By Pastor Greg
A man moved to Montana and bought
a horse from a farmer for $100. It was
to be delivered the next day. However,
in the morning the farmer was at the door announcing that the horse had
died. When he asked for a refund, the
farmer said he had already spent the money.
After thinking for a moment, the man just took the dead horse. The farmer couldn’t figure what the man would
do with a dead horse, but he shrugged his shoulders and left. A month later, the farmer met up with the man
and asked what had happened with the dead horse. "I raffled him off,” said the man. “I sold 500 tickets at two dollars apiece and
made a net profit of $898." Surprised, the farmer asked, "Didn't
anyone complain?" “Sure,” said the
man. "Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back."
I was always taught it is wrong to
deceive someone. Morally, it is not
acceptable. It’s wrong to raffle off a dead horse.
I was taught to always be honest and tell the truth, but I guess this
man never learned that lesson. Or, maybe
he decided to create his own standard of right and wrong – his own version of truth.
For a long time, philosophers have
been claiming Truth is something that cannot be known. In the 5th and 4th
centuries B.C. there was much debate about truth
among the Greek philosophers. Even then,
truth was limited to that which could
be understood and explained. Anything
outside of human reason or understanding was questioned (compare Paul’s debate
with some philosophers in Athens – Acts 17:18. To them, the message of the
Cross was nonsense). In their arrogance,
these great thinkers created their own morality – their own concept of right
and wrong. Maybe this is why the Roman
Governor doubted that truth even existed.
(John 18:28-38) 28 Jesus’ trial before
Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Then he was taken to the
headquarters of the Roman governor. His accusers didn’t go inside because it
would defile them, and they wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Passover. 29 So
Pilate, the governor, went out to them
and asked, “What is your charge against this man?” 30 “We wouldn’t have handed
him over to you if he weren’t a criminal!” they retorted. 31 “Then
take him away and judge him by your own law,” Pilate told them. “Only the
Romans are permitted to execute someone,” the Jewish leaders replied. 32 (This
fulfilled Jesus’ prediction about the way he would die.) 33 Then
Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to
him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked him. 34 Jesus
replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?” 35 “Am
I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought
you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?” 36 Jesus
answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would
fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom
is not of this world.” 37 Pilate said, “So you are a king?”
Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the
world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say
is true.” 38 “What is truth?” Pilate asked. Then he went out
again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime.
Pilate doubted that Truth could be
known. He was a product of his
environment. His only moral compass was
Roman Law. However, before we get too
judgmental, remember that these Jewish Religious Leaders had crafted their own
truth – a truth apart from the Word of God.
These Religious Leaders clearly
understood that God promised to send a Servant – a Redeemer – to rescue His
people from sin and death. They knew what God had spoken through the prophet
Isaiah – that the Messiah would bring Good News to the poor and set the
captives free (See Luke 4:18-19) – yet when Jesus claimed to be the answer to
this promise, many people rejected Him, and not just because He was a man (When they heard
this, the people in the synagogue were furious – Luke 4:28). They rejected Him because they went to the Scriptures with their own idea of Truth, and reinterpreted
God’s description of the Messiah. They
would not accept Jesus as the Messiah because they had twisted truth into
something unrecognizable.
One group denied truth.
One group reinterpreted truth. One group accepted
truth.
The difference between these three is found in their attitude. The
Apostles recognized the Truth because of
their humble reverence. On the other
hand, the Religious Leaders redefined Truth,
and the Roman Authorities denied Truth, both because of their lack of
reverence.
When dealing with Truth, these
three things I have noticed throughout history: people either reject truth,
reinterpret truth, or surrender to truth.
It all depends on the humbleness of their heart.
Is there any harm in denying Truth? Is there anything wrong with creating our own
Truth? I can think of many reasons why
it is wrong, but the clearest reason is that it leads to complete anarchy. Take away our moral compass, and we have no boundaries of right and wrong. Look what happened to Israel when they lost
their moral compass. “All the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes”
(Judges 17:6). Because of this, warriors
from the Tribe of Dan march right into a man’s house and take his belongings
(see Judges 18:22-26). And they feel
absolutely no remorse. The people of God denied
His truth and did whatever seemed right
in their own eyes. The entire nation
suffered because there was no moral compass.
These people end up worshipping a carved image rather than the one True
God (Judges 18:31). Without truth, there are no laws.
King Solomon warns that “People may be right
in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart” (Proverbs
21:2). As Christians, we must approach
God’s Truth with humble reverence. In
His wisdom, God chose to reveal His Truth to the world through the Bible. We must open the Bible with a heart longing
for God, a mind ready to be taught by God, and a spirit ready to be challenged by God.
If we don’t, then we end up like the Religious Leaders or like the Roman
Governor; we deny Truth or create our own exclusive Truth
The laws of this land used to be a
fairly good compass. Biblical morals and
godly ethics used to guide us as a nation.
But not so much anymore. It seems
to me that we have become a nation of people who do whatever seems right in our
own eyes. Even some religious leaders
have reinterpreted truth. Modern-day
religious leaders are telling us things that contradict the Word of God. So, we must carefully choose what guides us. The only moral compass that does not change
is the Bible. If we are to live a life
that is fully surrendered to God, then we must make a choice to read the Bible
for ourselves, and humble ourselves to His Holy Word.
No comments:
Post a Comment