The Gift of Truth
This Christmas season is unlike any I have ever experienced. Apart from a few terrible Christmas decorations in a local mall, there is scarcely anything in my surroundings to tell me it’s Christmas. But one thing is sure, year after year; the Father speaks something new to me through the climactic second chapter of Luke.
“…they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.” – Luke 2:17b-18
Imagine hearing about this Child for the first time! What a responsibility those shepherds held! They became the first to go out and share the Truth of the promise fulfilled in Jesus!
Recently I was out in a village and my host decided I needed a new Indonesian name. So she gave me the name Siti Marium. I asked her how she came up with that, and she said, “Because you’re honest and unmarried… and you gave birth to a perfect child.” I realized she was giving me the English-equivalent or the name Mary, though I was a little confused about what the connection was, since I have not had a child! She laughed and said, “Well, you’re honest and unmarried anyway!” How, in two days, could she determine that I was honest??? So funny.
But that gave me something to think about.
Honesty. It implies that you speak Truth… like the shepherds did. If the shepherds had wanted, they could have kept what they had seen and heard to themselves. Or they could have told people any number of partial or distorted truths. But according to Luke, they spread what had been told to them… straight from the angel of the Lord. And you can bet that the angel of the Lord spoke nothing less than Truth!
One of my favorite things I’ve learned about Jesus this year comes from the story of Him with the woman at the well. When Jesus presented the concept of Living Water, the woman asked where such water could be found. He said,
“But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” John 4:14 (NLT)
I had never really grasped the fact that He doesn’t just offer a glass of thirst-quenching water, but places in us an eternal spring of it! In the last six months, I have spent a fair amount of time drawing water from and bathing at community wells in local villages. It has given me an even greater appreciation for the value of spring-fed wells. On some islands where there is no well, the people must take large empty jugs by boat to neighboring islands to draw their fresh water. What a benefit to have the Spring of Living Water within us!!! I was helping a man draw water from a well one day (a 15-minute boat ride, plus a 5-minute jungle hike from his home), and I asked him what he would think about a kind of spring that produced water that would quench thirst forever. He laughed, hoisted up his jug of water, and said, “This one doesn’t do that,” and walked back to the boat. Later on, I couldn’t help sharing a little more with him about the Living Water. When you’ve got a Spring within you, you can’t keep the Truth from bubbling out!
And I imagine that was the same source of joy and excitement that bubbled out of the shepherds as they shared the Truth of whom they had encountered in the manger. What excitement to see that what the angel had told them was really true!
But 2000 years later, you would probably agree that Truth is pretty hard to find. We live in a world where it’s ok to have your own “truth,” and it’s ok to share and accept other’s “truths” as long as all are tolerated. These “truths” don’t come from Springs of Living Water but from the heart of human wisdom and perspective. And since we know that the heart is deceitful above all else (Jer 17:9), then these nuggets of “truth” are lies, even if there are some elements of truth within them. Satan disguises himself as an angel of light! (2 Cor 11:14) That angel can sometimes be difficult to differentiate from the angel of the Lord seen in Luke 2. So we must be vigilant to stay close to Jesus, the Truth! (John 14:6)
This week I met four women who were the victims of lies. When we entered the small room, the women politely greeted us as we entered, but immediately sat down again with arms crossed and eyes downturned. As the employees of the shelter scrambled around to find chairs for all ten of us visitors, my heart sank. It was obvious that these women did not want to talk, despite what the case workers had insisted in their office. The room became uncomfortably quiet, and my mind raced with questions. How do you begin a conversation with women who have just been rescued from sex trafficking?
I was about ready to take my friends (a women’s advocacy group) and leave, when one of the girls began talking. She shared of how men had come to her village and promised her work at a new restaurant in a far away city. Desperate for money, she accepted the offer. The story was the same for the others as well. Fortunately three of them had been rescued before they were forced into a prostitution circle. The fourth had already been in forced prostitution for the last two months. They had fallen prey to lies.
Tonight as I read about liars and false teachers in 2 Peter, I was shocked to find another reference to springs!
“These men are springs without water…” 2 Peter 2:17a
Of course they are! There is no Truth in them! And it goes on to say,
“For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.” 2 Peter 2:18
As I read that verse, I couldn’t help but see the parallels between human traffickers and false teachers. What are the false teachers doing? They are using lies to seduce the weak into destruction. It’s Soul trafficking.
“[False teachers] promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity – for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.” 2 Peter 2:19-20
I am equally devastated at the total depravity of mankind reflected through the human trafficking industry, as I am the tragedy of false teaching and tolerance of human wisdom leading to the “trafficking” of souls. I am shocked at the commonalities.
Father, more than ever, I want my words to be Your words of Truth! May it be far from me that I would lead someone astray by my own empty philosophy. And I want to have a discerning spirit that can clearly recognize Truth from lies to not be led astray myself. I am so blessed by the spring of Living Water that You place in each of us who choose to follow You. It makes it impossible for me to keep silent about the Gift!
And I am so thankful for the simple Truth that was revealed to the shepherds so long ago: “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11
And give us humility to receive correction when we stray from Word so that Your Son will be seen clearly through us and that those around us will be amazed, as they were through the testimony of the shepherds long ago.
Thanks Jen