Sunergos Aletheia

    Late last week, I was asked to perform several vocal stylings for a brass orchestra. After the first practice and run-through, I rushed to find my sister who is one of the musicians in the orchestra. "What did you think?" I quiered impatiently. "And tell me the truth!"

    "Well,"She mused carefully. "You did a great job...but..."

    It was at that exact moment as that fateful word slipped past her lips that I realised something. I hadn't really wanted her to tell me the truth at all. I wanted her to say that I'd been fantastic, mind-blowing or anything really that would boost my ego. In fact, it probably would have been more accurate to have begged, "Tell me what I want to hear."

    I think this is the way a lot of us approach God's truth as well. We want to know it and understand it and beg God to teach, but often when it comes down to our hearts, instead of the words God wishes to hear, "God, teach us your truth!" what we are really saying is, "God, tell us what we want to hear."

    In Isaiah 59, there is a fascinating verse that utters this profound statement, "...truth is fallen in the street..." In the verses leading up to it, there unveils the tragedy of a people who are in sin against the Lord. People who speak "from the heart words of falsehood." It speaks of the blind confusion caused by this twisting and perverting of truth. It warns of the ultimate outcome if we choose to let our value of His truth fall to the streets and let our own brands of falsehood take it's place.

    Playing with truth is a dangerous game. We cannot pick and choose what we want from God's truth. To ask God only for what we want to hear is to beg for leanness of soul (Psalm 106:15), but to sincerely and humbly seek for His truth can drastically change and upset the intricate masquerade of our lives.

    How highly do you prioritize God's truth in your life? Is it the centerpoint that drives you to Christ, demanding you to sacrifice your own pride and self to be all that God wants you to be? If so, your search will quickly become a battle as others refuse to allow God's truth to be spread because it is not what they want to hear - because it can so easily challenge and change what they're comfortable believing.

    Or are you one of those Isaiah 59 speaks of? One who has allowed God's truth to take a secondary priority in your life, stumbling and falling until it is merely trampled on in the rush and confusion of your life? If so, understand this: Truth can never die, but it can fall. We can trample it and try to ignore it, but we can never change or destroy it.

    Much like I wasn't able to improve my performance until after I had accepted and put into action my sister's constructive criticism, we as Christians will never be able to reach our full potential until we beg God to teach us His truth, allowing it to change and shape our lives for His purpose.

    Is the cry of your heart, "God, teach me your truth?" or do you let truth fall in the street with an arrogant spirit of: "God, tell me what I want to hear."

    The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie - deliberate, contrived and dishonest - but the myth - persistent, persuasive and unrealistic. - John F. Kennedy

    In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. - George Orwell

    Reformers who are always compromising, have not yet grasped the idea that truth is the only safe ground to stand upon. - Elizabeth Cady Stanton