Lesson Ten: Believe in Truth

What we are experiencing today, at every level, is an assault on truth. We must hold on to the truth and reject lies.

 Yet, we all believe in lies. We do it for self-protection. We do it when we’re grieving. We do it for our own ego. Many are harmless because they are temporary coping mechanisms.

 Some lies though cause us to break with reality and then require us to accept more and more lies. We see this is in abusive relationships and in totalitarian regimes. Totalitarianism is an abusive relationship on a massive scale. 

 We look around and wonder how people lose the truth, how they reach the point where they, “reject the evidence of [their] eyes and ears.” (1984, Orwell)

 How did we get here?

 Let’s talk about the Big Lie. Not that one, a different one, one that I believe laid the foundation for so many Christians rejecting the teachings of Jesus and embracing power: “Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching” (please see the full Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy.)

  I have been reluctant to use the word “lie” to describe the doctrine of inerrancy. As long as it was limited to one’s understanding of the Bible, it is an acceptable statement of faith, though one I disagree with. However, once belief in this idea required adherents to deny their own experiences and reject objective reality, it moved beyond a faith statement into a renunciation of truth.

 Don’t misread me. The Bible is authoritative in matters of the Christian faith and is sufficient for salvation; I believe it is God-breathed. Inerrancy goes way beyond that. Inerrancy strips the authority from Jesus and places it in the hands of men.

 I have been speaking about this for years. I wrote a book about it. The doctrine of inerrancy is not about helping people follow Jesus, it’s about using the Bible to gain power and control. I believe that the rise of White Christian Nationalism can be traced back to this lie.

 In the 1970s, some evangelical leaders saw that Christianity was losing its influence on the culture because church attendance was declining, morals were changing, and power was shifting away from white Christian men to, well, everyone else.

 In 1978, a group of about 200 evangelical leaders gathered in Chicago to formalize the fundamentalist belief structure around the authority of the Bible and then went out and expanded a religion rooted, not in truth, but in authority.

 Scripture was used to promote hierarchy.  They taught that Jesus was submissive to God and Scripture, therefore: “wives submit to your husbands” and “children obey your parents,” “be subject to the governing authorities,” and “slaves obey your masters.”

 In this “biblical worldview,” it is not “self-evident that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator certain inalienable rights,” - that is liberalism, which is evil.

 Rather, according to the “biblical worldview,” God has ordained that some people should rule over others. This “biblical worldview” is a rejection of the “Jesus worldview.”

 At first, this foundational lie that “Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching,” gave people comfort. They didn’t have to struggle with difficult passages. They didn’t have to worry about evolution or climate change. Conflict in the home was reduced as women and children learned their place.

 When history or science presented evidence that contradicted the Bible, then people were forced to “reject the evidence of [their] eyes and ears.”

 This extreme view of biblical authority opened the door to a world that absorbed more and more lies.

 The truth is that the Bible is complicated. The Old Testament presents conflicting ideas of who God is, so it has been used to justify just about anything.

 But if one claims to be a Christian, then one is claiming that Jesus reflects the true version of who that God is. (I wrote a book about that, too.)

 To claim Jesus as Lord, one must welcome refugees and strangers. To claim Jesus as Lord, one must feed the poor. To claim Jesus as Lord, one must take the side of the oppressed and vulnerable. To claim Jesus as Lord, one shall not fear their neighbor but love them. To claim Jesus as Lord, one must submit not to power, but to poverty.

 Those aren’t leftie talking points, they’re the words of Jesus.

 That Christians have hardened their hearts against their neighbors is a sign they have rejected Jesus and aligned with pharaoh. 

 It is never too late to reject the powers of this world. Jesus gave a different prayer of repentance and redemption that many of us were taught.

 Do you love him?
Feed his lambs.

 Do you love him?
Take care of his sheep.

 Do you love him?
Feed his sheep.

 “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31-32, NRSVue)

 We have all allowed lies to replace truth when it's convenient for us. We must be vigilant to protect the truth. Write things down. Document evidence. 

 If you find yourself deep within this net of lies and you want out, there is a way. Millions have gone before you. You are not alone.

 There are churches and faith communities who will love and accept you in your journey.

Three books that I can recommend are:

“Faith Unraveled,” by Rachel Held Evans

“The Sin of Certainty,” by Peter Enns

“Out of Sorts,” by Sarah Bessey

 My passion is in helping people reconstruct a new faith in Jesus, deeply rooted in Scripture, while also drawing on experience, reason, and tradition. If that’s where you are, please check out my work.

 It is my hope that the fracture we are witnessing can be reconciled, but that’s going to require that everyone speak the truth and denounce the lies.

This is part 5 of a series inspired by my reading of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons Learned From the Twentieth Century, by Timothy Snyder as part of my effort to offer Christian insight to those wondering what to do in this moment.