Tuesday, April 24, 2012

PURSUING TRUTH

Philosopher Dallas Willard makes a provocative proposal: "Followers of Jesus are required to pursue truth wherever it leads them." This is perhaps a strange way to say it, but even more than we need to be committed to Jesus, we need to be committed to truth. For it is impossible to trust Jesus if way down deep inside, you don't think He was right. Sometimes believers are afraid that pursuing truth wherever it leads might make us uncomfortable. But as C. S. Lewis wrote, "Comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: If you look for comfort, you will not get either comfort or truth -- only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with, and in the end, despair."

Jesus Himself had quite a lot to say about truth. He said: "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:31b-32). "I am the way and the truth and the life: (14:6). "When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth" (16:13).

Another way of saying this is, if you have to choose between Jesus and truth, choose truth. But according to Jesus, if you search for truth, you will find Him. There is no other way to trust Jesus than to think and question and wrestle and struggle until you come to see that He really is true. One purpose of doubt is to motivate us to do that.

-- John Ortberg in Faith & Doubt


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