22.10 | Truth Sets Free
John 8:31-59
‘So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”’
John 8:31-32
My biggest fear in life, as I grew up, was public speaking.
It began in my early years at secondary school, as I experienced repeatedly that departure from the status quo could lead to massive isolation. I learned that a misplaced joke, a badly chosen outfit, a song liked or unliked, or an unpopular perspective could lead to humiliation and rejection. It grafted into my soul the idea that visibility is dangerous, and that the opinions of others is a matter of greatest importance.
With this as my background, the invitation of the Spirit into Christian leadership was challenging. It has taken me, week after week after week, to the place of my greatest fear. To visibility. To truthfulness. To authenticity. To the precipice of potential rejection that is present for anyone who needs to regularly communicate and take a stand.
Jesus today teaches an intrinsic connection between lies and slavery, and between truth and freedom. He looks at the most religious leaders of the most religious city of the most religious nation in history, and declares to them that they are so steeped in untruth that they are enslaved. He looks at those who believe they have a heavenly vocation, and tells them that they are sons of hell. He tells them that, despite their lineage, as sons of Abraham and thus the sons of the promises of God, most truly they have found themselves not free, but enslaved.
Enslaved to their addictions. Enslaved to their blindness. Enslaved to their fears. Enslaved to their murderous desires.
The solution?
Truth.
They need a better story.
At the root of virtually every place that we find ourselves living in kinds of slavery is a simple deficit of truth.
The workaholic believes they will be fulfilled through achievement.
The shopaholic believes that they will be fulfilled through buying stuff.
The one terrified of public speaking believes that they stand or fall on the opinions of others.
Our every addiction, every place of enslavement — every place of soul where our desires and emotions and thoughts run amok, into things destructive or pointless or anxious or small — has their root quite simply in believing an untruth.
And there is only a single solution.
Abide in His word.
‘Abide’ is a word that John loves. It means to live in, move into, or to remain in. It has the sense of lingering, inhabiting, or taking up residence. To abide in the word of Jesus, then, is to actively reposition your soul in the things of His truth, that His truth become your very atmosphere and ecosystem — the place of your working and of your rest. To abide until His truth and His perspective and His thoughts become the very oxygen we breathe.
For when we are enslaved to our desires, to abide in the truth that those desires cannot fulfil us.
For when we enslaved to our shame, to abide in the truth of the Father’s perfect love.
For when we are enslaved to our addictions, to abide in the truth of the sufficiency of God to meet our deeper needs.
And, for where we are enslaved to our fears of public speaking, to abide in the truth of His affirmation, His reality, His power, and His call — until that truth plays with such orchestral volume in your soul that your fears scuttle like cockroaches back to the shadows.
Slavery is the condition of the unsaved human. And ever-advancing freedom is the process of the soul that walks with Jesus. For life lived in such truth as this, is truly the way of the free.
Reflect:
Where do I feel enslaved?
What truth of Jesus’ word do I need? Meditate on this, pray it, and invite the Spirit to empower this truth into ever-greater substance in your soul.
Pray:
Father,
So quickly do I live in
Untruth—
In a fabricated reality
Of quick-fix happiness,
And numbing avoidance;
Of fearful hiding,
And of flimsy dependencies.
Father,
I have walked such paths of enslaved shame
For too many days.
And so,
Today,
I position my soul back again into those things that are true:
I abide in the word of Jesus;
I stand in the reality of Love.
And thus, my Father,
Would you liberate me
Into the paths of courage, creativity, joy, peace, and great love,
That I may reflect your family likeness
As I walk as Your
Liberated child.
In Jesus’ Name,
In whose word I stand,
Amen
Old Testament:
For those also reading the Old Testament this year, your additional readings are here:
Nehemiah 4:1-6:14 | Proverbs 26:13-16