it as well.

But truth demands that we refute error, rather than repressing it. We will get plenty of flak for just refuting error; we certainly don't need the flak brought on by repressing it.

Jesus was surrounded at His trial by those who wanted to "crucify the truth" by denying its existence or assuming they already knew it all. His solution was to become "crucified truth" so that we might point people to the One who could restore us to God. Crucified truth bullies no one. On the contrary, crucified truth humbly points the way.

Scripture: John 14: 6 - "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"

Action Point: Do we crucify the truth by denying its existence or assuming we already know all of it? Rather, let's "be crucified with Christ ... and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me." (Galations 2:20)

(Thanks to Roy Clements, pastor in Oxford, England, for inspiration in this MMM)

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