The Side of Truth
Some like authority, they find comfort in it. Others defy authority, often because of poor leadership, but many simply because authority represents a loss of personal freedom. Defying authority as a matter of principle is no longer a social anomaly, but a clear sign of societal decay. Authority is essential to peace. A society without authority is chaos and chaos is the objective of some. I attended a seminar where a counter-terrorism expert explained to his audience that the objective of terrorist acts is to create chaos which will undermine existing authority, thus destabilizing governments (authority). This by itself literally serves no purpose. But if a destabilized authority can be replaced with another which is sympathetic to the causes of the terrorist, new controls can be established. Many are led to believe that acts of terrorism are intended to punish what someone has defined as evil or an evil culture. That by itself is a lie. To suggest a change in controls, moving to the hands of other flawed leaders, wouldn’t produce any supporters either. So in the end there is no societal point, just flawed objectives. You think I’m writing about current times, but this is about all times.
“You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:37 NIV). Jesus spent His time on earth trying to teach us the truth. The truth is that there is only one reliable authority in the universe, and every other level of authority must eventually submit to the ultimate authority for peace to exist in this world. Jesus told us that everyone on the side of truth listens to Him. Which has another dimension, which is that if we choose not to listen to Him, we are not on the side of truth. “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. (John 18:38 NIV). At that moment, Pilate was on the side of truth, but the Jews who had held but were afraid of losing control were not. Jesus made a valiant effort, one which has continued to produce fruit for nearly 2,000 years. The Lord’s disciples now play an instrumental role in this effort. If we are on the side of truth, sharing that truth is paramount. Hiding that truth is also a flawed objective. Let’s be on the side of truth and change the world!
JC Calkins with COMMON SENSE 4 UNCOMMON PEOPLE
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