One of my new favorite shirts is from the Jedidiah Hope Series. I picked it up a couple of months ago. I am a huge Jedidiah fan. I still remember my first Jedidiah Risk shirt almost 6 years ago. My new shirt features a phrase about truth that sealed the deal that this shirt would be coming home with me that day. It reads...
Truth Fears Nothing
The phrase has stuck with me. Does truth really fear nothing? Do people believe that? Do we live that? What about the church and truth? Sadly, it's just the opposite, people fear truth?
Why is truth feared? truth hurts... truth is messy... truth is hard to do in love.
Even still I am afraid that we fear the truth all too much. What's worse this fear seems to be prevalent especially in the church. We talk a good game; we are all about truth, but in the words of Jack... "you can't handle the truth". We'd rather fake a good game then have to deal with the harsh reality that we don't have it together. No wonder that authentic relationships are hard to find and so desired. Young leaders crave someone that is authentic and willing to, in truth, fear nothing.
There are a couple areas that this "truth-avoidance" sticks out the most.
• Church leadership... when the truth gets too personal it's rejected.
• Sacred cows... when the truth affects my ministry then I don't want it.
• Perceived truths... perception is everything. In many churches perception and appearance seem to be more important than heart condition.
Craig posted about the power of truth. It got me thinking about truth... how warmly do we welcome truth in our lives and in our ministries? It's been my experience that it's not too warm, maybe more like a cold shoulder. I value people that can speak the truth in love and receive it in love also. Just one of the many reasons I love the authenticity of the place we are in right now!
I like the truth. The bible actually says that it will set you free. Do we really believe it?
1 comment:
You nailed it!
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