![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2011\/01\/the-moment-of-truth.jpg\" "\\"the-moment-of-truth\\"")
<\/a> Have you ever noticed that there is a truth structure to reality itself?\u00a0 What do I mean by this?\u00a0 Well consider what happens when you tell a lie.\u00a0 Go ahead, admit it, you\u2019ve done that before.\u00a0\u00a0 What happens when the lie is challenged?\u00a0 Well then you are confronted again with the truth of the matter and you have a choice either to admit the lie, orrrrrr\u00a0 you have to make up another lie.\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018Oh what a subtle web we weave\u2026.\u2019 and indeed when you start weaving a web of lies and deceits, you have to keep going and try to be consistent with your previous lie, because there are always flaws with lies.\u00a0 Lies, like the prince of lies, cannot stand the light of day and real scrutiny.\u00a0 \u2018Be sure your sins will find you out\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0 Whereas when you tell the truth,\u00a0 you don\u2019t need to keep imaginatively inventing things, one story after another, one excuse after another. \u00a0 The truth really does set you free, in so many ways,\u00a0 free from having to cover things up, free from having to go on lying, freedom from having to live a lie.\u00a0 One of the saddest truths about fallen human beings and lying is that after a while, a person is so enmeshed in their own web of lies, they begin to believe them, themselves.\u00a0 Deception turns into self-deception, and all kinds of self-justification and rationalization. \u00a0 But life was not meant to be this way at all.<\/p>\nRemember the story of the Garden of Eden, which turned out to be the Garden of Evil?\u00a0 The down-fall began with a little lie, indeed as Jesus was to call it later \u2018THE lie\u2019\u2014 it was subtle, it was more of an insinuation than a frontal attack on the truth\u2014- \u2018did God really say?\u2019 \u00a0 But in fact God had not prohibited eating from every<\/em> tree in the garden, only one. \u00a0 And the path from insinuation to a bold-faced lie <\/strong>is a short one\u2014 \u2018you will not die\u2019\u00a0 lisps the snake.\u00a0 The father of lies would make God out to be the liar.<\/p>\n An awful lot of discussion about sin forgets entirely that the most primal sin is lying.\u00a0 Whether it is a little white lie, or a lie the size of an elephant, it is still a lie.\u00a0 And any lie is a denial of God\u2019s existence, not merely of his truth.\u00a0 There is a reason why Jesus says\u00a0 \u2018I am the truth\u2019. \u00a0 If you want to be a saved person, then you have to face not merely truth in the abstract, you have to face the truth about yourself. \u00a0 And the truth about ourselves is not entirely pretty.\u00a0 There is something serpentine about us as fallen persons.\u00a0 Like a snake that crawls along the ground, we are earthbound, though there is heaven in our hearts and dreams. \u00a0 There is a reason why children aren\u2019t named Judas in our culture, indeed probably a reason why really major sports teams don\u2019t want to call themselves the \u2018serpents\u2019. \u00a0 Shoot, they will even call themselves the \u2018fighting okra\u2019 instead of that (check out Delta State U.). \u00a0\u00a0 There is a p.r. problem with the name \u2018Judas\u2019 or \u2018snakes\u2019.\u00a0 And part of it is that we realize deep down that there is something wrong with lying, which in part is a realization that there is something wrong with ourselves.<\/p>\n The truth structure of reality is such that it can be rather unforgiving.\u00a0 I mean it is true that if you jump off a 10 story building with no parachute you will not merely experience a heavy bit of gravity, you will likely crash land. And it will hurt. Pain, as C. S Lewis once said is God\u2019s megaphone reminding us we are living against<\/em> the truth structure of reality.\u00a0 God structured into reality accountability for words and deeds, at least in the long run.<\/p>\n There are always consequences to lies,\u00a0 not the least of which is when you cry wolf too often and there is no wolf, you develop an air of unbelievability. No one trusts you.\u00a0 And that brings us back to ground zero\u2014 truth. \u00a0\u00a0 Trust is grounded in truth and honesty.\u00a0 Love is grounded in trust which is grounded in truth and honesty.\u00a0 You cannot unconditionally love someone you don\u2019t totally trust. \u00a0 You may \u2018lust them\u2019\u00a0 but you can\u2019t totally love them.\u00a0 And trust always presupposes that truth in reality structure\u2014- always. \u00a0\u00a0 A relationship not based in truth cannot last ultimately.\u00a0 The reason we call it true<\/em> love is because it is a love based in truth and honesty and loyalty and devotion.\u00a0 True love is not blind love because it always wants the best for the other person, wants them to be their best selves, their true selves.<\/p>\n Have you ever taken a lie detector test?\u00a0 I did once, and I learned something about myself, namely I need to be more careful in what I say, and hew as closely as I can to what I know of the truth. \u00a0 Of course you can pass a human lie detector test simply by being honest, and not necessarily telling \u2018THE truth\u2019\u00a0 only telling honestly what you believe to be the truth. \u00a0 But when it comes to God\u2019s lie detector test,\u00a0 the bar is raised considerably. \u00a0 God does not accept an approximation of the truth, he wants the truth, the whole truth, and nothing\u00a0 but the truth.\u00a0 So much does he want that, that he has sent us the Holy Spirit as a constant early warning and internal warning system to remind us of the truth, especially the truth about ourselves, which often is painful.<\/p>\n And then there is the whole deal about the moment of truth, the crisis moment, when we have a chance to be our best selves. \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 Here is a little poem to meditate on, on that subject. \u00a0\u00a0 And while you are reflecting on that,\u00a0 I would just say\u2014- despite all the psychological literature that urges us to \u2018be who we are\u2019 \u00a0 and \u2018be true to ourselves\u2019\u00a0 the Bible doesn\u2019t really agree.\u00a0 We are to be who God intends us to be, created in his image, and modeling his character, and above all we can only be true to our best selves, when we are true to God.\u00a0 It is not enough to be honest with God, we have to be tried and true.\u00a0 God doesn\u2019t just want our honest selves,\u00a0 though that\u2019s a good start, he wants our true selves,\u00a0 being conformed to the image of his Son, Jesus.\u00a0 Are you suffering from some truth decay?\u00a0\u00a0 We all do from time to time, which is why we always need reminders about the truth, and how it sets us free to be all He wants us to be.<\/p>\n THE MOMENT OF TRUTH<\/p>\n It sneaks up on you unawares<\/p>\n While you are preoccupied<\/p>\n It catches you quite unprepared<\/p>\n Enthralled as you are in your pride.<\/p>\n Blindsided, you flinch instinctively<\/p>\n When suddenly you are accosted<\/p>\n You realize in an instance \u2018it\u2019s now\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n Or else you\u2019ve totally lost it.<\/p>\n All those years of pure preparation<\/p>\n All those long times of careful thought<\/p>\n Have arrived at this destination<\/p>\n So why do you feel you are caught?<\/p>\n Shocked by the sudden challenge<\/p>\n Your defensive reflex, a surprise<\/p>\n Call up the \u2018the hope that\u2019s within you\u2019<\/p>\n And look them right in the eyes.<\/p>\n Like fumbling with keys in the doorway,<\/p>\n You find you\u2019re at a loss for words,<\/p>\n Why suddenly this ineptitude<\/p>\n Your nervousness seems absurd.<\/p>\n And there is no graceful exit,<\/p>\n No quiet bowing out<\/p>\n No way to delay the inevitable<\/p>\n You\u2019re in the ring, no doubt.<\/p>\n \u2018Speak now, or else forever<\/p>\n Forever hold your peace\u2019,<\/p>\n The questioner is insistent<\/p>\n She seeks some sort of release.<\/p>\n When the moment of truth is upon you<\/p>\n And you have no time to prepare<\/p>\n Will you know what to say in that instant<\/p>\n Will you find out how much you care?<\/p>\n Will you call on the Spirit for guidance<\/p>\n Will you ask that the cup might pass<\/p>\n Will you be alarmed by your feeling<\/p>\n That the moment is here at last?<\/p>\n Will you feel like a total coward<\/p>\n A child without his homework<\/p>\n Will the force of the question flatten you<\/p>\n Will you turn your head with a jerk.<\/p>\n Will you say \u2018I don\u2019t know him\u2019<\/p>\n Will you deny him multiple times,<\/p>\n Will you say \u2018I must be leaving\u2019<\/p>\n When recognized, turn on a dime?<\/p>\n When all your learning fails you<\/p>\n And all your bravado too,<\/p>\n When you have no cup of courage<\/p>\n And you don\u2019t know what to do,<\/p>\n Will the moment of truth unmask you<\/p>\n And reveal the imposter inside,<\/p>\n Are you really his true disciple,<\/p>\n Or are you just along for the ride?<\/p>\n In the moment of truth you find out<\/p>\n Just exactly where you are,<\/p>\n Either someone whole-heartedly committed<\/p>\n Or someone who hasn\u2019t gone that far.<\/p>\n Are you flirting with being his follower<\/p>\n Without fully embracing his grace<\/p>\n And when the road gets bumpy<\/p>\n Are you wanting out of the race?<\/p>\n The moment of truth reveals all,<\/p>\n It gives you a progress report<\/p>\n As to whether the truth is within you<\/p>\n Or is it still something you court?<\/p>\n But the moment of truth need not define<\/em> you<\/p>\n It\u2019s not a final<\/em> exam,<\/p>\n Even Peter\u2019s denials didn\u2019t end things,<\/p>\n \u201cIt need not decide who I am\u201d<\/p>\n And when you see another failing<\/p>\n Fumbling, falling down,<\/p>\n Don\u2019t turn away in scorn,<\/p>\n It could be you on the ground.<\/p>\n But for the grace of God,<\/p>\n We all would come up short<\/p>\n When the moment of truth comes calling,<\/p>\n Christian faith is no spectator sport.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Have you ever noticed that there is a truth structure to reality itself?\u00a0 What do I mean by this?\u00a0 Well consider what happens when you tell a lie.\u00a0 Go ahead, admit it, you\u2019ve done that before.\u00a0\u00a0 What happens when the lie is challenged?\u00a0 Well then you are confronted again with the truth of the matter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n