In the not too distant past, maybe a couple of weeks ago, I was having a conversation with someone. The person was concerned about the board game Dungeons and Dragons, having heard that it was some form of evil, or somebody told them it was evil.
I asked if the person they heard that from was a Christian, and they said that it was.
I rolled my eyes and said "You can't trust Christians when they are talking about this sort of thing."
So, some time has gone by since that conversation, and it was really something I forgot about. Then, this morning, it popped back into my head, like Bosco popping out of his box.
As per is my usual for these blogs I feel will be a little long, I have broken this into sections:
1. Apologising for When the Church Lies.
2. I can't Hear Your Gospel Truth, Example.
3. What about the Bible?
4. Practical Things to Help Our Honesty.
Apologising For When The Church Lies:
Have you ever felt the need to apologise for the lies of the Church?
It's an interesting situation to be in, isn't it? We claim to be people who know the Truth, we claim to be people who stand for the Truth, we claim to be people who preach the Truth. We confess that this is a statement that is true about us, or that we are working on making true with the help of the Holy Spirit: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, and who correctly handles the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15)
But sometimes we get a little taken in by things that aren't exactly true.
You might think that statement on a line by itself has little to do with that Bible verse, because the 'Word of Truth' is the Bible of course; but it does. If Christians are seen to be lying, or espousing a story, perspective, narrative, worldview, that isn't true externally to the Bible, why would someone believe us when we tell them anything else we believe to be true?
I Can't Hear Your Gospel Truth, Example:
Let me give you an example of this, since returning to Ireland I had the opportunity to work with a lovely guy from Northern Ireland (for those of you who don't know, Northern Ireland is a separate country from the Republic of Ireland, where I was born, grew up, and live. It is still controlled by the UK, by its own choice. Typically, Evangelical Christians in the North are from a Protestant background, and typically Protestant background people are Unionists [people pro the Union with the UK], so they are normally not as into Irish culture and identity as people from the North who have a Catholic background are, typically). So this guy came from the North, I am only assuming him to be from a Protestant background based on this exchange, and he was ministering in the Republic, spreading the Good News of Christ in Limerick.
In one conversation I had with him he mentioned a child of his being taught about the Irish famine, you can read the Wiki article about it here, and there is a growing number of people who agree with Historian Tim Pat Coogan that the Irish famine was actually an act of genocide by the British government, you can see an article about that perspective here.
This man told his child that he should relay to his teacher that there was no such thing as the Irish Famine, Irish people are simply stupid and merely forgot where they buried their potatoes.
If you are currently in Ireland, or if you are planning to come to Ireland, and you hold to that belief, or wish to propagate that belief, can you please do Jesus a favour and leave (or don't come as the case may be). How can someone in a country so hurt by the colonial powers ever hear the truth of the Gospel from the same mouth that downplays the greatest disaster in our history. If you read the article I linked above, the first sentence calls the Great Famine our Holocaust, that the cultural place it has in our psyche.
What About the Bible?
2 Corinthians 8:21 says, "For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of man."
I believe our honesty as Christians comes into that verse. Now, I'm not saying you have to be a genocide theory proponent in regards to the Irish famine, in fact, I would think that holding that view ardently as a Christian can be similarly problematic as regards truth and honesty as holding the view that the Irish were too stupid not to starve themselves does.
But what I am saying is we need to take pains to do what is right, we need to take pains to make sure the things we are propagating are true things.
"Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with it's practices." (Colossians 3:9)
"Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbour, for we are all members of one body." (Ephesians 4:25)
That's our standard, that's what we are in our new lives in Christ, by His grace and in the power of His Spirit.
That gives us a certain responsibility too. We need to be pursuers of the truth. It has been famously said, "All truth is God's truth." That's very true, and if that is very true, which it is, it means that Christians should be the foremost in society at seeking out and propagating truth.
Practical Things to Help Our Honesty:
So, what things can we do as believers in Christ that would help us to be more honest, to be perceived as seekers of truth and not propagators of misinformation? I have a couple of suggestions. In today's climate you might already have, or you might on reading these, automatically jump to political debates, there is a place for that, it will come, but hold out for it, there's some other things to look at first.
1. Don't Believe Everything You Read:
I think Christians are some of the worst people for this. You often see many people sharing things on Social Media that are untrue. I have done it myself. We read an article on some Facebook page, often one purporting to be Christian itself, and it is shocking and unbelievable and so we share it. "Look what's happening in California!" "Look at what the Government are doing." And those sorts of comments we put on as we share it. (Again, I am aware I have done this). But, by the time we post the article (government microchipping us through fluoride in the water, for example), there has already been some fact checking website that has written about the issue, searching for the truth and explaining what really happened in the situation. But we, Christians, defenders of truth, have posted some misinformation as if it was the Gospel itself.
Some people love conspiracy theories, and are seekers of truth in the fact that they are really trying to seek the truth behind these theories. And that's great. But we need to be careful that when we present our theories, that we present them in a way that doesn't come across as if we are presenting truth. The integrity and believability of what we say as Christians needs to be looked after, in the grace of God, so we need to take a moment to check our story, or if we are aware it's a conspiracy theory, make that clear. Being honest about what we read and then post on social media will help us be believable when we claim Christ is our salvation.
2. Don't Believe Everything You See:
This is, of course, linked to the previous one. Video editing is amazing these days. If you see something that seems a little unbelievable, do some research, as before. If it is a known conspiracy theory, be upfront that it's something unproven but interesting when you speak about it. If you see someone in the public eye saying something outrageous, you might see an article, but you might even see a video of them saying it. Seek out the context. Find the full speech and see what they were saying. Often those sorts of clips are "This other group says, "REALLY OUTRAGEOUS THING", but I say, "SOMETHING QUITE SENSIBLE."" and the editor has taken the person saying "REALLY OUTRAGEOUS THING" and posted it.
It would be similar to taking Jesus' "you have heard it said... but I say to you" statements in the Gospel, but editing it to only have the "you have heard it said" part.
For example, in Matthew 5:31–32, Jesus says: “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery."
So this would be like editing this to say:
"Whoever divorces his wife, let him write her a certificate of divorce." - Jesus Christ.
Technically, that's not incorrect. But it is very incorrect to represent Jesus' opinion on divorce as such. So when you see someone saying, or quoted as saying something outrageous, try and find the context before you share it in conversation or on social media. Being honest about what we see and then post on social media, or bring up in conversation, will help us be believable when we claim Jesus is the one way to God.
3. Don't Believe Everything You Hear:
Again, it's similar to the other two, but I want to highlight the specific example from the introduction, the conversation I had that got me thinking about this. As Christians we hear a lot about what is good to watch, listen to, take part in, play, etc.
As I'm sure you well know by now, I am a fan of the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the show itself did a lot to make me think about God and my faith and even in some ways to reinforce and confirm the greatness of the God I believe in. I did a blog on God in Buffy, which you can read here. At the same time as Buffy was helping, in a tiny way, to strengthen my faith, (it still has the best example of grace I've ever seen on TV, you can read about that here); a conservative Christian group in the United States were constantly trying to have it taken off the air. Almost every week that an episode of Buffy aired, the next day there would be news of this group complaining and wanting it gone. As a Christian who liked the show and benefitting from it that hurt me quite a bit and made me suspicious of Christians, something that evidently lives on to this day from the conversation in the opening section to this blog.
I know of people who had their Pokemon cards taken from them because Pokemon are real little demons, I've heard of people not allowed watch Harry Potter because the spells are all real, there are as many stories in this area of things as there are episodes of Judge Judy... I wonder how many that is... who knows, 23 seasons though.
As a parent you need to be careful of this. Even if a trusted person tells you they heard that a TV show, game, whatever, is of the devil, you shouldn't take it as face value.
The end result might be damage to your children's relationship with you, and even your children's relationship with God.
Far better to get involved in what your children are interested in. Watch it yourself, read it yourself, talk to them about why they like it, what they do with it, how it impacts them.
One of the things I really respect my parents for is that they allowed us to watch things after they watched them to see what they were like themselves. If we were interested in something they were interested in it too, at least to the extent that they watched it with us, or watched it to see what happened in it. Being honest about what we hear and then tell others, or use as a basis to make rules in our family, will help us be respected when we tell people it is by grace we have been saved.
4. Be a Berean:
The Bereans are people in the Bible, in the book of Acts. When Paul passes through their town he preaches the Gospel to them in their Synagogue. The Bible records, "Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so" (Acts 17:11). We should be 110% like this when we hear something about the Bible, but it is good practice to be like this when we hear about these other things we have been looking at too.
I love the story of Lee Strobel. His wife became a believer, and he was weirded out by it, feeling as if she were cheating on him with Jesus. He is also a journalist. So he set out to disprove Jesus' existence. He was being a Berean. He visited many experts and at the end of his search was convinced of the truth of the Gospel and became a Christian. If you are in the US and haven't seen his story it's called The Case For Christ, and last time I was in the US it was on Netflix. Being like the Bereans means that people will know that our opinions and thoughts on things in the world are well researched and thought-out. This will mean they will have confidence that when we say Christ died and rose again on the third day that we have thought long and hard about this belief, and have some compelling reason to believe it (even if they don't agree).
5. Applaud Seekers of Truth:
Okay, so for this example I want to get a little political.
Back in 2016 when the FBI reopened the investigation into Secretary Hillary Clinton's use of emails while so worked in the State Department under President Obama I was furious with FBI Director James Comey. I have been a Hillary supporter since she stood against Obama in the primaries in 2008, and actually wrote a paper about her becoming President in 2000 (it was actually Bush, I was like 9 and the internet was less reliable in those days, she had become a New York Senator at the time).
Clinton has been found innocent (whether you believe that or not, until further evidence comes to light the FBI and other investigators have found her innocent and we believe in innocent until proven guilty, so let's stop with the 'Lock her up' for a bit).
But, I was wrong to be so annoyed. If it was true that Clinton had used emails nefariously, it would have implications for her as President, and so would have implications for the USA, which, admittedly, I'm not as invested in as I am in Ireland.
My Christian Republican friends will like that so far, but I think they know what's coming.
Robert Mueller is conducting an investigation into current President Donald J. Trump's campaign and presidency, searching for collusion with Russia. We know that the Don likes to call this investigation a witch hunt, and has done mad things like suggesting he would use his power to shut it down and end it.
Sadly, like I did with the Hillary email debacle, many Christians cry "witch hunt" right alongside the President.
You may believe it is a witch hunt. But I hope you can see by now that as Christians we are to be seekers, proclaimers and defenders of the truth. Proverbs 12:22 says, "The LORD detests lying lips, but He delights in people who are trustworthy."
Let's hope and pray that the President of the USA is trustworthy. But let's not cry witch hunt with him. Instead let's support investigations into Democrats and Republicans, into Hillary Clinton's email use, and Ivanka Trump's.
Obviously this one applies to more situations than the Clintons and the Trumps, but at time of writing it's a very contemporary issue that takes up a lot of news time.
Christians should be champions of investigations searching for truth, into political parties, scandals, the Church itself, everything. Luke 8:17 says, "For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light." That should be something we are interested in as Christians.
6. Give the Benefit of the Doubt:
Building on some of the things we have seen, heard, or read, I think another great, practical way to be honest is to give the benefit of the doubt when we bring it up in conversation or post on social media. Instead of stating things as fact, and instead of being negative, we can be a little more positive.
I was reading a book once, a book that someone say on my social media and contacted me. This person was well meaning and looking out for me in their intentions, but they hadn't read the book. I was of no set opinion on it, at least until I read it, but they had read a blog on a webpage they typically agree with slating the book and even calling the salvation of the author into question, because in their opinion his theology as expressed in the book was that bad.
This is a perfect situation where giving the benefit of the doubt could be used to help us as Christians be honest. You can warn and express that you have heard bad things about a book or an author, and that's helpful and appreciated by most people, but we need to do it honestly. There is doubt there, because you haven't read it yourself, just read about it. Coming at it in that way helps your credibility. Even reading it for yourself if your relationship with the Lord is in a place that that's a possibility and then commenting on it from your perspective would be great, but taking someone else's opinion and offering it as the truth can be harmful to your relationship with the other person and to witness to Jesus Christ. Giving the benefit of the doubt can help you show yourself to be reasonable, loving and a safe place for others to come and seek advice and help.
7. On Giving an Opinion:
The last of these seven practical ways to show honesty amongst ourselves as Christians and to others has come up already. This is to be intentional about giving our opinion. I'm a demon for this one. I like to think I'm right all the time, so everything I say or write is true. In reality, that's not the case. It's one of the reasons I have deliberately put TotD beside a lot of my blog posts. If you don't remember TotD stands for Thought of the Day. It's not a fact of the day, it's the thing I am thinking about a topic at that particular time. It could be wrong, I may change my mind after more research and looking into things, and following my own advice and being a Berean.
Make it clear when you are posting something, or speaking about something that you aren't 100% sure on. And, if you do talk about something as if it is gospel and later learn it isn't, you can always talk to that person again, let them know you've looked into it a little more and think you might have been hasty with your previous convictions. That's basically repenting, or giving the benefit of the doubt, and what a great witness it would be to someone that you can be humble and say when you are wrong. For me, personally, that's something I know I have to work on in my life.
Jesus:
As always, Jesus is our example and Jesus is our goal. Jesus never sinned. And since the Bible records lying as a sin, we can be sure that Jesus never lied.
As Christians we are on a journey to Christ-like-ness. In part, this will mean becoming more honest, as well as becoming more gracious. Of course, even as you have just read the examples above, they aren't things we can muster up inside ourselves. But Jesus can. The Holy Spirit living inside us can bring our attention to those things if we are relying on, and in communication with, Him. He can empower us to stop and think when we are passionate about a topic, He can direct us to sources of information that will help inform us, He can implant that desire to be Berean about our passions within us, He can remind us of the grace shown so freely to us so that we are inspired and enabled to show that grace to celebrities, TV show makers, game makers, politicians and our government, Christian authors, and one another. And, when we inevitably fail on this journey to being honest like Jesus, He can lift us up, dust us off, and walk with us again, as well as showing us the need to humble ourselves and admit our mistakes to Him, first and foremost, but also to those we talked to about whatever misinformation we believed, and seek truth in all things.
Awhile back I wrote a blog called "I Dream of a Church", you can check it out here. In it one of the lines is: "I have a dream of a Church where truth and honesty are the way of life." I want to strive for that, I hope you do too.
Beannachtaí.
