Resolution 5 - Truth

Transcribed from our YouTube video:
10 Resolutions for the MediaWise.church - Resolution 5 - Truth

In 2 Thessalonians 2 Paul addresses a “wicked deception” that is coming, a future day when delusion will fall upon those who “refuse to love the truth” and those who “take pleasure in unrighteousness”, verses 10 and 11.

The admonition is to love the truth, but the reality is that we don’t like what the truth says about us. We don’t love THIS truth. And so, this deception is not one we should assume we have immunity against. Remember, Paul is writing to believers, of a time that eerily describes the present day.

We understand the deceived of 2 Thessalonians 2 are “perishing” and in God’s redemptive story the last pages are being turned. More so, God Himself closes the chapter by “sending a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false” (v11) This seals their fate, condemning all under its murk.

We know that “God is not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33) so how do we reconcile the assertion that it is God Himself who sends the delusion? 

Well, this same concept is echoed in Romans 1 when Paul writes:

“Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity…”

Simply put, when left to our own devices, we are as Romans 3:13 describes it, nothing better than speakers of death and deceit. 

No, God is not creating delusion. “Sending delusion” is the passive removal of what was previously holding it back, not the active creation of delusion or the hijacking of unwilling victims.

2 Thessalonians 2 verses 6 and 7 tell us that once these restraints are removed, the heart of man embraces deception willingly and fully.

Deception quickly gives way to delusion, which soon flows from the heart in abundance. These are the consequences of not loving the truth.

Unfortunately we live in an age that is primed for the mass spread of deception, and delusion. Social media is proving itself to be this dangerous conduit to the mind, for all things false and deceptive.

A conduit where lies spread faster and further than the truth. A false tweet will circle the globe ten times over before any corrections receive a retweet. The fact is, in many cases the truth is boring, while lies are sensationalized distortions that are great at agitating our emotions.

Even the smallest of lies are more effective than the simplest of truths. We see this harnessed in the out of context quotes, incomplete details, photoshop manipulations, or convenient photo cropping, that triggers our emotions, and our retweets.

As a people of God, we cannot resort to these tactics. We can not let our guard down when we are evaluating “facts”. We must resist the temptation to cut corners and carelessly share “partial truths”, “half truths” or even “mostly truths”. Even when there is an underlying truth, we must not use the vehicle of lies to make the delivery.

When we do so, we demonstrate not our faith in God, not our faith in the Truth, but simply a faith in ideas and a battle where the idea with the most shares wins. A popularity contest, as it were.

This breeds a carelessness in the Church that fails to consider the damage of compromise. We seek deep and devout precision when we talk about theology, when we discuss the Gospel. 

Even so we consistently find those who genuinely love the Lord, but have not bothered to fact check a post that they are sharing on Facebook, or retweeting on Twitter.

In response to these warnings, the MediaWise.Church must be extra vigilant to “love the truth”. Our resolve to have nothing to do with lies must be preeminent. And while we’ve seen the effectiveness of lies on social media, we can not chose this “easy path”.

It must be our love for the truth that compels us to spend the effort required to only spread truth. In many cases we simply don’t have the know-how to sleuth the truth online.

So, the bottom line is this, If we don’t have the skills or the time necessary to love the truth in this way, our resolve must be a refusal to share that Facebook post, retweet that meme or “like” that YouTube video.

Remember that our faith hinges on truth. Paul states it plainly, “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17) We can not be known as purveyors of falsehood, lest the Truth of the Gospel be lost in a muddle of distraction, disorientation, and disagreement.

And so, when we are careless with “facts”, we aren’t loving the truth. We have capitulated, as it were, to deception. The consequences of which cascade, often unknowingly, across our spheres of influence and into the relationships we seek to reach for Christ. And therein lies the danger of not loving the truth: being found unbelievable by an unbelieving world.

In John 18:37 Jesus says to Pilate "For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

Pilates fires back in response, “What is truth?” But what’s peculiar is that Pilate doesn’t even wait for an answer. He exits the interrogation room immediately thereafter. 

Imagine that. Pilate had just been told by Jesus that “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” and it is then that Pilate decides he is done listening to Jesus’ voice. Incredible. 

Maybe he was too busy and distracted by the political crisis of the moment. Maybe he was already decided about who Jesus was and too proud to change his views. Whatever the reason, Pilate forsook an opportunity to hear the voice of Jesus, and I can not begin to imagine the eternal regret he is experiencing for that. 

Recall that Jesus described himself as “the truth” (John 14:7). Indeed, the very incarnate truth of God, the Word of God, made flesh. 

He is our “belt of Truth” described in Ephesians 6:14 and this Truth is our only hope. With that same conviction of heart we must be a Church known for our commitment to truth…without compromise. That is the fruit of loving the truth.

The resolve of the Media Wise church must be to listen to the voice of Jesus and the truth He bears witness to, as found in the Word of God. We must love that Truth.