“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:32
“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”
John 17:17
No one likes the truth. The people who claim to enjoy truth usually have not had that much of it spoken to them.
What they mean is that they love when other people get smashed in the face by truth so they can mock them while standing along the safety of the sidelines.
Truth is generally something you do not want to hear. There is the truth of the gospel, the good news, the happy idea of the life of Christ. Then there is the truth of what Christ expects from you, and that is much less fun to hear. You do not want to hear that. The commands of Christ are heavy and difficult, few can bear them, and few enjoy hearing them.
You don’t want to hear that you need to be sober minded right as you are about to kick back a cold beer. You don’t want to hear the command to be sexually chaste right as you are about to undress your girlfriend. These are truths, though. They are painful truths and give us a fixed course of action. They are painful because we want to do the wrong things.
On another hand, no one likes or wants to hear the truth from his brother. We ask “How are you today?” but we do not really want to know. If someone responds with anything beyond a simple “good” we feel inconvenienced. We do not want to hear how they are doing even though we specifically asked.
No one wants to hear a truthful opinion from his brother.
Men don’t want to be told by a brother that their lifestyle is evil and wicked. No one wants to be told that they are not doing what is right, even though it is a fact. These are difficult things to tell a brother, but necessary things nonetheless.
Weak men in the Church dance around truth, never fully immersing into the topic. Popular megachurch or liberal preachers will stay away from truth, it opposes the emotionalism that pays their mortgage. Truth shuts down emotionalism because it demands facts and logic instead of mere feelings.
Strong Men in the Church embrace all forms of truthfulness and possess the skill to use it strategically. It is not enough to embrace truth, but men must use their minds
Mantra
There is no other option but truth.
Application
The truth is that you are living life as an insufficient man.
You are stuck in your ways.
You lie and cheat.
And you steal. Even if in infinitesimally small ways.
Stop doing that.
The truth is that you are sitting in a pew every Sunday, putting nothing into the service and are not progressing. You sit in the warmth and comfort of a persecution free area and as a result, you stagnate.
Starting now, you tell the truth in everything. Every single lie will be accounted for. You have a responsibility to be a man and tell the truth at all times. Weak men beat around the bush. Strong men shoot straight and shoot strategically.
“A Marine never lies, cheats or compromises”. “Be completely honest in everything that you do” – Excerpt from the Standard Marine Boot Camp Intro Speech Given by the Senior Drill Instructor.
Conduct Yourselves Like Men.
