The Power of Truth
The greatest gift the Lord has given us for our daily life is the gift of the Holy Spirit. Even so, having the Spirit of Truth in one’s possession is no guarantee we will make full use of Him. For though we have access to truth, the question then, is not whether we can get the truth, but do we want the truth. For as much as we may think ourselves to be lovers of the truth, the abundance of unresolved conflict is evidence of the opposite. This fact in itself should drive us to the fear of God. It should inspire us to readily take up the challenge of 2nd Corinthians 13:5 which says, "Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith, prove your own selves." As much as we may be convinced of our opinion and position, we should be prepared to examine our heart issues. The Apostle focuses his point with a further statement in verse 8, saying, "For we have no power against the truth, but for the truth." His intent was to suggest that the strength of our standing hinges on the degree to which we are in the truth. Therefore, if we are going to enter conflict we had best ensure we are in fact standing on the side of truth and not our own agendas.
This was not the first thing Paul had to say about division. In dealing with the Corinthian church’s division, he makes an amazing statement. One which, if it were not true, would suggest he was deluded with arrogance. On the other hand his enemies no doubt thought him arrogant, despite his being correct. He wrote, ‘But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judged by no man.’(1 Corinthians 2:15) The assertion he is making has to do primarily with his own claim to objectivity. He is not affirming the Corinthians but himself as being one who is spiritual and the Corinthians as being carnal or childish(1 Corinthians 3:1-3). Still, one who is sincere, but not as sure of himself as Paul was, might question, "How could he be so sure he was right?"
This is, in fact, the question we should want to answer. ‘Is there a way you can know with absolute certainty that you are right?’ Or put another way, ‘that you are in the truth?’ The answer is an unequivocal ‘yes!’. The same certainty available to Jesus and the apostle Paul is ours for the taking if we have the courage to embrace the truth. But what truth do we speak of? Are not all believers in possession of the truth. No doubt all believers would claim to have embraced the truth on the grounds that they believe the Bible. But this is not what we are talking about. The Pharisee’s claimed to have the truth because they believed the written scripture. All such religious posturing is of no regard. For if the possession of scripture or the belief in one’s own sincerity were any guarantee, division among believers would be impossible! Rather, we need to look away from the arena of Biblical to the standard we can call ‘spiritual’. This is not to say we ignore Scripture. But, for the moment, we need to set aside the idea of correctness, as it can be used to mask heart issues which need to be challenged. After all, this was the standard Paul referred to when dealing with the Corinthians. He contrasted a spiritual mindset against a carnal one. He never spoke of the ‘Biblicalness’ of his position but the subjective ‘spiritualness’ of his life.
Mature vs Immature
The problem begins first of all because we think in terms of right and wrong. Let’s instead exchange the dynamics, and language, away from right and wrong and over to mature and immature. In other words the right response is the mature response and the wrong response is the immature response. This is, after all, what Paul pointed to in his correction of the Corinthian believers. In essence he was saying that the amazing level of childish response was the actual problem. The father heart within him did not want to commend on the basis of right and wrong, but to motivate maturity. This is exactly what we try to do as fathers in the home.
For example two of my older kids might come to me complaining that the other has done something wrong. Usually it amounts to ‘he said/she said’. The truth is it matters little who is right and who is wrong, as I am more interested in age appropriate responses. My parenting responsibility is not to only solve the current problem, but includes an attempt to call the older child into accountability. What usually surfaces is a claim of emotional superiority. The older one holds to the opinion that the younger is infinitely less mature. The conclusion being, therefore I must be right. My response is an attempt to show the criteria of maturity. In other words, you might think you’re superior, but your attitude and response demonstrate that you are pretty much on the same level as your brother or sister.
This truth becomes more obvious when looking at children with much greater age gaps. In our family we have 4 kids all close in age. Then there is Tiffany who is 5 years younger than the others. Tiffany is now 3 and a half while the next oldest is 8 and half. When Tiffany doesn’t get what she wants she might accuse the others of being mean or nasty. Mostly this is greeted with tolerance, amusement and understanding. The older kids are not engaged by Tiffany’s taunts and do not enter into conflict. Why? Because the obvious maturity gulf between this little one and the others is too great. Even though Tiffany might be genuinely unhappy, her little outbursts are too insignificant to threaten the others. A posture of defensiveness is not necessary. In other words, the older kids demonstrate an age appropriate response. This itself is the evidence that they are in fact more mature. And if mature is equivalent to being right, they would be right.
On the other hand the taunts of the 11 year old toward my 13 year old are not so easily dismissed. No, they are eagerly greeted with emotional engagement of the highest order. In fact, the four older ones all seem to be able to solicit a response from each other. What does this tell me? It tells me that despite the age difference they are emotionally very much on the same level. Meaning, being right is less important than being in relationship, and that my friends requires maturity. It does not mean we ignore being right, but we realize being right is of no value without being mature.
The Spiritual Application
Now applying this to our church situations should bring us to the same conclusions. Which is to say, we are not spiritually superior to those who successfully engage us, whether or not we believe them to be wrong. The goal of our instruction Paul said is love (1 Timothy 1:5). Those who are actually mature walk in a higher level of understanding and grace toward the immature. When we see our flesh responding, the truly mature will pull back from the conflict and examine themselves. The immature will look for ways to justify an evil heart by ‘he said/she said–he did/she did’.
Does this not mean that right and wrong no longer matter? No so! They continue to be important, but they are defined not by argument but by love. That is, the one who is most like to advance the kingdom is the one who holds no grudge and bears no ill will. James wrote that the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore being right is only slightly better than being wrong. However, right flesh is as useless as wrong flesh when it comes to producing the Kingdom. If we are actually right but move out of envy, strife and ambition, we are in no position to advance the kingdom of God.
Therefore the issue of right and wrong ceases to be the preeminent question. Those whom God approves are the ones who pursue the kingdom of God, while at the same time, walk in righteousness towards the rest of the body. If we find our flesh engaged and enraged, it is not the time to justify ourselves. For if we love the truth we should already know there is a problem. It may or may not regard our position, but it does regard our person. And while we may be accustomed to using issues to deflect attention away from our person, we should know that ‘we have no power against the truth’.