Truth or dare
- Gary Fritsch
- May 12
- 2 min read
When I was a kid, we played a game called truth or dare. Probably not a smart game to play, but we did it nonetheless. You had to either answer a question from a friend truthfully, or you had to complete a dare from a friend. Today, we see that Jesus is always choosing truth, but those who are would-be questioners might actually be seeking something else.
In the Easter Season, I like to read the Gospel first and then read from the Acts of the Apostles. This puts the events in chronological order and we can see how the Apostles and their lives are mirroring Jesus in the Gospels. So as we consider Jesus' confrontation with the Pharisees, we see the question come from them, and it is a fair question. It is a question that Jesus has answered in various ways in the past, but it's not like he posted a youtube video. Some of these men might not have been present, etc. Jesus is not perturbed that they are asking the question. He would LOVE it if they were earnestly seeking the truth about Him. But they aren't. If He speaks truth and answers plainly (which they say they want) they are not prepared to accept it as truth and act accordingly. They are not seeking truth, they are asking specifically for the purpose of being justified in rejecting Him. Because of this, Jesus refuses to answer.
In the Acts of the Apostles, we see Jesus' followers proclaiming the truth about Jesus, and people cannot help but be drawn to it, even if they were not the intended audience. These people, even though they are not among the Jews, whom Jesus was sent to first, are seeking truth and so they are drawn to Jesus. How are they drawn to Him? Through the words and life of His disciples. They see truth in them.
This brings us to today, where we are challenged by two questions: are we seeking truth, and are we sharing truth? As we approach God in prayer, are we asking God to reveal who He is and what He wants to us or are we wanting Him to verify that He is the God we want, doing the things we want in the timing that we want? If we are honest, we probably would say we do a little of both. Do we present the truth of God to others so that He might come to change their lives in the way that He desires to, or do we use the words of God to try to get them to change their lives in the way that WE would want them to? Again, if honesty prevails, we might say we have a foot in each of these approaches.
Lord, help us pursue truth. Lord, help us present truth, help us live truth - if we dare to.
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