“Join In the Battle for Truth,” Part II

Yesterday I wrote about the hymn, “Give of Your Best to the Master,” and how the song helped shape much of my early understanding of what the Christian life was all about.  For me, in those early days, it was about giving my best and being engaged in the battle for truth.  But at that time, in those formative years,  I thought I had a good piece of the truth  already in my hands and had tucked away a good bit of the truth in my head.  Isn’t that the arrogance of youth?  Knowing it all or at least thinking they do!  I would learn, as most young people do eventually,  that the battle for truth is not something you have and hold, but rather something that you struggle to find, something that you search for and work toward  your whole life through.  Truth is not something already grasped or known, but something bigger and greater than perhaps any of us can grasp, know, or hold.  

With the song, “Give of Your Best to the Master,” in my heart, and with the arrogance of youth in my head, I continued my education and life experience.  It began to dawn on me that  everything was becoming a question rather than an answer.  Truth was not as readily available as I had thought—and the truth I thought I had a hold on and had tucked away in my head became suspect.

Dr. Smith (along with others) rocked my boat.  He punched holes in my life preserver.  He created turmoil in the sea of my mind.  He challenged the religious faith in which I had been immersed since childhood.  He tore my interpretation of the Book (Bible) to shreds.  I shall never forget his unrelenting assault upon my presumptions and ignorance during my first year in seminary.  Today, I am so grateful for his persistence in forcing me to seek truth rather than falsehood; to deal with  objective fact rather than simply subjective feeling.   He freed my mind from bondage—bondage to lies, falsehood, fiction—and set me free to think, to study, to delve into what is true and what is false, and not to settle for anything less, both in my spiritual life and life in general.  

Adolph Hitler believed and stated (and a bunch of other people apparently believe it, too), that “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.  Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.”  This ploy is being used on us right now and every day!  Join in the battle for truth.  Don’t let anyone put you in bondage through lies, falsehood, or fiction—think, study, delve into, and find out what is true and what is false, and don’t settle for anything less if you want to “Give of Your Best to the Master.”

“There is beauty in truth, even if it's painful. Those who lie, twist life so that it looks tasty to the lazy, brilliant to the ignorant, and powerful to the weak. But lies only strengthen our defects. They don't teach anything, help anything, fix anything or cure anything. Nor do they develop one's character, one's mind, one's heart or one's soul.”  (Jose N. Harris)