HOW IT IS

Feb 10, 2023

HOW IT IS

I’m not a fan of coffee. To make the stuff drinkable, it needs just a little more than too much sugar.

Not long ago, I was having one of my infrequent cups of coffee. As happens sometimes, there were some undissolved sugar crystals in the bottom of my cup. Now, I happen to like this little candy surprise, so I was glad... until my world turned upside down and a most unpleasant upheaval took place in my emotions. Those weren’t sugar crystals--they were coffee grounds! I went from pleasure and mirth straight to disgust, and ran to the kitchen sink to try to rid myself of what, moments ago, had been my delight.

Truth is like that—very inflexible. What I believed to be true had absolutely no effect on the truth itself. I could want and wish and even believe those were sugar crystals, but (as they say) the fact remained. It’s a popular philosophy nowadays to think that we can all decide our own truth—but that has never been my experience. Far too many times to count, my overconfidence, my assumptions, and my expectations have all run aground on the rocks of truth.

The idea that truth is somehow an individual calculation, different for each of us, is very peculiar. Even those who say they believe it seem unable to really stick to it. Consider the 9th of the Ten Commandments:

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” -God

Say you happen to be someone who believes that everyone is entitled to his own truth—would you be alright with someone testifying against you, saying that you had said things you’d never said, and that you had been places you’d never been? Something like, “I heard him say he was planning to rob the bank.” Or, “I saw him put on a ski mask and enter the bank at 2pm.” I’d hope you would not be OK with that! If you were an innocent person on trial, wouldn’t you want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

So, why do we have this desire, this tendency, to want to think of truth as some sort of personal preference or opinion? Why do we think we can fashion truth for ourselves? Here’s how Paul would answer:

“God is against all ungodliness—people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. That which is known about God is evident within them, so that they are without excuse. Futile in their reasonings, their hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools. They exchanged the truth of God for falsehood.” -Paul

According to Paul, we really do (or at least we should) know better. But, because of the unrighteousness of our own hearts, we suppress the truth. We don’t want there to be a God who weighs our hearts against truth—we much prefer to create our own reasoning, our own “wisdom.” We should see and acknowledge the darkness of our own hearts, but instead we keep such thoughts tightly under wraps. Jesus approaches it this way:

“This is the judgment: the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed.” -Jesus

Jesus says many things like, “love your enemies,” and, “whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other” and, “if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your cloak also,” and, “whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.” Simply put, these doctrines of the Light are not human nature. None of us naturally does these things—few of us naturally even want to. The norm is to hate our enemies, seek vengeance, fight back, and yield nothing. The Light lays bare the fact that we are morally bankrupt. When we will not accept this straightforward truth about ourselves, we prefer darkness.

A look from another angle makes the point even clearer:

“The time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” -Paul

If we start by trusting our own desires, we can search out others who will tell us just what we want to hear: that we’ve been right all along. But this means turning away from truth—and turning aside to a myth: the myth that our desires can decide what is true.

Centuries earlier, we find the same unchanging wisdom:

“Every person’s way is right in his own eyes, but the Lord examines the hearts.” -Proverbs

Our own eyes just don’t see as well as we think. Most of us have noticed that other people seem to have a great capacity to excuse, rationalize, or justify their worst behavior. But, far fewer of us seem to see how this is true of “every person”—including ourselves. We see through the weak excuses of others, but we are blind to our own. It’s hard to make us see what we do not want to see.

Jesus calls us to open our eyes, to acknowledge our unrighteous state, and to go to Him for the cure:

“You say, ‘I am rich, and have no need of anything,’ and you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. I advise you to buy, from Me: gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and eye salve so that you may see. Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” -Jesus

So, stop believing that your coffee grounds are sugar crystals. Allow the Light to expose your darkness. Repent. Open the door.

Let Truth in.

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