Blast From the Past - The Spirit of Truth

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I have always desired the transparency of Jesus. Or,
at least I thought I did. It sounded so spiritual. So...well, it sounded like
something I should want. But transparency demands truth, so, I have endeavoured
to live in truth. However, I have failed more than I have succeeded in this
area. That is because, sometimes, I am afraid of the truth. It was all right
for Jesus to be so honest; after all, he was the Son of God. He had everything
going for him. But me, I’m too scared to live in the complete truth.
What does it mean to live in truth? I had to find out.
3 John 4 says, “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking
in the truth.” Walking implies a day-by-day, moment-by-moment, step-by-step
choice to live in truth. But is it so important to be truthful about everything
in life? Or is it just the big things that I have to worry about? Do I have to
be truthful to everyone, or just to God? Ephesians 4:15 (Amplified) gave me the
answer I was looking for. “...let our lives lovingly express truth in all things
- speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly.” Well, that just about summed it
up.

Several years ago our family went to Hawaii. We were
shopping at the International Market and they were selling these
lovely jade rings. They were gold dipped, guaranteed to last a lifetime, and so
I bought two for five dollars. They were so pretty and when I wore them,
someone always commented on how beautiful they were. People actually thought
they were real. And you know what? They did last for a very long time because I
took very good care of them. But one day the gold started to chip off. I had
actually forgot I was wearing one of them and was scrubbing out the sink, when
I realized what I’d done. But it was too late. The gold had worn off and the
bare metal inside was showing.
Some Christians are like this too. We want to be
transparent. We want to be truthful. But when troubles come our way and we get
a little “roughed up” so to speak, we show, whether we want to or not, what is
really on the inside. Arthur Katz, in his book The Spirit of Truth says,
“...our actual condition, the true state of our inner man, is revealed not by
how biblically correct we are, but by the sound we make when we hit the
ground.”
We all hit the ground eventually. One day King David
hit the ground. You know the story, how he arranged Uriah’s death so that he
could take his wife Bathsheba for himself? Well, the prophet Nathan came to him
to tell him about an outrageous thing that happened. He tells him the story of
a wealthy man who needs a lamb because he has company. So he goes out and takes
one from a poor neighbour. Of course, David “burned with anger” the Bible says,
and demanded to know who would do such a thing for he would make him pay four
times over for his lack of pity and greed. Nathan, of course, says, “You are
the man.” This was the moment of truth for David. He had become transparent.

The choice between the truth and a lie is a daily one.
And it is only when we each, as individuals, choose to live and walk in the
truth, that the Church will be that vital force in the world. If every officer
and soldier made the commitment to walk daily in the truth, the Salvation Army
would completely awaken and realize its full potential. Many have prayed for
change in our organization. And change is coming. But it will only happen when
we change - because “we” are the Army.
Hypocrisy or truth - that is our choice. Whether we
don’t speak the truth because of our fear of rejection, of recrimination
through the appointment system, or because we are afraid of what people will
think of us - it doesn’t matter. When we let fear reign in our lives, hypocrisy
reigns with it. We must choose between integrity and convenience.
I wrote this because I was challenged by something I
read in a writer’s magazine. It was an article on creativity. The author tells
why people who want to write but don’t, are afraid. They are afraid basically
of what people will think of their writing, their opinion, but most of all,
they are afraid of what people will think of them. That is because good writing reveals the inner turmoil
of the writer - the tension that makes writing exciting. Are you not drawn more
to writing that challenges you, that contradicts what you think and feel to be
true, that is somewhat controversial in nature? I am. But, to do it myself – I don’t
know.

grace…Kathie
April-May 2001
April-May 2001
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