How To Speak and Discern Truth

Bottomline: Your opinions, feeling, desires, political leaning, nationality, ethnicity, gender, education, wealthy, or anything else does not determine truth. Only God does.

Intro- story of radio broadcast of the war of the worlds…1938

On-site reporter Carl Phillips broadcast this chilling report live across CBS’s airwaves: Ladies and gentlemen, this is the most terrifying thing I have ever witnessed…. I can see peering out of that black hole two luminous disks…. Are they eyes? It might be a face…. But that face, it…Ladies and gentlemen, it’s indescribable. I can hardly force myself to keep looking at it. The eyes are black and gleam like a serpent. The mouth is V-shaped with saliva dripping from its rimless lips that seem to quiver and pulsate…. What’s that? There’s a jet of flame springing from [the alien], and it leaps right at the advancing men. It strikes them head on! Good Lord, they’re turning into flame! Now the whole field’s caught fire. The woods…The barns…The gas tanks of automobiles…It’s spreading everywhere. It’s coming this way.1 At this point, Phillips’s voice abruptly cut out, followed by the eerie hiss of radio static. Five long seconds later, the report resumed and announced Americans’ worst fear: aliens had landed on the Eastern Seaboard. The National Guard had been called in, and bells rang to warn people to evacuate Manhattan. The Secretary of the Interior urged all Americans to join the fight and stand for “the preservation of human supremacy.”2

Comer, John Mark. Live No Lies (pp. xiv-xv). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

We tend to default to believe what we want to be true.

The culture of “my truth” is not aligned with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We can buy into comformation bias

John

The New International Version (Chapter 14)

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John

The New International Version (Chapter 8)

44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Hebrews

The New International Version (Chapter 5)

11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

If we are not seeking to grow we will become gullible satan’s lies.

James

The New International Version (Chapter 1)

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

Your opinions, feelings, desires, political leaning, nationality, ethnicity, gender, education, level of wealth, or anything else does not determine truth. Only God does.

The Wesleyan quadrilateral

Scripture

Tradition

Reason

Experience

1 John 4

The New International Version (Chapter 4)

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.

Test

Ephesians

The New International Version (Chapter 4)

20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

Ephesians

The New International Version (Chapter 4)

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

When we speak truth without love it is condescending, critical, commanding, curt, callous, and/or condemning. It’s absent the freedom and mutuality necessary for love to thrive.

When we speak the truth with love, we are compassionate, empathic, honest, humble, and honoring of ourselves, God, and others. We are willing to bring good and bad into the light of relationship. We allow others to do the same. For us to offer truth and love together, we must embrace our best understanding of truth while allowing the other person the freedom to choose how they respond. They are free to agree or disagree. Accept or deny.

Ask yourself these questions about speaking truth to another....do I have the right motives? do I have the right relationship? I am sharing an opinion or a fact?

The problem in our culture today people have with christians isn’t because we are silent about truth but that our actions to not reflect that the truth has transformed us.

Matthew

The New International Version (Chapter 4)

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted v by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,and they will lift you up in their hands,so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest!

Truth is heavy and hard if you don’t know Jesus but it’s freedom if you do know Him.