"The Truth shall set you free…"

I was reading yesterday and this passage caught my attention.  Here's what I've been taught about it, take it or leave it.

First, here's the passage:

"So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, 'If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.' They answered him, 'We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?'

Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yetyou seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.'"

John 8:31-38 (ESV)

The phrase "the truth shall set you free" has been used out of its original context a lot in movie quotes or even just colloquially.  We usually hear it as "honesty will set you free."  But after reading it in context is that what it really means?  What is this "truth" that Jesus talks about, it it "honesty?"

The word in the Greek is ἀλήθεια (alitheia).  Ἀλήθεια means "the content of that which is true and this in accordance with what actually happened-'truth.'"  "[It is] used to refer to the revelation of God that Jesus brings or, perhaps, to Jesus himself for what he actually is as the revelation of God." (Louw & Nida, 673)

Ἀλήθεια is much more than just honesty, it's the truth, the real revelation from God.  Jesus is the ultimate revelation from God, more than any scripture, more than any prophecy, more than any other prophet, Jesus is God in the flesh.  We could (and maybe sometimes should) read this as "Jesus will set you free."

Motivations v. Truth

In reading Philippians 1 this morning I thought about a passage that I've seen and read before and even used in illustrations (as recent as last night).  

"Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others for good will.  The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.  The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice."  Philippians 1:15-18 (ESV)

I remember reading that for the first time and being kind of offended and shocked. The righteous indignation that Christ should only be preached when it's out of right motives!   But then I began to consider the passages surrounding it. 

Paul is writing this as he's in prison and of course the rest of the disciples are concerned for him. But some are seeking to take advantage of him being in prison by preaching and trying to take his spot as a noteworthy preacher... (Cf. "Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry...") But Paul is saying that doesn't matter because Christ is being preached. 

So I've taken this as it doesn't matter who or how Christ is preached, as long as he's preached it's good! My thinking about this usually brings me to Joel Osteen. He's a preacher who carries a lot of attention and reaches hundreds of thousands of people yet with a weak message... But it doesn't matter! Christ is being preached! Right?

This makes me think of false teachers/preachers.  It doesn't matter right? Because Christ is being proclaimed and preached! It doesn't matter if they're doing it for the right motives, He's being preached. Right? 

Mmm, maybe not. Look at what Peter has to say in 2 Peter 2:1-3:

"But false prophets also rose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who brought them, bringing upon themsves swift destruction.  And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep."

It's not okay to preach/teach a false message about Christ. So how do these two passages work to form a doctrine we should have on preachers/preaching?

Paul puts into question their motivation. Peter puts into question their validity.  Motivation is neither here nor there, is what Paul is saying, so long as it is Truth that they are preaching. But, when that message is not true, whether or not they have good motives, they need to be corrected and dealt with. 

Haiti

All the bags are packed, accounted for, and under-weight! Now all that's left is to sleep/nap until its time to get ready to leave for the air port. We have 20 checked bags with roughly half of that being donations.  With each bag weighing an average of about 40lbs that's almost 400lbs of donations!  

With 16 people going and each having to pay $1100 that's $17,600 consisting mostly of donations! 

It is a huge honor and blessing to be able to go and spread God's word, love, and hope. It's also a privilege to be responsible for 10 students in a 3rd world country. This trip is going to be great!  Time to nap. 

A post about posting

Twitter stats:
1 week. The time it now takes for users to send a billion Tweets.

140 million. The average number of Tweets people sent per day, in the last month. [back in 2011]

6,939. Current TPS [Tweets Per Second] record, set 4 seconds after midnight in Japan on New Year’s Day.

Facebook/Instagram stats:
Each day on Facebook 300 million photos are uploaded

Instagram gains one new user every second

One billion photos have been taken with the app [Instagram]

There are roughly 58 photos uploaded each second [Instagram]


We live in a country where most people, especially our age group, have a smart phone that puts these things literally at the tips of our fingers. (I'm actually writing this post right now from my phone...) Because something is so easy and accessible that means we don't always think about it when we use it.

Think about the toilet or shower, when's the last time you said "man, I'm glad I have a good shower with hot water, that's indoors, etc." When a thing becomes so accessible that we forget why we have it it can become dangerous.

Lets look back at the three big social media things above. You can literally open the app and share text, a link, a photo or anything from open to post in less than 10 seconds. How often do you think about what you're sharing before you post it? Do you know who can see it? What is the message that's intended?

What happens when you see a gorgeous sunset? You take a picture and post it! Then you move on and keep doing what you were doing. When's the last time you stayed and watched a sunset? (This doesn't apply if you're driving lol, then again, you shouldn't be tweeting and driving.) From yellow to orange to pink to red to a deep purple. God created these things. Acknowledge him. When a tweet becomes so accessible you forget why you're tweeting, it's dangerous.

The next time you cook an awesome lunch and Instagram it thank God for him giving you the ability to cook, the food to prepare, and maybe even the person you're sharing it with... Heck even the technology you're using to share it!

Stop and appreciate the things you are sharing. Most of all, appreciate the One who has given you those things. Take it as a challenge to pray really quick before you post things for one week. You'll see how many superfluous things you post and you'll probably realize some blessings that you didn't see before.

Statistic sources:
http://blog.twitter.com/2011/03/numbers.html?m=1
http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/infographic-instagram-stats/