Truth matters, now and always

Jesus said, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32, NASB, 2020) The part of that sentence after the semi-colon is quoted far more often than the whole sentence. I believe that we miss the point if we take that second piece of the sentence in isolation from the rest.

The point is that those who seek to live by the teachings of Jesus will know enough truth to be free. We know from the rest of the New Testament that these words of Jesus were understood to apply even to slaves. The freedom Jesus promised was freedom of spirit.

In today’s tumultuous and troubled world, even many Christians find it difficult to know who to believe and what the truth is. Conflicting claims abound. How should we proceed?

The promise of Jesus about knowing the truth was for those who would continue in His word. That must mean that they live by and believe in His teachings.

Not everyone claiming to be a Christian does that. Decades ago, I knew a man in Southern California who had a contract to build a church building. The pastor of the church received complaints that some of the subcontractors had not been paid. The primary contractor told him that those subcontractors were illegal immigrants. He had hired them on purpose so that he would not have to pay them since, if they reported him to the authorities, their illegal status would be discovered and they would be deported. He had no intention of paying them.

This crooked contractor was a member of the church. When the pastor tried to force him to honor his agreements with the undocumented workers, the contractor got a petition started to remove the pastor from office.

Not all of the corruption in the world is in politicians and greedy corporations. We can’t get rid of all of the corruption, but we can at least make sure we aren’t a part of it. We can pay our debts. We can tell the truth whether it seems it will help us or not. We can honor our marriage vows. We can live moral lives.

If we do those things, we will know enough truth to be free in spirit. If not, we are no better than the crooked contractor.

Pastor Dan York ministers at Dover Community Church.