I Tell You The Truth

Never before in our nation have we had more disagreements about what the truth is.   It used to be that division was between different world religions and their versions of the truth, but now Christians can't even agree on truth.

I refuse to post political opinions online simply because I love you -- even if you don't agree with me.  But the very foundations of Christian faith are now being debated among us and its troubling.

So as we look at Philippians 4:8 trying to figure out what we should think about in order to curb anxiety, it's easy to get stuck on the statement, "Whatever is true."   Right there we start asking what is true?  Can we trust anyone to tell us the truth?  And how can people experience the same thing and arrive at separate truths?

It's time to go back to what we know is true.   There were 78 times where Jesus said, "I tell you the truth" or in the King James Version, "Verily I say unto thee."  Maybe it's time for us to go back and search Scripture for those words.

Grant it, we may interpret them differently based on our doctrinal views, but hopefully we will find some examples of things we can all agree on.

Verses like this:  And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, I tell you the truth, he will never lose his reward.”

Or "He told them, "It was because of your little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; nothing will be impossible for you.”

And "Again, I tell you the truth, if two of you on earth agree about whatever you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you.”

When Jesus talked about truth he did not talk about doctrine.  He did not talk about politics.  He talked about things like the rewards of faith and doing things for others.

Let's focus on these kinds of truths.  For after all, when Pilate was questioning Jesus, Jesus responded, “ You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 

Obviously this blog entry is written to people who share my faith… and we need to listen to Jesus if truth is what we are after -- and then think about  those things we know are true.