Truth

As human beings, we seem so preoccupied with truth.  Religions are formed in the search of it.  Everyone wants to know what real truth is.  Is it relative?  Is it absolute?  Is your truth the same as my truth?  As Christians, the obsession grows even stronger.  We believe that we know the truth, and many people will stop at nothing to cram it down the throats of others.  Truth even becomes valued over relationships (I'm sorry I was such a jerk to you, but I had to tell you the truth), a horrible travesty!  But we justify it, because we place truth on such a high pedestal.  "Truth above all else," seems to be our motto.  

Mark 1 gives a little insight into Jesus' view on truth.  Both in verses 25 and 34, Jesus quiets unclean spirits.  These spirits are not screaming lies or obscenities.  Those would seem like justifiable reasons for silencing them.  No, these demonic spirits were speaking truth!  I know, it's crazy, right?  In Mark 1:24, the unclean spirit says, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have You come to destroy us?  I know who You are - the Holy One of God!" 

I don't know about you, but if I were Jesus, I'd be like, "Dude, you said it, not me.  Did everyone hear that?  It's totally true.  I know you shouldn't normally listen to demons, but this one's being honest right now.  See the fear in this guy's eyes?  That's because he knows who I am and what I can do.  That's right, I'm the Messiah.  Worship me."  But of course that's not what Jesus did.  You can, of course, argue that Jesus didn't want His holiness and majesty to be introduced to the world by a demon, but people had already seen the heavens opening and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove 14 verses ago.  So why would he have quieted the demons?

I think a lot of it was about timing.  It wasn't time for His true identity to be proclaimed.  I also think that, had people realized immediately who He was, they would have had a harder time trusting Him.  Their view of who God was and what He was like was so skewed that they wouldn't have been able to relate to Him, which was the whole reason for Him coming down there - to show them what He was really like.  He valued His relationships with His disciples and those around Him more than He valued the truth.  Well what do you know about that?

Maybe we could all learn a little something from Jesus (yes, that's a gross understatement).  When truth had the potential to hurt the relationships He was trying to build, He didn't let that happen.  Of course, I'm not suggesting we lie, but if truth can hurt our relationships with someone and we can get by without shoving the whole, hurtful thing in their faces, let's try that.  Shouldn't we value people over truth as it is?  After all, truth can't get its feelings hurt.