To tell the truth

In John 18 there is this discussion between Pilate and Jesus that really captures our culture today.  Pilate says, “ You are a king then!  Jesus answers, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”....”What is truth?” Pilate asked.  What is truth?  In the Church we claim to know what truth is...well really Who truth is...but do we? I discovered again today that telling the truth may be harder than knowing the truth.  Cannot fathom why we decide it is easier to live telling the same lie over and over again hoping, I guess it becomes truth...at least to the teller...and hopefully to the hearer.  We have watched sports heroes, our government officials, and also our spiritual leaders stand up and deny wrong doing, over and over and over only to finally come forward, with tears maybe, and say oh yeah I guess I did do that after all.  Sorry...sorry??  Does that really cover it?  Sorry...can we now get on with life?  Now I can handle this pretty well with athletes, movie stars, and even politicians somewhat...but I expect more from the family of God...the leaders...pastors.  

I have told you before I came to this role very reluctantly...I did not raise my hand, jump up and down asking Jesus to please pick me.  Really I kept my head down and avoided making eye contact hoping to remain anonymous...let me just retire from Ford and travel the land.  Part of the reluctance has been things I have seen over the years of  being in the church.  How many times have I heard leaders preach, “don’t touch God’s anointed,” misusing the scripture to avoid accountability when in reality when God calls a man or woman to be a pastor he does not do it because “they” are really “special”...He does it because He can.  Man I am rambling now...I guess I wonder, like Pilate...what is truth...or why is it so hard to tell?  Can there be anything more draining than going to bed at night knowing I have to get up tomorrow and tell the lie again all day long hopefully getting to bed before the truth comes out...wow!  What a way to live! In Eph.4 Paul gives instructions on living as children of light...v,25 “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.”  Part of me wants to scream at Paul and say, “come on, of course we will speak the truth....we are Christians!”  Paul obviously knows much more than I do about human nature...Listen from the Message, “What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth.  In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all.  When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.” No more lies...no more pretense.  I think the biggest killer in the Church is trying to keep up some kind of facade to save face in front of others...living a lie...looking good on the outside when in the inside you are dying.  Listen I understand the temptation to keep appearances up...hoping we will get our act together and no one will find out...what they don’t know won’t hurt them...really?  It might not hurt them...you are right...but you are dying...inside...the weight of living a lie...keeping it hidden from others...maybe a spouse even.  Heavy.  I HATE RELIGIOUS PRETENSE...DESPISE IT...IT KILLS.  Jesus said He came to set the prisoners free...a part of that freedom He gave was freedom from living under a religious system that was more about how you looked than how your soul was.  One built on wearing robes and rings and having places of honor set up for you to sit at.  Pretense...not truth...everyone on His side, the side of Jesus listens to truth...listens to Jesus.  

A sinful woman breaks in on a “religious people only” party and falls at His feet and anoints His feet with her tears...pours an extremely expensive perfume on His head...and gets criticized...by religious people...pretentious people.  If He were a prophet He would know what kind of woman she really was...this perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor...as if they cared about the poor...as if they cared about truth...as if they knew truth.  The only person in the room who got is was the “sinful woman.”  I wonder how she got the money for the perfume?  Probably do not want to know, do I?  You know what??? She was the only person n the room who knew the truth...the truth was she had great sin in her life and was extremely excited to meet the One who could give her freedom.  Everyone else was content to live under the pretense of their religion...they were fine..they were righteous...they were...wrong.  Truth was in the room and they could not hear Him or see Him...they enjoyed the pretense of living in truth over the real thing.  

This past Sunday I had to confess to my friends at church that I had lost something...I lost the understanding of what it meant to say that God was good. A wrestling match was going on inside of me...to know...to understand His goodness...outside of my experiences. Since I had lost that I could not longer pretend to believe it by beginning our services by saying God is good, all the time, because that is His nature.  I could not pretend any longer...then I could not hide it from those I consider my friends...I want it back...I believed a lie over the truth...the truth of His word...I was not listening anymore.  I had to tell someone so that I could be free from the guilt of that and begin my journey to get it back again.  If I stand in front and lead the congregation to say this short declaration but in my heart I don’t really believe it, I am living a lie, living a pretense...cannot do it. I want to hear...to be on the side of truth...on Jesus side.

Hopefully others will want to go there with me...well really with Jesus...I am on this journey towards Jesus and I want to go there with many...but it could be just a few...so be it...come Holy Spirit. What if we chose to live in the truth...knowing the truth...speaking the truth...no pretense...no need of pretense...what if??  I want to find out...don’t you?  It won’t be easy at first but it will come...don’t you want to be free?? I do...I never signed up to join a religion...I signed up to follow Jesus...the Truth...the Way..the life...CHOOSE LIFE...Please choose life.

Bill