The Truth. Where did you get it?

When I was growing up I attended a private Christian school and attended Church twice on Sunday, so naturally I spent a large amount of my childhood studying the Scripture. Now, one would think that with all that time spent in studying and memorization, that one would be able to discover all kinds of mysteries; but the truth is that while I gained a large working knowledge base of the Scripture, the actual amount of truth I acted on was not reflective of this. I had many of what my peers considered “the right answers” but those answers were not reflective of truths that I personally and passionately believed or acted on. Sure, I knew these Biblical truths were the correct answers, but they did not resonate with me as principles that should guide my actions. I had a disconnect. They were just the cold hard facts. What re-enforced my ability to act contrary to these facts was what I later learned is called nonverbal communication.

Nonverbal Communication represents two thirds of all communication that happens. Now, if you are new to this term, I want take a moment to let this sink in. About 20% of what you take away from a conversation with someone will be what the person actually said, and about 80% will be how you interpreted things like body language, the tone in their voice and some other factors. This has a profound effect on how we communicate. In an age where we value facts and cold hard reason, the very idea that we formulate opinions based on things we do not rationalise or even verbalise shows how out of step we are with ourselves. How we are feeling in or about a conversation will have a much larger role to play then the actual words or ideas exchanged in the conversation. It is likely that 80% of all the things you hold as true, that you are most passionate about, are things you have never really rationally talked about. In fact, it’s likely that when challenged we will use the 20% of the factual conversation to validate the 80% of our emotional response. So what does this mean?

As I grew into adulthood, what I could see from those around me was that my willingness to act contrary to the truths I said I believed was actually quite common within the church. Even more, as I entered the work force I began to see that for the most part, this was true of almost everyone I met. At some point, they acted contrary to what they said they believed to be a fact. So, as a believer, did this make me feel better knowing I was “normal” because this is just a fact of our human existence? No, actually, it made me feel worse. One truth I believed, and still do is, is if the truth is indeed the truth, then it must be true for everyone. Thus, we must be able to act according to the truth, or it cannot be the truth. So then, when I looked around and saw how people, including me, were acting, what could I believe was true? It seemed that we as a human race had a very bad case of cognitive dissonance. How did this happen?

Enter nonverbal communication. While I spent a large portion of my youth studying the Scripture, it was not in a clinical or sterile environment, it was in a religious one. You see, I was surrounded by people who held their own ideas about what the Bible said and thus conveyed those perspectives onto me. Growing up in this environment, I was not aware of the impact that nonverbal communication was having on my ability to rightly discover the truth. It was however, in reality like being given a pair of glasses to read through that were intended to make sure I learned to have a correct relationship with God. Now to be clear, nonverbal communication is not purposefully used by those around us to try and be subversive. It is how we interact with each other on the most instinctual level, but the impact can profoundly shape us. The tone in someone’s voice, the way they sit in their chair or how they move their hands when they talk are all having an impact on our ability to process the information. Think, 80% of what we have learned from being around others came in the form of things that were never said. 80%! If this is the first time you are reading this, I know the weight of it will truly take time to sink in; I know it did for me. If the vast majority of my truths were formed by processing information I had never stopped to question, then was it any small wonder I suffered this split personality between what I believed was right and what I did?

Now what to do about it. I learned very quickly that all those years of study were going to finally pay off. You see, I learned that the only source of truth is God’s Word. Well of course, right? I want you to read those words again. God’s Words: only His can be trusted. Now let’s think about that. The ONLY source. It means you can’t trust anybody, most especially yourself. What you are thinking right now might be a lie, how would you know? What you are feeling right now could be a lie, how would you tell? Not so easy. Words are always easy and actions are always hard. Don’t believe me, try it out. Put God’s Word into action every day. The Bible is our school master, our guide to having a right relationship, which can lead us into all truth, but one would actually have to follow it in order to find the truth. Like the saying goes, ‘you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink’. So it is with us. We can be shown the truth, but no one can force us to act.

That’s why you haven’t seen me quote passages of Scripture, or put in a bunch of references to the Scriptures I allude to, for the simple fact that there is not a point. Almost every one of you has at least one Bible, several reference books, a study guide, a Bible app and Google. What I don’t believe most of you have done is taken off your glasses. Largely, when we look around our communities today, what do we see? Those who are overcoming the world or being overcome by it? I don’t think as believers we need more discussion on systematic theology or another doctrinal dissertation of hermeneutics, what I think we have a desperate need of is to look down at our feet and ask, am I standing on solid ground? Many have their eyes focused on the heavens looking for a sign or some kind of favour from God, while all the time they are sinking into the sand, and when I look a round today I see a profound lack of those left who are able to rescue them from this state; but why? Simply, we no longer act like we believe. We talk like it, but we don’t act like it. We get concerned for a great many things; for example, I may be passionate about helping the needy, I might give to the poor and I might stand fervently for my country and Israel, but in truth what does any of that matter? All are noble causes to be sure, but I can’t find any Scripture verse that compels us to be a noble people. You see, the Scripture shows us for what we really are and where we are really standing. The world has never been changed by those who do noble deeds, it’s been changed by those gave their days striving to put God’s Word into action.

If we look at the record left for us of the lives lived in the books of Acts, we will find a list of ordinary people living lives just like us. Those people had jobs, families, responsibilities, and yet, those same people were able to change the world they lived in. Oh sure, they had the Apostles, but they weren’t there every day. How were those first believers able to have such an impact in their communities and we have not? I read a statistic that said there are over 65 million evangelical Christians (this number excludes Catholics) in the Unites States alone. That means there are more evangelical Christians in the US than there are people in the United Kingdom, or twice the population of Canada. So why are things the way they are? Why are we in such bad shape? Simple, we no longer believe God’s Word and thus our actions reflect it. We believe lies that have been handed to us and we have swallowed them because they were never spoken. We believe things to be true, but they were truths we never really stopped to question. While 80% of all our human interaction is going on, when was the last time you or I stopped to question it? When did we stop and ask what God’s Word said on the matter? There is no need to really answer this. If you are honest, you will see the answer in the full length mirror or when you look out the window.

I could write on this for some time but I want this to sink in. We as believers need a desperate change in how we approach God’s Word; we need, if you will, a fresh revelation of the majesty of God. I am going to leave you with what I believe to be the most terrifying Scripture in all the New Testament. Matthew 7:22-23 “ Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?” Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” NIV. The very first word in this passage should be very sobering. Not “some” or “a few” but “many”. Many are going to find themselves in this state and how sad that will be? No hope of escape, the judgement will be final. Many will say “I did this” or “I did that,” but what will it all count for if they were standing in the sand the whole time? If they never took the time to look down at their feet to make sure they were on solid ground? One phrase sums up this verse for me, ‘people show you what they believe’. Why I do what I do is far more important than the doing. This is why with all the doing Christians do, there is not a corresponding result. We are largely a people whose actions are having little effect in our present world because we are not good students. We have failed to check what we believe honestly against the Word, and thus we are neck deep in the sand, still needing to be rescued instead of the ones doing the rescuing. Don’t be fooled by those who do signs and wonders, and don’t be fooled by those who’s acts are done without love, and above all, don’t be fooled by the person you see in the full length mirror. Let us trust in God alone and not on our own understanding.

Shalom

Jay