Antitruth

Where do lies come from?

But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and you know that no lie comes from the truth. - 1 John 2:20-21

Today's reading from John is all about truth and lies.

It sounds like he is saying that if we know the truth we will share the truth and not lie.  But we all know that isn't true, right?  People lie and they know it is a lie because they know the truth.

If we seek the truth and find it, but choose to lie instead, we are deceivers, and that, I believe, is what he is warning against.

He is being very specific here, talking about Christ.  Jesus, he says, is the son and if we deny Jesus, we deny the Father who sent him.  And if we know the truth about him and lie, we are acting against Christ and against truth.

We are antichrists, spreading what we could call "antitruth."

At the heart of this lies the personal revelation of who Jesus was and who Jesus is in our lives.  And it is something we tend not to talk about.  Like the disciples hiding together after the crucifixion, we keep our faith to ourselves.  We shut it in and maybe even deny it out in public, just like Peter did.

But John is challenging us to be examples of our faith, and to tell the truth about it.

To do that, we must come to our own decisions about what it all means.  If I believe in Jesus the Christ, do I believe there is no other path to the Father?

If not, am I spreading truth or falling short?

For John it is simple.  Once you learn the truth from the Holy Spirit, live it.  For those who follow Jesus, follow and believe it is the only path to the Father.

So, then should we try to convert those who don't believe, or do we leave it to them to find their path?

That is the real question.  I look at it this way.

I know my path is right for me.  If you have a path that is right for you, I can respect that.  But if you are lost and have no path to follow, let me show you mine.

There are enough who are without a path to keep us all very busy.

More to come...