I have felt a deep conviction lately to not only speak truth, but also seek out what truth is. Sometimes we do not speak it because it is scary to think how it will be received, but other times we never even feel compelled to do so because we simply do not know what we believe on the matter. Ignorance is bliss, right? I can find myself in both categories.
Additionally, we live in a time where having a strong stance is too polarizing to be worth it. Every word spoken is made political, yet every lack of word is a silent agreement. I wish to be neither. The world has done such a good job of marketing through both humor and otherwise that many of my beliefs are foolish, simple-minded, and flat-out wrong. I almost believed them, but I feel the scales falling from my eyes, and I want to keep going in faith.
Have you felt this way? We live in a time where every bit of information we get through the media is not only subject to be entirely false in some instances, but even when it’s not we can never know for sure. I don’t know if it was purposeful or not, but I do know that the effect in my own life has been a sort of middle ground apathy. A calm reasonableness when there are two polar opposites. We need to realize apathy is often the enemy's best work. Sometimes the worst place we can be spiritually is not caring strongly or deeply about anything at all. It’s affected me so that in my own life when I personally hear someone’s words to me, I walk away discounting both the good and bad. I’ve found myself in situations that because they seemed unbelievable, I’ve left feeling as if surely it hadn’t happened.
Sometimes it looks like someone telling me something promising or encouraging and I walk away reasoning they hadn’t really said it like I remembered or meant it the way I took it. And vice versa, when someone says or does something shocking, instead of speaking out or even asking questions, I reason that’s not really what they meant. Or perhaps they were joking, and I simply did not get a good beat on it. Have you noticed this in your life? There have been multiple occasions I have caught myself only because someone next to me confirmed my original perception of the matter. This pattern has become a little scary to me.
I can’t help but feel like it’s the effect of being inundated with so much false news and a deeper sense of understanding that we can never truly know, that I can have the facts right in front of me and want to take even those with a grain of salt. I’ve always taken the whole grain of salt notion to be one of wisdom, and so most of the time it is. But there’s also a danger to this when it keeps us forever in the middle, because the truth is often polarizing. This phenomenon paired with caring too much too often about what others think, and it can become a dangerous situation indeed.
And so I’ve noticed it influencing the way I live—what I say, what I write, the way I read scripture. It isn’t that I’ve bought any other truth than the bible, but that I’ve questioned the truth in it one more than on one account. Or been slower to accept what is right. Or felt confusion about what is right. Or worse, silent. Because in the times I have been so bold as to speak what I believe, the silence that meets it leaves me to question if it were the correct decision or correct beliefs and so I lay down at night with crippling self-doubt that perhaps I should not have spoken at all. But our obedience must be about acting in faith on the things God gives us and not the response we receive for it.
Part of this phenomenon is the world. The world does not want us to recognize an absolute truth, because if there is no absolute truth then that would mean absolute freedom, right? That everyone could live the way they want, believe what they believe, but none of it would impinge on anyone else, because we would just be creating our own personal version of “truth,” (with polite regard for someone else’s of course). In this scenario, however, the only one to truly please is us, and so basically we would be abiding in a world of a bunch of tiny gods as we idolized our own happiness.
The other part of this phenomenon for me has been conservatism and the church. Many have spoken out in truth all along, but at the expense of grace and love. There are multiple conservative accounts I chose not to follow, because there is such a lack of grace and joy that it cannot be holy. I know God in his righteousness to be both. Truth and love. These accounts have been made on the constant speaking out of what is correct, what is right, and what is most certainly wrong. Well, I do think we should be more candid about such things, but never in so aggressive a manner that we become Pharisees. The problem with the Pharisees is they forgot the reason for living right. The reason for living right is to honor God and be a witness to those around us—many, like the Pharisees, live right and speak of such simply because they like the feeling of being right. This is still for self-glorification which cannot honor God in the same moment.
“For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good, and right, and true.”
Ephesians 5:8-9 (NLT)
The truth is that when we put on the likeness of God, we will need to serve many functions as people of light. But what is the function of light? Sometimes, it is comfort when it comes in the form of a night light in my kids’ bedrooms. Sometimes it is cozy when it comes in the from of twinkle lights on a winter night. Sometimes it is mesmerizing when it comes in the from of explosions of all sizes and colors over our celebrations of independence or the start of a new year. Sometimes it’s to help us see what’s right in front of us we have a small lamp just to illuminate the text we are holding and reading. Sometimes it entices us when it flickers in the form of a fire promising warmth and light if we draw near. Sometimes it comes in the form of protection as a beacon shining for ships to see and avoid peril in the night. Sometimes, it’s to reveal what’s hidden in the dark as we shine flashlights to find what unwanted creature is moving around in the attic. Sometimes it feels harsh when we see a picture of the light hitting angles of us we didn’t know we had and rather wished we didn’t. Sometimes the purpose is to shine through something to see if the makeup of the object is counterfeit or real. Sometimes it’s blinding and initially unwelcome by the shock.
Light can be everything from a beacon of hope to an interrogation tactic. And the truth is, as people of light and imitators of God, we should be ready to fulfill all of the above. But I find that most of the time we aren’t. What we are most inclined to do is fulfill whichever of them feels the most comfortable with our personality. If it is grace, we go headlong into this and steer clear of truth, because we don’t want to be misrepresented or we don’t want to put our name next to strong truth for fear of what it would say about us. If it is truth we feel more inclined to, we do so with such boldness and confidence, we often leave the component of grace out. Perhaps we feel there is enough of that going around or perhaps we personally feel there is none to offer on such accounts.
We have to do both. Truth should always come with love and love should always come with truth. One without the other is useless. Truth without love simply relishes in correctness and love without truth is no love at all. This kind of love cares little for the outcome of its recipients. In it all, we need to cling to joy. We do have joy, no matter what. If it is not ultimately joy and hope we want to lead people to, where are we trying to lead them? If you have struggled to speak out in truth, just know that it is not only needed, your voice is necessary! I am never so encouraged or emboldened to speak up then when someone I admire does so before me.
Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.
Ephesians 5:14-15 (NLT)
If you have struggled to speak truth in love, remember the cause. Remember the reason. We share truth so that others may find love and freedom, not shaming that they haven’t already done so. It is true more than ever that truth will chafe, but we have to be careful that this never becomes our purpose to share it. I love the idea of being unapologetic for the things we believe, but sometimes the tone of this doesn't translate well. Instead of translating as a boldness of not caring what the world thinks of us, it comes across as if we do not care about those in the world. Jesus never expressed truth with this tone. He spoke it absolutely, and he did not apologize for this, therefore he rocked the world. Divisiveness was often the effect, but it was never his goal. His goal was always to draw people to himself and ultimately to the Father. And the Father, while requiring righteousness due to his holy nature, has always ultimately been for people. Thus the need for Jesus to redeem us-- yes so we could be counted as righteous, but moreover that we could be near God once more. The righteousness of Christ is simply the requirement and mode to get us there.
More than ever, we need people of light to do what they were meant to do—to shine the places and functions they were designated to shine. And the functions of light are all needed. As the body of Christ, yes the way we do this will be different, but the reasons and the presence of truth and love should not change. It starts with digging into the Word, having conversations, and knowing absolutely what we believe and then staking a claim that we will not be swayed.
In James, he talks about refusing to the let the world corrupt us. That word refusing is going to be an active fight against lies and a determined return to what is right. Because in a world where every piece of news has been edited and portrayed or even flat out misconstrued to fit an agenda, we cannot help but begin to take everything we receive and filter through it. But in this refusal to be corrupted or transformed by the world, we must continually turn back to absolute truth and be transformed wholeheartedly by the Word. Because sometimes things are that unbelievable—good and bad—and yet they are complete truth.
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”
Philippians 4:8-9 (NLT)
Our ability to speak what is true, honorable, and right is going to be dependent on whether our eyes are fixed on such. And I’ve been so convicted about my time and my priorities lately with this verse. Because in our mindless scrolling and our binge-watching we are literally fixing our gaze and dwelling on things that most likely are not. The answer isn’t just the absence of such, but the presence of goodness. The only way to be the people of light is to turn to source of light and allow Him to lead us. We have to be in the scripture and dwell on the things of the Lord for them to become so deeply integrated in our lives we cannot help but share them. In order to be people of light in the world, we need to be people of light in our homes.
I would love to hear from you. How do you feel God has been calling you to be a person of light in the world? How do you feel God has called you to be a person of light in your home? And ultimately, what is holding you back or delaying from doing either?
So be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.
Ephesians 5:15-17 (NLT)
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