Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 26-29
- Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from their evil ways.
- If you do not listen to me and follow my law...
- ...if you do not listen to the words of my servants...
- Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
Lord God, You are a listener. From everlasting to everlasting it seems that You take the time to listen to us. You hear and You act, the true definition of listening. In these passages above, an all to common life theme is revealed: we are invited to listen, we do not listen, but You continue to hear us.
How tiring it must get to be the Lord. Most people, given time and focus of honest reflection, hear what they are doing wrong. They can recognize the ways in which their life doesn't match up to what You call us to. I know, right at this moment, what the places of familiar struggle that are still out of line with Your truth are: my eating habits, my lack of service to the needy, my lust, and my oft-times selfish attitude of doing what is easiest for me. But am I truly listening to Your promise of peace if these situations are properly dealt with?
Well, either I am not listening or I do not believe You. Lack of trust is such a basic issue to mankind. The immediacy of our own ideas and the belief in our own hands to work things out causes such a block in our true faith. There are several areas of my life that I have never truly been able to struggle through with You to a conclusion, and the root of those areas is distrust.
Why do I distrust?
I want to listen for the answer to this question today from You. I want to be more open to Your "community of truth" words to me. Lord, this morning I desire the beginning of a change. Do not leave me listening to dead space all day. Speak, Lord, speak in truth. Speak to me, to change me this day. And continue to develop in me a listening ear.
Showing posts with label truth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label truth. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Speak to Me, Speak Through Me
Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 23-25
- "Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!" declares the LORD.
- The prophets follow an evil course and use their power unjustly.
- "Both prophet and priest are godless; even in my temple I find their wickedness," declares the LORD.
- But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word?
As I read today, Father, I find that the theme that jumps out at me is the failure of Israel's leaders to lead without selfishness, to lead in humility, especially when it concerns listening to You. Certainly, as a prophet, priest, pastor, poet, king, whatever...it makes a leader feel good when they have something new to offer to their people, some spectacular teaching, knowledge, insight or vision. In fact, many leadership organizations would say that if a leader doesn't have a continuing vision for whatever they lead, then whatever they lead will die. But how often does this pressure to have a fresh vision and a new direction lead us as leaders to ignore You? How often are we impatient and searching for the miraculous and hence we fail to listen and honestly search Your word.
I know that for myself there have been times when I have a certain message that I want to get across to a certain audience, so instead of approaching the text of Scripture to see what message it brings, I go to Scripture seeking to prove my message. That's ridiculous and I'm going to have to watch that in future. It's a very tempting thing to do, to use the Word to prove my own views right. But this is quite possibly what Jeremiah is talking about way back in chapter 8, when he says, " 'How can you say, "We are wise, for we have the law of the LORD," when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?
I don't want to wield the lying pen, making Scripture say what I want it to say. Fitting my experience and the experiences of others together to prove my points. In a community of truth, I, as a leader, want to be true to Your words.
I used to have a phrase that I used a lot in my devotional time with You, Lord. It was simple, but it is something that I always remember. But it is something I haven't said in a long time, and saying it helps me pursue it. The phrase is:
Speak to me, speak through me.
It's simple, but my idea is that as a leader, I don't want to speak or influence my community. I want You to speak and influence the community. I don't want to preach fancy sermons - I want You to preach fancy sermons. I want to be a conduit through which Your ideas, Your ways, Your commands flow to the community. And I guess I believe that to accomplish this, I will need to continue to develop two key qualities that are rare to many a leader (for example, the leaders of Judah and Israel lacked these!)
1. Listening - allow me the courage and patience to daily be still and listen for You
2. Humility - allow me the courage to not craft my own ideas, but to speak only what You have revealed to me through the truth of Scripture, the truth brought by others and my times of listening
Lord, my God, deepen these qualities of listening and humility within me. Let me be a leader who does not destroy and scatter, but instead let me stand in Your council and be a conduit of truth. Thank You for the continuing challenge of Your word. Amen.
- "Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!" declares the LORD.
- The prophets follow an evil course and use their power unjustly.
- "Both prophet and priest are godless; even in my temple I find their wickedness," declares the LORD.
- But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word?
As I read today, Father, I find that the theme that jumps out at me is the failure of Israel's leaders to lead without selfishness, to lead in humility, especially when it concerns listening to You. Certainly, as a prophet, priest, pastor, poet, king, whatever...it makes a leader feel good when they have something new to offer to their people, some spectacular teaching, knowledge, insight or vision. In fact, many leadership organizations would say that if a leader doesn't have a continuing vision for whatever they lead, then whatever they lead will die. But how often does this pressure to have a fresh vision and a new direction lead us as leaders to ignore You? How often are we impatient and searching for the miraculous and hence we fail to listen and honestly search Your word.
I know that for myself there have been times when I have a certain message that I want to get across to a certain audience, so instead of approaching the text of Scripture to see what message it brings, I go to Scripture seeking to prove my message. That's ridiculous and I'm going to have to watch that in future. It's a very tempting thing to do, to use the Word to prove my own views right. But this is quite possibly what Jeremiah is talking about way back in chapter 8, when he says, " 'How can you say, "We are wise, for we have the law of the LORD," when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?
I don't want to wield the lying pen, making Scripture say what I want it to say. Fitting my experience and the experiences of others together to prove my points. In a community of truth, I, as a leader, want to be true to Your words.
I used to have a phrase that I used a lot in my devotional time with You, Lord. It was simple, but it is something that I always remember. But it is something I haven't said in a long time, and saying it helps me pursue it. The phrase is:
Speak to me, speak through me.
It's simple, but my idea is that as a leader, I don't want to speak or influence my community. I want You to speak and influence the community. I don't want to preach fancy sermons - I want You to preach fancy sermons. I want to be a conduit through which Your ideas, Your ways, Your commands flow to the community. And I guess I believe that to accomplish this, I will need to continue to develop two key qualities that are rare to many a leader (for example, the leaders of Judah and Israel lacked these!)
1. Listening - allow me the courage and patience to daily be still and listen for You
2. Humility - allow me the courage to not craft my own ideas, but to speak only what You have revealed to me through the truth of Scripture, the truth brought by others and my times of listening
Lord, my God, deepen these qualities of listening and humility within me. Let me be a leader who does not destroy and scatter, but instead let me stand in Your council and be a conduit of truth. Thank You for the continuing challenge of Your word. Amen.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Actions and Truth
WEDNESDAY 3.5.08 - 1 JOHN 3:16-18
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for one another. If any one of you has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in you? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
READ. "Not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." Apparently, according to the way I read this sentence, the truth is much less a concept to be debated and figured out, spoken and taught than it is a way of life to be lived out.
Man, it's as if this is hearkening back to Jesus' words: "I am the way, the truth, and the life." It makes me think that maybe Jesus was saying something like this: "The way that I do things here on earth is the way you should go about doing things as well, for this way of action is the truth, and the truth is that is all about how you live, what you do...that is life!"
Whatever it is, actions and truth seem to be tied together. I've said for years that if you want to know what you really believe, look at how you live. If you really believe something you'll be doing it. If you are not doing it, you don't really believe it. That thought that I just spout off because it makes sense to me, maybe it actually has grounding here in the Scripture, Lord.
THINK. So the question then becomes what do I believe? Who am I laying my life down for? Where am I giving up something because I see people in need?
Well, I know that I give of myself to my tennis team. I just made out our spring schedule and it involves me going out of my way to make them better tennis players, while I spend most of my days in school preparing the tennis devotionals for next year. I'm giving a big part of myself to them right now, perhaps because I believe that my hard work will be rewarded.
I do give some of my time to Exodus Community. I mean, I can say that without a doubt, if there was a need in Sparky, I would immediately fill that need if I could. And I think that has played out in my actions, so it is the truth. Outside the Sparky group I certainly have to fight with myself and my selfishness a bit more, but I could probably meet a spoken need. Unspoken needs that I might see but haven't been verbalized, these are the ones that I tend to push to the side. I have an excuse not to meet them, because whoever is found needing isn't expressing the need so maybe they don't really want me to interfere, maybe they don't really need help, maybe I'm seeing things wrong, etc.
Interesting to go back to the verse and read where it says: "If any one of you... sees a brother or sister in need..." Sees. Not hears from them that they need something, but if we perceive the need, then we should have pity. Pity? This is all about action, then what is an emotion doing thrown in here? So, I went to look this up in Greek, wouldn't you know that it is splagchnon? Joel taught about this just a little while ago, it is from the root word for bowels. This is deep in your gut pain for your brother or sister. A pain that would have to be answered by doing something.
How many people am I feeling it in the gut for and changing what I do? Not enough. And I don't mean to beat on myself. I need that to change Lord. I have to be willing to be broken, uncomfortable, then poured out. The joy that I have been receiving through this fast will fill me up again. That is to say, You will fill me up again.
There's always more questions. What about time with my family? What do I actually do? And you think about why I prayed for wisdom yesterday! You give wisdom generously, so I pray for that discernment, that creativity to see needs and then know how to best proceed. I want to do things Your way, but I want to act.
PRAY. Lord, help me (and the rest of our community) to committ to being servants. We do such a good job of serivng one another, of caring for one another, let us extend our reach. Not for the sake of growth at the church, I don't want to make it sound like that is the point. Not at all. Because we're supposed to be a people who reaches out and serves. A people who do not make judgments but instead come underneath others to support them, a people who feel it in their guts for the widow and the orphan, a people moving and active according to the leading of Your Holy Spirit. That's who we want to be. Lead us there. Lead me there.
We thank You for the blessing that You are to us. This verse says "if one of you has material possessions" and I have all I need. You are a blessing. I want to act in blessing because of that. I love You Lord, Lord who is making life clearer and also more confusing by the day. I need Your wisdom to do Your will.
LIVE. Okay, so a theme was started yesterday that I think can continue over to today as far as how I live. I said yesterday that I want to practice what we preach, be the type of person who does what we say we want to do. Okay then, I'm going back to the beginning of Exodus somehow throughout the day here and looking at what we've said we want to be. I don't know how long this will take, but doing a general look back might really help me find a way forward.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for one another. If any one of you has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in you? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
READ. "Not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." Apparently, according to the way I read this sentence, the truth is much less a concept to be debated and figured out, spoken and taught than it is a way of life to be lived out.
Man, it's as if this is hearkening back to Jesus' words: "I am the way, the truth, and the life." It makes me think that maybe Jesus was saying something like this: "The way that I do things here on earth is the way you should go about doing things as well, for this way of action is the truth, and the truth is that is all about how you live, what you do...that is life!"
Whatever it is, actions and truth seem to be tied together. I've said for years that if you want to know what you really believe, look at how you live. If you really believe something you'll be doing it. If you are not doing it, you don't really believe it. That thought that I just spout off because it makes sense to me, maybe it actually has grounding here in the Scripture, Lord.
THINK. So the question then becomes what do I believe? Who am I laying my life down for? Where am I giving up something because I see people in need?
Well, I know that I give of myself to my tennis team. I just made out our spring schedule and it involves me going out of my way to make them better tennis players, while I spend most of my days in school preparing the tennis devotionals for next year. I'm giving a big part of myself to them right now, perhaps because I believe that my hard work will be rewarded.
I do give some of my time to Exodus Community. I mean, I can say that without a doubt, if there was a need in Sparky, I would immediately fill that need if I could. And I think that has played out in my actions, so it is the truth. Outside the Sparky group I certainly have to fight with myself and my selfishness a bit more, but I could probably meet a spoken need. Unspoken needs that I might see but haven't been verbalized, these are the ones that I tend to push to the side. I have an excuse not to meet them, because whoever is found needing isn't expressing the need so maybe they don't really want me to interfere, maybe they don't really need help, maybe I'm seeing things wrong, etc.
Interesting to go back to the verse and read where it says: "If any one of you... sees a brother or sister in need..." Sees. Not hears from them that they need something, but if we perceive the need, then we should have pity. Pity? This is all about action, then what is an emotion doing thrown in here? So, I went to look this up in Greek, wouldn't you know that it is splagchnon? Joel taught about this just a little while ago, it is from the root word for bowels. This is deep in your gut pain for your brother or sister. A pain that would have to be answered by doing something.
How many people am I feeling it in the gut for and changing what I do? Not enough. And I don't mean to beat on myself. I need that to change Lord. I have to be willing to be broken, uncomfortable, then poured out. The joy that I have been receiving through this fast will fill me up again. That is to say, You will fill me up again.
There's always more questions. What about time with my family? What do I actually do? And you think about why I prayed for wisdom yesterday! You give wisdom generously, so I pray for that discernment, that creativity to see needs and then know how to best proceed. I want to do things Your way, but I want to act.
PRAY. Lord, help me (and the rest of our community) to committ to being servants. We do such a good job of serivng one another, of caring for one another, let us extend our reach. Not for the sake of growth at the church, I don't want to make it sound like that is the point. Not at all. Because we're supposed to be a people who reaches out and serves. A people who do not make judgments but instead come underneath others to support them, a people who feel it in their guts for the widow and the orphan, a people moving and active according to the leading of Your Holy Spirit. That's who we want to be. Lead us there. Lead me there.
We thank You for the blessing that You are to us. This verse says "if one of you has material possessions" and I have all I need. You are a blessing. I want to act in blessing because of that. I love You Lord, Lord who is making life clearer and also more confusing by the day. I need Your wisdom to do Your will.
LIVE. Okay, so a theme was started yesterday that I think can continue over to today as far as how I live. I said yesterday that I want to practice what we preach, be the type of person who does what we say we want to do. Okay then, I'm going back to the beginning of Exodus somehow throughout the day here and looking at what we've said we want to be. I don't know how long this will take, but doing a general look back might really help me find a way forward.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Where To?
Drifting, it's a good way to describe my discipline right now. As You know, I've been really convicted about getting back into a very disciplined routine lately. So this week I've made it a priority. But I'm starting to get stuck. Yea, I know, already. I'm stuck within a week!
The problem isn't motivation or time. It's destination. What am I working through and where is it taking me...
No, actually as I type this out I realize that it's not even that. It's this evil fight that I frickin' fight all the time. It's the fight of production. Every time I sit down with You I feel like I MUST walk away with something to share with others or even just for my own benefit. And so I chase things that give me good feelings. And when the feelings begin to fade...
I need to keep being honest with this stupid, but all to real, instinct. My mind and all I want to believe about true Christ-likeness says that transformation and relationship are the ROAD, not the destination.
Wait, I remember blogging about the way, the truth, and the life awhile ago. What did I say about that? Okay, I don't think that I had the same thought that I have now. The Bible is about repetition, saying the same thing in different ways. What if when You said You were the way, the truth, and the life You were saying all those things (way, truth, and life) are the same thing?!
That's brilliant! The way (like the road, the path, the journey) is the truth. The way is life. Not the ending point. Not the destination. Not what we produce. The way of discipline then, not necessarily what I take from it, that is truth. The disciplined way of living, committing to early morning relationship, that is life.
This makes me feel really free! Free from having to produce some brilliant thought of my own. Free to simply rest with You.
LORD, that is what it is all about. Build my discipline, build our relationship, as we walk this path together.
The problem isn't motivation or time. It's destination. What am I working through and where is it taking me...
No, actually as I type this out I realize that it's not even that. It's this evil fight that I frickin' fight all the time. It's the fight of production. Every time I sit down with You I feel like I MUST walk away with something to share with others or even just for my own benefit. And so I chase things that give me good feelings. And when the feelings begin to fade...
I need to keep being honest with this stupid, but all to real, instinct. My mind and all I want to believe about true Christ-likeness says that transformation and relationship are the ROAD, not the destination.
Wait, I remember blogging about the way, the truth, and the life awhile ago. What did I say about that? Okay, I don't think that I had the same thought that I have now. The Bible is about repetition, saying the same thing in different ways. What if when You said You were the way, the truth, and the life You were saying all those things (way, truth, and life) are the same thing?!
That's brilliant! The way (like the road, the path, the journey) is the truth. The way is life. Not the ending point. Not the destination. Not what we produce. The way of discipline then, not necessarily what I take from it, that is truth. The disciplined way of living, committing to early morning relationship, that is life.
This makes me feel really free! Free from having to produce some brilliant thought of my own. Free to simply rest with You.
LORD, that is what it is all about. Build my discipline, build our relationship, as we walk this path together.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Therefore...
Lord, as I prepare this week to speak to the others in Exodus Community in a sermon for the first time, I want to make sure (well, I guess every time after this I want to make sure to but, well, you know) that what I'm saying is simply what You are saying. Nothing that is meant to just be shocking, nothing that is just meant to rattle people's cages...unless that's what the truth is. I guess I'm saying, help me speak Your truth and nothing else.
I don't mean to be humble. I don't mean this in the way that I pray a prayer for Courtney or I to get a job or better from sickness just because I feel like if I don't pray then You won't let us get a job or feel better. No I pray this because I know only You can take my words and make something greater of them. Without Your Spirit, the words will fall where they will and continuing being just words. But through You, through Christ, the Word lives.
All that to say, I'm studying one word in particular and I want to make sure that I get this word right. It's kind of the title of my sermon, and maybe I was a little premature in naming it, because I'm finding it really means something totally different than I originally thought. It's the word "go" and it's in the context of Matthew 28:19...
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,"
I thought it meant go, like leave where you are and go somewhere else. Not in the sense of, for example, moving from my home to some place else. No, instead, more in the sense of leave what you are doing right now, the lifestyle you are living right now, the people you are always worried about, the self you are always worried about and "go" to many different types of people.
But I looked the verb up in a Greek dictionary. It's the word "poreuqente" in Greek, a form of poreuomai. Poreuomai has this definition, offered up by www.greekbible.com: to pursue the journey on which one has entered, to continue on one's journey.
To continue...to keep doing what you are doing...that seems totally different to me. It seems like a big miss of translation too. I mean, it makes total sense. Instead of going all over the place and making new relationships all over with the goal of making disciples, work within the relationships you already have established, the places you already know, and make disciples there. Teach and show Christ there. Be Christ where you are at, wherever that is on your journey.
It's very thought-provoking stuff to me. I pray that You reveal to me the truth of this translation and its implications as I continue to study. Then let it be as impactful on others as it is becoming for me.
I don't mean to be humble. I don't mean this in the way that I pray a prayer for Courtney or I to get a job or better from sickness just because I feel like if I don't pray then You won't let us get a job or feel better. No I pray this because I know only You can take my words and make something greater of them. Without Your Spirit, the words will fall where they will and continuing being just words. But through You, through Christ, the Word lives.
All that to say, I'm studying one word in particular and I want to make sure that I get this word right. It's kind of the title of my sermon, and maybe I was a little premature in naming it, because I'm finding it really means something totally different than I originally thought. It's the word "go" and it's in the context of Matthew 28:19...
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,"
I thought it meant go, like leave where you are and go somewhere else. Not in the sense of, for example, moving from my home to some place else. No, instead, more in the sense of leave what you are doing right now, the lifestyle you are living right now, the people you are always worried about, the self you are always worried about and "go" to many different types of people.
But I looked the verb up in a Greek dictionary. It's the word "poreuqente" in Greek, a form of poreuomai. Poreuomai has this definition, offered up by www.greekbible.com: to pursue the journey on which one has entered, to continue on one's journey.
To continue...to keep doing what you are doing...that seems totally different to me. It seems like a big miss of translation too. I mean, it makes total sense. Instead of going all over the place and making new relationships all over with the goal of making disciples, work within the relationships you already have established, the places you already know, and make disciples there. Teach and show Christ there. Be Christ where you are at, wherever that is on your journey.
It's very thought-provoking stuff to me. I pray that You reveal to me the truth of this translation and its implications as I continue to study. Then let it be as impactful on others as it is becoming for me.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Living Truth
Texts:
- Psalms 129-132
- Luke 11
- Matthew 12:22-50
"I AM the way, THE TRUTH, and the life."
"But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken."
First of all Lord, whoa! It's more than scary that I'm going to have to explain myself for all the simply careless things that I've said, let alone the purposely hurtful and the bitingly sarcastic speech that was blatantly sinful. I think again that this shows us how much You care about the details of life, the way we live life, as much as the whole. It's another paradox, one of the many that keep shoveling the mystery of You into my daily life, that You care about details but and the same time are as deeply concerned about the big picture.
I mean, we see this all over the Old Testament (meticulous rules and regulations for sacrifice and approaching God, then at the same time having the prophets say that You desire mercy, not sacrifice.) It's just interesting to see the same type of thought translated to the New Testament (that the two commandments to live are to love God and love others, but at the same time You are concerned with every word that leaves our lips, or fingertips.)
That's amazing in itself, but that's not the whole of what jumped out to me. A couple days ago I wrote about the way that we live. Part of the way that we live is the way that we speak, and how our life matches up with that speech. Well, I'm not always the best at this, but I'd say that Jesus recommends the way we speak and live is in truth.
There's not any shock in this Lord, the shock sets in when I realize how much I don't speak and live in the truth. I often speak and live in the half-truth. The statements that will affect other people the way I want them to be instead of the entire truth. For example, I had an interview today with a college professor for entrance into his college's Masters of Theological Studies program. He was very excited today about a class he'll be teaching next year, to all the non-biblical studies majors. He kept on talking about it as an evangelism opportunity.
I thought he was crazy. He's on an evangelical campus. 75% of the students are evangelical, and I'd guess darn near 98.6% have heard about You. But when he asked me if that was exciting, I said, "Yea, that sounds really great." Of course I didn't think that, but I said that because I wanted him to like me. Not a sin in and of itself. But, the real reason why I wanted him to like me was so he'd stamp approved on my application.
This is such a small example, it almost seems stupid. But as I sit back and think about not really feeling bad about it, well, that's scary. We've gotten to a point in society where slight untruth doesn't make us uncomfortable. Where slight lies are acceptable! Especially when we know that no one will be hurt and no one will even find out. It disgusts me to look over my life and see how often my words are dishonest. Or to put it in Your words, much of my speak is simply careless.
I guess part of finding my way is to start probing the edges of what You mean by truth. And what will it mean to live in truth? And what do You mean when You say You are the truth? That Your way is the truth which leads to the life? More than that...less? Remove untruth from my willful mind, empty my way of lies, and replace it with life.
- Psalms 129-132
- Luke 11
- Matthew 12:22-50
"I AM the way, THE TRUTH, and the life."
"But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken."
First of all Lord, whoa! It's more than scary that I'm going to have to explain myself for all the simply careless things that I've said, let alone the purposely hurtful and the bitingly sarcastic speech that was blatantly sinful. I think again that this shows us how much You care about the details of life, the way we live life, as much as the whole. It's another paradox, one of the many that keep shoveling the mystery of You into my daily life, that You care about details but and the same time are as deeply concerned about the big picture.
I mean, we see this all over the Old Testament (meticulous rules and regulations for sacrifice and approaching God, then at the same time having the prophets say that You desire mercy, not sacrifice.) It's just interesting to see the same type of thought translated to the New Testament (that the two commandments to live are to love God and love others, but at the same time You are concerned with every word that leaves our lips, or fingertips.)
That's amazing in itself, but that's not the whole of what jumped out to me. A couple days ago I wrote about the way that we live. Part of the way that we live is the way that we speak, and how our life matches up with that speech. Well, I'm not always the best at this, but I'd say that Jesus recommends the way we speak and live is in truth.
There's not any shock in this Lord, the shock sets in when I realize how much I don't speak and live in the truth. I often speak and live in the half-truth. The statements that will affect other people the way I want them to be instead of the entire truth. For example, I had an interview today with a college professor for entrance into his college's Masters of Theological Studies program. He was very excited today about a class he'll be teaching next year, to all the non-biblical studies majors. He kept on talking about it as an evangelism opportunity.
I thought he was crazy. He's on an evangelical campus. 75% of the students are evangelical, and I'd guess darn near 98.6% have heard about You. But when he asked me if that was exciting, I said, "Yea, that sounds really great." Of course I didn't think that, but I said that because I wanted him to like me. Not a sin in and of itself. But, the real reason why I wanted him to like me was so he'd stamp approved on my application.
This is such a small example, it almost seems stupid. But as I sit back and think about not really feeling bad about it, well, that's scary. We've gotten to a point in society where slight untruth doesn't make us uncomfortable. Where slight lies are acceptable! Especially when we know that no one will be hurt and no one will even find out. It disgusts me to look over my life and see how often my words are dishonest. Or to put it in Your words, much of my speak is simply careless.
I guess part of finding my way is to start probing the edges of what You mean by truth. And what will it mean to live in truth? And what do You mean when You say You are the truth? That Your way is the truth which leads to the life? More than that...less? Remove untruth from my willful mind, empty my way of lies, and replace it with life.
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