The new host of The Tonight Show became well-known to
many for his old show, The Colbert Report. He played a character described in Wikipedia as a “well-intentioned, poorly
informed high-status idot and a self-important right-wing commentator” (Wikipedia). Although Jim and I saw very little of the
show, I remember a key word he used: “truthiness.” Colbert defined the self-coined term to mean
if one says the same thing with feeling and confidence often enough, many
people will think it is true.
Right
now we all are being bombarded by campaign facts and figures about this
candidate or that issue. Sometimes a
news station or newspaper will do a “fact check,” and often the real story is
not exactly as it has been presented.
Even without election year shenanigans—yes, I have become a bit jaded
over the years—we are often in need of knowing what is truthful.
I
would say that in our Christian lives, discerning what is true is more
important than anywhere else. A
multitude of voices gives us information; most obviously, if we attend church,
pastors giving sermons are the main voices.
Joining theirs are countless books, some even best-sellers, movies,
Christian speakers, CDs, etc. Two
phrases I have heard repeatedly are “God is in control,” or similarly, “God is
in charge.” The implication is that God
will have His way so we can just trust and go about our business.
Jim
and I have two sons, one on earth and one in heaven. Our first son only lived for 17 days, most of
them fighting for his life. Well before
this experience, I had been introduced to the charismatic movement and began
reading the Bible a little differently, as an instrument of truth and a way for
the Holy Spirit to “speak” personally to me as I searched for what to believe
in addition to my Presbyterian background.
After our baby’s death, I sought the help and understanding I needed in
the scriptures more than ever.
My choice to seek
God’s truth in the scriptures is mirrored in the early church in the Bible
itself. In Acts, Paul and Silas were
sent to Berea and spoke in the synagogues.
Afterwards, the Bereans “received the word with all readiness, and
searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts
17:11). Church leaders had their words
backed up by signs and wonders, yet the Bereans were seeking God in the printed
word they had to be sure of what to believe.
More than a few years ago, Jim
and I were struck by the opposite of the idea that God is in control in an NIV
translation of 1 John 5:19: “We know that we are children of God, and that the
whole world is under the control of the evil one." There are countless stories and scriptures
that point to God as the giver of every good and perfect gift ( James
1:17). In fact, the lead in to that
verse points to the need for Christians to be discerning, as it commands, “Do
not be deceived, my brethren.”
“Truthiness”
has fooled people for centuries. Let us
seek what Luke 18:8 instructs, “to be careful hearers of the word.”
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