Week 2:
John 8:32
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will
set you free.
Last week we looked at grace and truth.
Jesus lived and practiced both grace and truth.
For us as Christians to be affective in
reaching people with the Gospel, it takes a gracious relationship mixed with
Biblical truth.
They both work
together.
To understand deeper how to
reach others with God’s truth, we must understand the barriers to truth.
While I was High School Senior Bible teacher, I was blessed with teaching an
Apologetics class.
This is basically a
class to teach students how to defend their faith.
One of the themes throughout the semester is
the concept of grace and truth through relationship.
We as teachers tried to avoid debate only, “bumper
sticker” Christianity.
One of the early
building blocks of the class is the teaching over the four barriers to
truth.
We introduce the concepts, point
out some ways to recognize the barriers, and give some methods on how to handle
these barriers.
The four basic barriers
to truth are the willful barrier, the barrier of ignorance, the barrier of
blindness, and the emotional barrier.
As
I noted last week, when dealing with others around grace and truth; there are
many who have trouble with truth.
Some of
this is due to our relationship.
However, much of this deals around one of these barriers.
The willful barrier: No matter how
God is presented; no matter what is presented, the person does not
believe.
I can have all the evidence in
the world and even have a great relationship with the individual and yet he/she
will not believe.
Whatever the reason
may be; pride, stubbornness, anger, etc., he/she refuses to believe.
This is a willful barrier to truth.
Using the Bible will not help.
Not for this individual.
The two approaches needed in order to reach
someone in this state are:
Love and
prayer.
I have to continue to love this
person no matter where he/she stands in life.
I cannot give up on love.
Hand in
hand with that has to be prayer for the person.
Only God, through His Spirit, can break down this barrier.
The barrier of ignorance: I have
heard it said, and find it a more true statement the older I become, “You don’t
know what you don’t know.”
This may be a
person who has never been exposed to the truth about God, Jesus, and the
kingdom.
In more, detail, he/she may
recognize the names of God and Jesus but have not reference point in his/her
life to make a connection.
I see this
sometimes as I deal with another person around an issue and I use a Biblical
story to illustrate what’s going on.
I
have to stop and give the whole story in order for it all to make sense and
connect.
The two best approaches here
are love and teaching.
Continue the
loving relationship and teach where ever possible.
Get a Bible in his/her hand and begin
mentoring and disciple.
The barrier of blindness: The one receiving the message is blinded
by something.
Jesus referenced the
phrase, “Eyes but cannot see…” in different scenarios.
Something is blocking the hearer from seeing
the truth.
It could be an idol, a
distraction, a search in the wrong direction, etc.
Whatever it is, he/she is blind.
Two approaches to this barrier are love and
information (Are you seeing a reoccurring theme here? L-O-V-E).
I must continue to love.
Out of that love I need to have a strong
argument based on Biblical authority.
If
I go in to this scenario to only win an argument, then I have missed.
My information must be based on Biblical
authority.
The emotional barrier: This barrier is based on emotional occurrences
in a person’s life.
He/she has usually
been wounded by Christians or some Biblical misuse around an occurrence in
his/her life.
There is a wound that
carries strong emotions for this person.
Pointing out truth may deepen the wound and further shame for
him/her.
For example; I knew a man who
would not set foot in a Church.
What was
his reason?
When his wife was pregnant,
they began to attend a local Church.
One
day an elder and his wife were visiting the couple.
The elder’s wife did the math and discovered
that the baby the couple were having had been conceived out of wedlock.
During the visit, she proceeded to point that
out in a condescending and judgmental way.
Yet, when the baby was born, she was one of the first to make a big deal
out of the child at Church.
This came
across as hypocrisy to the husband.
She
may have pointed out truth and the sin that came with that truth, but her
timing and lack of relationship was damaging.
The two approaches to this barrier are a loving understanding and the
practice of mercy and grace.
Empathy is
a huge key here.
First seek to
understand before being understood.
With these four barriers in mind, I must continue to understand those who do
not see the truth.
The fact of the
matter is, I have experienced each of these barriers personally when truth
different than I have understood has been presented to me.
When I am faced with these barriers in the
future, it would be good for me to keep in mind how I felt or reacted when I
did not believe a truth at the outset.
Questions/challenges:
1.
Which of the four barriers have you been faced with
lately when speaking truth?
2.
In your own words, explain why it is so important to
have a loving relationship with one you are speaking truth.
3.
Describe the difficulty you have had speaking truth when
encountering one of these barriers?
4.
Does knowledge of these barriers open your eyes to some
new avenues? How?
5.
This week, pay attention to where any of these four
barriers shows up. Ask God to give you
strength, boldness, understanding, and wisdom as you encounter one or all of
these barriers to truth.
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