Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free…, I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I am!” At that point they picked up stones to throw at him. John 8:31-32, 58-59a
The TRUTH is always
in opposition to everything else, lies particularly, but it’s also in opposition
to near-truth, variation, point-of-view, imagination,
cultural correctness, expediency, end-justifying-the-means idealism, and the
list goes on quite extensively!
And, expensively!
There is always quite a cost to sticking
with the truth. It can cost you your
career. It did that with my Dad, who, in
the 1940’s and 50’s worked in an aircraft factory and served for a brief time
as the union representative for a crew working on fighter jets. The foreman had been notified by upper
management that he had to lay-off some workers.
He created the list, but it was my Dad’s sad task to notify the
workers. Layoffs always began with the
least-seniority, which was by union rule, and common sense. The name of a young woman who had only started
working a few months prior, and therefore should have been one of the first on
that list, was not on the list, while several senior employees were being let
go. My Dad went to the foreman to call
attention to this so-called error, knowing it was no
error. It was common knowledge the
foreman and this young woman, both married to other people, were having an
affair. Dad knew the risk involved with
holding to the truth; my Dad had a mortgage, car payment and four mouths to
feed. But he also had a conscience to
keep him awake at nights if he shed the truth for a paycheck. When he pointed out the foreman’s oversight,
the man waved his hand and said, hey, you’re the union rep, and that’s
the list; do your job. Dad pointed
out the seniority rule and the foreman wouldn’t budge. He told the foreman, if that woman’s
name isn’t put on the list, you just add my name to it. Which is exactly what the foreman did. Long story short, things got a little tough
over the next few months at the Brownworth house as my Dad hunted for a new
job. But, more importantly, he slept
just fine every night!
By comparison, my father’s cost of living
with truth long ago was tiny compared to the eventual cost Jesus paid. The crowd Jesus talked to were a bunch of his
fellow Jews who were believers. But when
they began to realize the monumental changes that would take over their lives
if they actually went past the formality of acknowledgement of Jesus…all the
way to becoming disciples of Jesus, staking their time, talent, tithes, and
their eternity on him…well, that was too much.
They picked-up stones to put an end to the truth, so they could be
comfortable in their religious self-righteousness.
Sometimes people are not willing to pay
the cost truth demands. It is an
unfortunate, and unwise choice, however.
When you opt for anything but truth here is what
Jesus says about you:
For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44
For You Today
Consider whose family you choose when you
part company with truth.
