“When regard for truth has been broken down or even
slightly weakened, all things will remain doubtful.” Augustine
Then, the manager drew the clerk aside. “Never,” he snarled, “Never, never, never say we’re out of anything- say we’ve got it on order and it’s coming. Now, what was it she wanted anyway?” The clerk said, “Rain!”
Ours is a dishonest world. Honesty is sacrificed…often for greed. It seems that in election years, the lies are more plentiful and flagrant. But God’s Word repeatedly reminds us that God is the God of truth, and His people are commanded to be people of truth. A healthy church—a body of believers that follows Jesus as the head must be a place of truth. It’s where we love each other enough to be honest and admonish each other truthfully when needed. It’s a place where we’re lovingly truthful about the sins that cause us to stumble because sin has such damaging consequences.
One University of Massachusetts study found “that 60 percent of people lied at least once during a 10-minute conversation and told an average of two to three lies.” The study also found lies told by men and women differ in content, but not in quantity: “Women were more likely to lie to make the person they were talking to feel good, while men lied most often to make themselves look better.”
In Ephesians 4:15-16 Paul writes: “Rather, speaking
the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the
head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by
every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly,
makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” Apparently, the
church in Ephesus had a truth problem. They’d gotten to the point where they
preferred hearing stuff that made them feel good rather than what was true.
One
of the benefits of connecting with other believers is their ability to see sin
in us that we’re blind to. We need this aspect of body life because part of the
damage sin causes is blindness. We can see the speck of sin in another
person’s eye but may be blind to the 2 x 4 plank that’s in our own.
In God’s Word of truth, we’re reminded of how sin does this. 1 John 1:8 talks about Christians who deceive themselves by thinking they’re without sin. “If we claim we are without sin, we deceive ourselves—and the truth is not in us.” Here are a few more. Obadiah 1:3, “The pride of your heart has deceived you.” Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” Our sin blinds and deceives us. Author Michael Novak put it this way: “Our capacity for self-deception has no known limits.” We deceive ourselves all the time into thinking we’re better than we are. One of the biggest lies is that most of us think we’re basically good. We’re not.
Remember that famous scene from the movie, A Few Good Men? Jack Nicholson is on the witness stand and Tom Cruise says, “I just want the truth.” Nicholson screams, “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” He has a point. The fact is the truth we need to hear can be very hard to handle. It’s hard to honestly admit our failures and flaws.
Yet there’s a vital part of truth that’s life giving and sustaining. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:31). So, the truth about the truth is this – it will set you free, but first it can make you miserable. Some pain and misery are necessary for spiritual growth.
We need to see our own sin—we have to face it—we have to handle it—if we’re going to move forward on toward spiritual maturity. A Christian who can’t admit that he or she is wrong is not growing toward Christlikeness. Remember God opposes the proud. He only gives grace to the humble.
That’s why we need body life, close spiritual friendships and small groups. It’s where the power of connecting with other Christians comes in. Those who know us, really know us, will see things about us that we miss.
Did you know we can only see about 60% of our body without a mirror or a reflective surface of some sort? Its why wives ask their husbands that dangerous question: “How do I look?” All kidding aside, others can see things about us that we’re blind to. If those who really know us truly love us, they’ll tell us when we are walking around with a two by four in our eye. They’ll tell us the truth, the truth we need to hear. They’ll tell us when we’ve got a sin problem and don’t look or act so good.
In June of 1938, J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, wrote a letter to his editor Stanley Unwin explaining why he was behind schedule finishing the final draft for The Hobbit. Tolkien told Unwin that instead of drafting more material, he had decided to start over and rewrite the first three chapters.
What motivated Tolkien to go back and start the whole thing over again? It was the loving criticism he had received from his friend, C. S. Lewis. Apparently, Lewis read chapters, liked the story, and encouraged Tolkien, but he also took the time to critique it and make specific suggestions for its improvement. For instance, Lewis told Tolkien that there was too much dialogue, too much chatter, too much “silly hobbit talk.” According to Lewis, all this dialogue was dragging down the story line.
Tolkien grumbled in response to Lewis, “The trouble is that ‘hobbit talk’ amuses me—more than adventures.”
Yet he still accepted the advice. Also, in the first draft of The Lord of the Rings, the story centers on a hobbit named Bingo, who sets out with two companions, Odo Took and Frodo Took. As Tolkien does revisions, Bingo becomes Frodo, and is joined by his friends Sam and Pippin. I wonder, would The Lord of the Rings have been nearly so popular if the main character had been called Bingo? But more than just names have been transformed. Tolkien’s revised version is shorter and much clearer, too.
When J.R.R. Tolkien rewrote the material, he cut nearly half of the dialogue. On page after page, he deleted long conversations and picked up the action. As a fan of those books, I don’t think I would have enjoyed them as much without Lewis’ input.
Each of us needs a C.S. Lewis in our lives. We need someone to encourage us on toward God’s best. Are you open to one in your life? Are you a Lewis in someone else’s life? We will never be the mature Christians God desires us to be or the church that glorifies Him until we learn to “speak the truth in love.”
In God’s Word of truth, we’re reminded of how sin does this. 1 John 1:8 talks about Christians who deceive themselves by thinking they’re without sin. “If we claim we are without sin, we deceive ourselves—and the truth is not in us.” Here are a few more. Obadiah 1:3, “The pride of your heart has deceived you.” Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” Our sin blinds and deceives us. Author Michael Novak put it this way: “Our capacity for self-deception has no known limits.” We deceive ourselves all the time into thinking we’re better than we are. One of the biggest lies is that most of us think we’re basically good. We’re not.
Remember that famous scene from the movie, A Few Good Men? Jack Nicholson is on the witness stand and Tom Cruise says, “I just want the truth.” Nicholson screams, “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” He has a point. The fact is the truth we need to hear can be very hard to handle. It’s hard to honestly admit our failures and flaws.
Yet there’s a vital part of truth that’s life giving and sustaining. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:31). So, the truth about the truth is this – it will set you free, but first it can make you miserable. Some pain and misery are necessary for spiritual growth.
We need to see our own sin—we have to face it—we have to handle it—if we’re going to move forward on toward spiritual maturity. A Christian who can’t admit that he or she is wrong is not growing toward Christlikeness. Remember God opposes the proud. He only gives grace to the humble.
That’s why we need body life, close spiritual friendships and small groups. It’s where the power of connecting with other Christians comes in. Those who know us, really know us, will see things about us that we miss.
Did you know we can only see about 60% of our body without a mirror or a reflective surface of some sort? Its why wives ask their husbands that dangerous question: “How do I look?” All kidding aside, others can see things about us that we’re blind to. If those who really know us truly love us, they’ll tell us when we are walking around with a two by four in our eye. They’ll tell us the truth, the truth we need to hear. They’ll tell us when we’ve got a sin problem and don’t look or act so good.
In June of 1938, J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, wrote a letter to his editor Stanley Unwin explaining why he was behind schedule finishing the final draft for The Hobbit. Tolkien told Unwin that instead of drafting more material, he had decided to start over and rewrite the first three chapters.
What motivated Tolkien to go back and start the whole thing over again? It was the loving criticism he had received from his friend, C. S. Lewis. Apparently, Lewis read chapters, liked the story, and encouraged Tolkien, but he also took the time to critique it and make specific suggestions for its improvement. For instance, Lewis told Tolkien that there was too much dialogue, too much chatter, too much “silly hobbit talk.” According to Lewis, all this dialogue was dragging down the story line.
Tolkien grumbled in response to Lewis, “The trouble is that ‘hobbit talk’ amuses me—more than adventures.”
Yet he still accepted the advice. Also, in the first draft of The Lord of the Rings, the story centers on a hobbit named Bingo, who sets out with two companions, Odo Took and Frodo Took. As Tolkien does revisions, Bingo becomes Frodo, and is joined by his friends Sam and Pippin. I wonder, would The Lord of the Rings have been nearly so popular if the main character had been called Bingo? But more than just names have been transformed. Tolkien’s revised version is shorter and much clearer, too.
When J.R.R. Tolkien rewrote the material, he cut nearly half of the dialogue. On page after page, he deleted long conversations and picked up the action. As a fan of those books, I don’t think I would have enjoyed them as much without Lewis’ input.
Each of us needs a C.S. Lewis in our lives. We need someone to encourage us on toward God’s best. Are you open to one in your life? Are you a Lewis in someone else’s life? We will never be the mature Christians God desires us to be or the church that glorifies Him until we learn to “speak the truth in love.”
Can
we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web
page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more
about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus
changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org
to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.
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