The Whole Truth and Anything but the Truth?
My wife and I had just finished our meal when the server came by to ask if we needed anything else. We shared with him, “no, we’re good.”
He then asked if we were ready for our bill and proceeded to program the kiosk at our table so we could complete our payment transaction. As he began to turn to walk away, he mentioned, “oh by the way, once you’ve completed the payment, you’ll be asked to complete a survey.” We nodded in acknowledgement.
He then added, “Be honest about only the good stuff.”
As he left, my wife and I looked at each other with a grin. I commented, “I guess I’m kind of like that too. Likely we all are.”
As it turned out, I was able to be honest about the whole survey and follow the instructions given.
Scripture
“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” John 16:7-15
Points to Ponder
· The Holy Spirit is called the Advocate. The Greek word rendered advocate is parakletos. It is made up of two words. The first means, “from close beside.” The second means, “make a call.” This word was used often to mean one called to plead the case of another in a court of law. This makes a lot of sense given that the previous verses of context use legal terms like prove, wrong, righteousness, judgment, and truth.
· The truth is that there is none righteous, not even one, according to Romans 3:10. In our humanity, we want to deal with anything but that truth.
· The whole truth is that God does not look the other way and only report on the good stuff; he deals with our sin problem head on! He makes a way to fully restore unrighteous mankind into right relationship. “The righteous God righteously righteouses the unrighteous,” according to Andy Naselli in an article entitled, “A Systematic Theology of Justification.” Jesus’ sacrificial death propitiates or satisfies God’s wrath. Jesus’ righteousness is imputed to any who believe in him. His righteousness justifies us to stand before him as the righteousness of God in Christ. The unrighteous have now become the righteousness! That’s nothing but the truth!
Kingdom Strategy
In this same comprehensive manner, I believe God is calling kingdom leaders to deal in the whole truth. God’s heart is not avoidance, but restoration. God’s way is not passivity but reconciliation. When we encounter difficult situations that would be easier to deal with anything but the truth, may we deal in the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. As we lead in truth, I believe others will find freedom – including us!