A Culture of Truth

“The truth is…”

SO how do you finish that sentence? What is the truth of your life right now? Maybe it’s something really great. Maybe the truth is that right now you’re better than you have been for a long time. You’re sober, your marriage is good, your kid is an honor student, you got a promotion at work, you’re in school and have your life plan securely in place. If that the case, we celebrate, we rejoice with you. I hope you all have some great truths in your life right now. Or maybe the truth is that you’re in a tough spot. You fell off the wagon, your marriage is on the rocks, your kid beat up the honor student, you lost your job, you have this opportunity to get an education and you have no idea what to do with it. If that’s the case, we still want to celebrate God and worship with you! But we also want to mourn with you, and pray for you. But whatever comes to the surface from the depths of your being, the point this morning is this- we want CCC to be a place where people can experience and know truth. We want to cultivate a culture where the truth isn’t covered up, but rather, the lies are cast aside, the masks are taken off, and we get real, we get honest, with get truthful.

We are three steps into our series on “Cultivating a Connecting Culture.” We want to put some necessary nutrients into the soil of our church. This means being on guard to weed out any thing that isn’t going to be helpful. More so, it means intentionally infusing our church with the kind of values God desires. We’ve talked about TRUST- cultivating a place where people who have been burned can start to trust others again, where people who are still good with trust can go deeper with God and with others, growing in faith. We talked about ACCEPTANCE- cultivating a “come as you are” culture here at CCC. Come as you are- with your hopes and fears, your joys and pains, your failures and successes. Come as you are, because we can’t come before God any other way- he see through the façade and masks we put on. So just meet us as you are.

But now we want to take the culture a little deeper. We want to take it to the TRUTH. We have to build the church on truth.

If you’re a “Churchy,” you know that Christians like to talk about the truth, We believe Christianity is true, that Jesus really lived and died and rose and that he is coming again. We believe that the bible is a source of truth to guide and direct our lives, individually and corporately. We know the Spirit’s first title given by Jesus is the “Spirit of Truth,” and he will guide into all truth. But most of all, we’re into truth because Jesus claimed to be the truth- In John 14:6 he claimed

“I am the way the truth and the life.”

Theologians have often reflected on this claim, noting that it is either absolutely false or absolutely true. If false, all of this Jesus stuff should be cast out into the pile of numerous other charlatans, false doctrines, and lies. But if what Jesus said is the truth, then there is really nothing greater than considering his claims, and calling upon Him as God.

So we could talk about relative truth verses absolute truth, practical truth and propositional truth. We could talk about the truth of Jesus subjectively experienced in our lives, and the truth of Jesus as an objective truth for all humanity. But I don’t want to go there today. Instead, I want to talk about what it looks like for us to encounter the truth of Jesus as the emobiment of truth, in our lives. To cultivate this culture here where we can seek truth- the truth of Jesus, the truth of our lives, the truth of our world.

One of the most famous encounters in the Bible is an exchange between Jesus and Pilate, the man who holds Jesus’ life in his hands. Now you can imagine the truth of this moment. Jesus can play this several ways. Pilate is getting pressure to have Jesus executed by one group of people, his own wife is saying Jesus is innocent, he has admitted he doesn’t find Jesus guilty of the charges laid before him. I believe the man is genuinely torn.

Pilate decides to ask Jesus, for himself, what he has done. Jesus says, “In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” And all Pilate can say is

“What is truth?” John 18:37-38

Have you ever gotten to that place in your life where you are in so deep, so dark, that you’re not even sure of what is true anymore? It might be standing right in front of you- but your don’t have the eyes to see it, the ears to hear it, the heart to believe it? Sometimes, maybe most times, it’s hard to face up to the truth.

Experiential education is all about creating teachable moments. The way you create teachable moments is often by just letting things happen, then examining it closer. I used to take students on camping trips every Fall Break. One trip I’ll never forget. We got ready the night before, woke up before sunrise, and drove to the trail. Everyone was all excited, ready to hit the trail ready to go. They didn’t want instruction- they wanted to make time! So I handed them the map, pointed out where we were, where we were going, and off we went. We were making great time. We were cruising. These students were motivated.

We stopped for lunch and decided to figure out where we were and how much farther we had to go. So they start going over the map, looking back up and down the trail, thinking about markers they encountered. Then they started to put things together. The truth started to reveal itself.

We walked in the wrong direction. I’m telling you that we immediately went though the five stages of grieving-

denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.

One guy was adamant, no, we didn’t, we did not go in the wrong direction for the whole morning! This can’t be! One girl was furious, this is unacceptable, who was supposed to check the compass, did anyone check the compass, who is responsible for this, because there are lots of trees out here, I have rope in my backpack, and I intend to use it. She lost all trust in me as the leader. Another person was ready to make a deal, ok, we can change our plans and head in this direction if we get to this point and then… One guy just started crying, why me , why us, this is the worst thing that could ever happen, he crawled in the fetal position and was ready to die (OK, maybe not that bad). But eventually, they decided to deal with the truth of their situation, and decided to move forward. And in the big picture, it really wasn’t so bad. So we had to turn around, change our plans, change our pace, retool how the trip was going to happen. The truth was we walked in the wrong direct, and that had to be dealt with.

But the more I’ve thought about it, the truth can hit us like the grieving process. We want to deny it. I am not longer surprised by the human capacity for self deception. You know what they say, “Denial- it ain’t just a river in Egypt.” Denial is reality for many- denial of the truth of our situation in life. “I don’t have a problem, everyone else has the problem.” “I’m gonna have faith and he’s coming back to me, she coming home.” “Not my kids, never, they would never steal, they would never cheat, they would never lie, my little girl isn’t sexually active so she can’t have an STD, she can’t be pregnant.”

The truth can make us angry- angry with ourselves, with others, with the world. We might want ot bargain with the truth, try and manipulate it a bit to fit our life, our circumstances, our preferred outcome. The truth can be depressing- to face our powerlessness to change much of our life situation, to change other people, to change our world.

If it’s the truth, even if it’s painful, even if it’s inconvenient, is going to have to be dealt with. You’ve seen or heard of Al Gore’s film- what a great title. “An Inconvenient Truth.” The truth is maybe most often inconvenient to the status quo and comfort of our life.

Do you remember the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes? Many years ago, there lived an emperor who cared much about his clothes. Two swindlers named Guido and Luigi said that they could make the finest suit of clothes from the most beautiful cloth. This cloth, they said, also had the special capability that it was invisible to anyone who was either stupid or not fit for his position.

Being a bit nervous about whether he himself would be able to see the cloth, the emperor first sent two of his trusted men to see it. Of course, neither would admit that they could not see the cloth and so praised it. The emperor then allowed himself to be dressed in the clothes for a procession through town, never admitting that he saw nothing. He was afraid that the other people would think that he was stupid. Of course, all the townspeople wildly praised the magnificent clothes of the emperor, afraid to admit that they could not see them, until a small child said: "But he has nothing on!"

This was whispered from person to person until everyone in the crowd was shouting that the emperor had no clothes on. The emperor heard it and felt that they were correct, but held his head high and finished the procession.

This morning I want us to make a giant leap in the cultivation of our Connections culture. Let’s not be afraid to say hey, the emperor has no clothes, and guess what, I’m the emperor! Let’s let the truth strip us naked before God and one another (Now I’m totally speaking metaphorically here people- I can just imagine some guy’s getting all excited and ready to rip of his shirt in the name of truth).

Here are Connections we want to create a culture where we can help one another accept the truth- the truth of our lives, the truth of our situations, the truth of our world.

Jesus said to a group of religious people, “If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples.” OK, true enough. Then he goes a step further,

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:36

The truth will set you free. I propose that we want to be free to be truthful in three areas of our life.

First, free to be truthful with ourselves. A culture where we are free to examine our lives and be honest with ourselves. The thing about Jesus is that he gave people time and again the opportunity, and the courage, to be truthful with themselves. Jesus was walking form town to town and a big crowd was following him like an entourage. Two blind beggars along the road ask what happening and they are told that Jesus is walking by. They start yelling “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on us!” The crowd told them to shut and not bother Jesus. But, and I love this, they start yelling all the louder, making even more of a seen. SO Jesus asks, what do you want me to do for you? And they say hey, we’d really like a new cane a cup, maybe a cool pair of sunglasses. NO! They say Jesus we want to see. Jesus more than anything else, opened people’s eyes. He opened their eyes to the truth. But he first asks these guys, what do you want, what do you need? They had to face and name the truth of their lives, of their need. And when they do, Jesus responds.

What did Jesus teach his followers? Deal with the plank in your own eye before you go around pointing out the splinter in someone else’s. Jesus is saying if someone’s got a splinter in his or her eye, they know it, they know they need help. But you can’t help them if you haven’t dealt with the truth, the giant plank of denial in your own eye. So let the truth start with you. I’m blind, crippled, I feel like an outcast, I’m in a dead end situation in life- Jesus, set me free.

Second, we want a culture here where we are free to be truthful with others. A culture where we can, in love, be real with each other. The bible says (Ephesian’s 4:15) speak the truth in love to one another. That’s awesome… I just wish we could do it. If you’ve grown up in the church you’ve been in this situation. Someone comes up to you, and they say, really smoothly, I just want to speak truth into your life. Then they let it rip. I can’t think of any time where somebody said they wanted to speak truth into my life, and actually did. I always got the impression they wanted to take me down a few pegs, they had an ax to grind and I was the stone.

You now, if you want to help someone confront the truth in his or her life, and I hope you do, just do it in love. Just talk to them about it. Now this is not like a rule, but generally speaking, if you have to say, I want to speak the truth in love into your life right now, you have yet to find the right words to actually speak truth in love into someone’s life. But the point is that we want to have a culture here where we can be truthful with each other, and help each other deal with the truth of our lives.

Third, we want a culture where we will be free to be truthful with God. A culture where we can ask the hard questions, wrestle with difficult answers, and get real with God. There’s this great passage in Romans 1 where the writer says, “They (all people really) exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator- who is praised forever. Amen.” (Rm. 1:25)

We live in a time and place where people are more willing to talk about God, to talk about spirituality, to quest for the truth, than ever before. Never has spirituality been more on the minds and lips of people. Never has Spirituality been so prominent in our culture. The world is seeking truth. We are all seeking truth. But so many are in so deep, in so dark, that they can’t see it. They still haven’t found it….

I have climbed highest mountain
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you

I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for…

I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her fingertips
It burned like fire
This burning desire

I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for…

I believe in the kingdom come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
Well yes I'm still running

You broke the bonds and you
Loosed the chains
Carried the cross
Of my shame
Of my shame
You know I believed it

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for...
“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” by U2

The world around is looking. They are looking for the real deal, they are looking for the truth, they are looking for the one that will make sense of their life, that will give purpose and meaning to their existence, strength for the moment, that will give them hope for the future, that will heal their wounds and love their souls. They are tired of the bad exchange- of worshiping their own creation, and they are looking for the truth.

I also know that some of you still haven’t found what you’re looking for. You have chased after the false hopes and dreams of this world. Maybe some of you here have achieved wealth and success, you made partner, you opened your practice, you got your cottage, you’re on track for freedom 55, but the closer to get to reaching all these goals for yourself only brings you closer to the fact that it is not satisfying your greatest needs, your deepest needs, your longing for truth. SO you simply up the stakes, you raise the bar, a little more money, a little more success, a little more acclaim and I’ll have found what I’m looking for.

Maybe some of you have looked for pure please, totally hedonism. You have numbed yourself with drink and drug, trying to find a moment of pleasure, or at least a break from the pain. Yet drink after drink, pill after pill, you are still left empty. The numbness wears off and your left feeling the pain all the more acutely, because yet again you still haven’t found what you’re for.

You have succumbed to the embrace of a stranger, hoping that for maybe one moment you can feel that you are one flesh with another human being, so that you don’t feel so alone, so empty. Only to find that as you pull yourself away from that other person, you’ve not gained anything, but lost one more part of yourself. You still haven’t found the one you’re looking for.

Some of you have chased after truth in the most noble of efforts. You have given yourself tirelessly. You have volunteered hours upon hours to the best of causes. You have shown love and mercy and compassion. You have worked for justice and peace. But in all your efforts you still have not found the peace you are looking for. All your work has only shown you how small a difference you make, how insurmountable the problems of the world are.

Friends, the truth has been revealed to us. The truth has come to us. Jesus Christ offers himself to you this day. He is the one who won’t numb your pain, but will heal it. The one who will join himself to you and will never leave you or forsake you. He is the one who will lead you in paths of righteousness, will lead you in his work, in his mission, giving you strength and hope to persevere. He is the one we are all looking for. And I believe with all my heart and with all my mind and with all my strength and with all my soul that the Church is a culture of truth because Jesus us the most truthful person that ever lived on earth.