I am thinking this morning, as I read the passage for today, of the whole area of truth. How to find it, who to trust for its message, and its importance in my life. I'm sure a lot of the thought comes from the series, The Truth Project, that Mayre Lou and I help to facilitate for our church, but the word "Truth" seems to intrude on my thoughts more and more over time.
The verses for today, in John 17: 9-19, end with Jesus statement about being "sanctified in the truth", and I wonder what it means.
Two books have become my reading companions over the past few days. One is Bonhoeffer, by Eric Metaxas and Tim Keller, and the other is Just Another Buddhist-Christian, by Don Randall. This may seem like an unusual combination, but maybe they are not, because to me, they both center on a search for truth.
Bonhoeffer, was a German pastor, killed in prison by the Nazis at the end of WWII. He was an intellectually gifted man whose life was characterized by a hunger for, and a search for, the truth as revealed by God. His search majored on Scripture, but was augmented by studies with some of the most gifted theologians of his day, both in Germany and elsewhere.
Don Randall, on the other hand, is a man that I know personally. He and I have conversed over the past few years over the truths of the Bible. and his book is a personal journey of searching for truth. He is a psychologist by profession, and his search covers the trip from traditional Christian to where he sees himself today. He is a student of philosophy, and has been active in the Jesus Seminar movement, as well as studying other philosophies and authors down through the years.
On the surface, these two men have little in common, except for their individual search for truth. Both grew up in a Christian tradition, but one went toward the liberal side and the other toward the conservative side. Both were intellectual in their makeup, but they reached far different conclusions. Both are persuasive in their writing and in their journeys of discovery. One is the more famous, but does that make his search more impressive and command more weight?
Why does one book resonate with me more than the other regarding the truth issue? Is it because of my upbringing and my own personal bent toward the more conservative side? Have I just put myself in the place where I hear the voices of fundamental Christianity and tune out any deviations from this norm? Is it because I am not as intellectually gifted as some others and don't take the time to study all of these other philosophies? Is the culture that I surround myself with not conducive to open discussion of other ideas?
Where I am today is the result of a lot of choices that I have made over the years, and that includes all of the above questions and the answers to them, but it is also where I feel God has led. If I must hang my hat somewhere it will be with Him and in His Word.
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