The Genesis of Means of Truth

I received my weekly visit from the neighborhood Jehovah's Witness church recently.  Rather than my usual, polite acceptance of the literature and listening to their thoughts and encouragement to seek the truth, I told my story.  I don't think they'll be back for a while. I told them politely, but emphatically that I would not join their church. Sad. I was kind of growing fond of them.

I realized during this conversation that I admired their discipline and willingness to pound the pavement to make their message known.  I can learn much from these people.  I was saddened by their message of "truth" over love, but I admired them for their passion.  And I also credit them for this inaugural post of this blog.

I started this blog because I believe I have a message that can benefit others, and also because I realized I personally needed an outlet, whether or not my thoughts ended up resonating with others. I hope to communicate that message over time through this blog, but to start...I thought I'd use the conversation to share a few insights.

I was struck by how similar JW's are to the Pharisees of Jesus' time.  They know all the answers.  They believe in truth and that they have found that truth.  They are an exclusive club.  You either assent intellectually to their set of beliefs or you cannot join their church.  The Pharisees knew the Bible better than anyone in their day. They were disciplined, educated, committed, and faithful. They had their list of beliefs perfectly defensible using the Old Testament and their interpretation of it.  Jesus didn't seek out these people to spend his time with, although I imagine He saw value in their noble attributes. He sought out those with the most potential to change the world, those who acknowledged that they did not have all the answers, but had the courage to follow Him wherever the journey of truth took them. God did not reveal himself to the world through Jesus in order to give us answers.  He revealed himself through Jesus to give us life.  It took courage for the disciples to leave a stable life of certainty, and enter the dynamic and often confusing journey of following Jesus. I'd also propose that they never did reach certainty, especially as it related to Jesus' ultimate purpose in His death, resurrection, and anticipated second coming. But their lives were altered in such a profound way that they literally changed the world. 

Jesus' way was defined by social and spiritual transformation.  He preached sacrificial love and unconditional forgiveness.  He often did not give answers to difficult questions, but used the questions themselves to reveal the heart of those asking them.  His harshest words were reserved not for the "sinner", but to those religious leaders who thought the term did not apply to them.  He let the consequences of sin be the judge, and let love lead people to the truth.   He did not give his disciples a list of doctrines to intellectually assent to before they could join Him, He showed them how love is the greatest of all commandments and from which all others flow.

Before you think, "yeah, you tell 'em Daniel"...the JWs only represent one extreme of this "monopoly on truth" and certainty=faith mindset.  It can subtly be found in most major denominations within the communities of those who claim to follow Jesus.  It's not as formally pronounced as JWs, but it reveals itself in the ostracizing of those who are courageous enough to lay aside what they have been told and ask tough questions with an open mind and even hold beliefs that are against the grain.

The intent of writing this blog is not to give my answers to tough questions, although that may happen at times.  There are enough very intelligent, highly-informed people with opinions out on the web or in books for pretty much any topic of interest.  I think what is needed more is a change in tone, and less emphasis on certainty being the hallmark of "Godly" people. If there is a huge ideological divide on a complicated topic, I believe the truth is often found in the mean or average of the broad range of intelligent, well-thought-out belief, or a combination of various concepts throughout the spectrum.  Listening is essential to the journey of truth in these complicated areas. I am an outlier in certain beliefs, but I recognize the improbability of me being right in these areas and only hold an outlier belief if I have spent considerable amount of time studying the range of belief and coming to a well informed decision.

In most cases, there are simply too many topics to perform this level of study to be anything but humbly holding to tentative opinions with an open mind. 

Take this thought and apply it to faith, lifestyle, family, politics, and other areas with hotly debated topics, and you get this blog. My goal is to give myself a forum to process concepts, but hopefully to also encourage and challenge others to change the spirit of the many debates we have in these areas. I have sought and continue to seek to listen more than I speak, but the JWs I visited with stirred something within me. I realized that I had certain ideas that I wanted to communicate in a more public way. I felt I had something to add to the conversation.  And hopefully, through these thoughts, I can further my own transformation to be more like Jesus, as well as encourage others in the same.