"Truth Matters" by Guest Writer-Jim Ehrhard

        Today's blog is from a missionary friend of mine, Jim Ehrhard.  I read the following in his quarterly update and agreed with all of it.  It is definitely worth sharing and since I've been sick, it's a great time for me to have a guest writer.  THANK YOU Jim for your wisdom and sharing with us all.

        What really matters? Black lives matter! Blue lives matter! All lives matter! While all these statements are true, one thing matters more - truth. And when truth no longer matters, nothing else will.

        For Christians, truth is an absolute. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul speaks about the resurrection of Jesus. He presents a long list of witnesses who saw Jesus risen from the dead. He even includes a group over 500 people who saw Jesus at the same time. Paul tells us that, if the resurrection did not take place, then we are liars and we are above all men to be most pitied! Why? Because Truth matters!

       America today is experiencing a great crisis. It is not a racial crisis as the media would have you believe. It is a truth crisis. I lived through the race conflicts of the 60s and 70s and the ones today are very different. Those who protested in the 60s believed they were voices of truth. Martin Luther King Jr. articulated the foundations of that movement: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." That dream is still my dream for America today.

But listen to what King warned about in his speech:

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

          And King gave an important warning – a warning that needs to be voiced today. Without this understanding, those protesting racism today quickly become racists ….

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

           But the crisis today is not racial. It is a crisis of truth. I grew up during the 60s and saw systematic racism everywhere. I lived in the South in the 70s when segregated restrooms and water fountains still existed and blacks were still not welcome in many white restaurants. And even though these things were not legal, you were warned not to cross those lines! After living back in the North for 2 decades, I returned to the Deep South in the 90s and found a world transformed from the 60s and 70s. Instead of public segregation, blacks and whites ate together in the same restaurants! And not only that, blacks and whites often sat at the same tables enjoying each other's company! The racism of the 60s seemed a distant past. I know there are exceptions - there always will be. I know we still have a way to go to eradicate racism. But the truth is we have made great progress as a nation on racial equality. The crisis today is whether or not truth will be allowed to be voiced.

          This is the scariest part of what is happening today. If truth is not allowed to be voiced, then only the loudest and most violent will have any voice. That is what is happening today. As a historian, I am shocked to see that the tactics used today are the same used by the “brown shirts” (Nazis) in the 1930s. They would follow those who did not support them into restaurants and publicly humiliate and intimidate them, and if that failed, they would resort to violence. They even required people to show their support of their movement or their businesses would be attacked. Today, America is losing the possibility of free speech, not by legislation (at least not yet), but by intimidation. In such an environment, truth is effectively silenced. And when truth no longer matters, nothing will matter.

But most important, how should believers respond? Here are some biblical principles to consider.

1.      Search diligently for the truth. I know this is not always easy and takes time. A number of years ago, I began to see that most of the news headlines were sensational or designed to mislead. For example, I would read a quotation attributed to someone on one media and then look to find the full text online. Most of the time, the headline quotation was taken out of context or even totally absent from the full text. I was alarmed by the complete dishonesty shown by journalists in reporting the news. Proverbs 2:4-6 tells us to look for wisdom like you would look for silver. Truth is precious. It might take you some time to search and find the truth, but the truth is worth it!

2.     Be careful to only share the truth. I am saddened that the media not only distorts the truth but intentionally hides it. It bothers me even more when Christians do the same to support their political views. As believers, we need to be sure that we share only the truth. I see many posts by Christians that also distort the evils of left and even attribute false quotes to various leaders. We need to remember that “The Lord detests lying lips” (Proverbs 12:22). Not just liberal ones but lying ones! That includes ours.

3.     Speak the truth – in love. In Ephesians 4:15, we are told to “speak the truth in love” so that we may “grow up into Him.” Make sure that even when you speak the truth, you speak it with grace and love. When Jesus came, he came, not just with truth but “full of grace and truth.” When we speak the truth, we need to be sure we do so with grace and truth! Our witness is affected when we respond back to angry people in anger. James 1:19 says, “Quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry. For the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” Make sure you speak the truth – in love!

4.     Be humble. When you make a mistake, correct it. When you say something wrongly, apologize. Don’t think we as Christians are always right. We certainly do not act righteously all the time. I often tell people that I would rather be “righteous” than “right.” Truth matters – but so do our attitudes and actions. We need to share the truth, but always in love. In 1 John 1:8, we are reminded: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” We may think we have “the truth” on our side, but if we use it in a sinful manner, then are only deceiving ourselves – and, although the truth might be on our lips, “the truth is not in us!”

5.     Saturate yourself in God’s truth. Jesus prayed for his disciples, “Sanctify them in truth; thy Word is truth” John 17:17. There is no better way to stay focused on the truth than to stay grounded in God’s Word. It not only informs us what the truth is, it also checks our character and corrects us when we wander from the truth. Make this your prayer: “Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name” (Psalm 86:11). Saturate yourself in God’s truth from God’s Word.

         What really matters? Truth – take truth out of the equation and you have nothing. Black lives definitely matter. But so blue lives, white lives, and all lives. That’s the truth. If we ever lose that, we lose everything.