Words of Hope: Seek Truth
As I witness men tearing down signs that tell the truth of slavery in our nation, I consider the cost this is to their lives, to their children’s lives, to their souls.
Dad and I would have a long conversation about this. It would always lead to a discussion of truth or lies. Did slavery happen on our land? How do we know? What of the lives impacted by this trade— slavers, owners, slaves purchased, sold, owned. What was life like for them? What is our responsibility to this history? What is our responsibility for telling the truth about cruelty, evil, and wrong doing?
All these questions have an absolute, knowable truth. Our opinions do not matter. God knows each story and this is of utmost importance. For to tell a story outside of God’s truth is a lie and by association, a sin.
One of the many powerful testimonies we have of the HUNDREDS of years of slavery in America is a book called American Slavery as It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses compiled by Theodore Dwight Weld, with contributions from Angelina and Sarah Grimké and others.
How can we not read this work and close our ears to the voices of suffering?! How can we read these stories and not have our hearts burst with sorrow for these grave injustices?!
I consider the men taking down the placards in Philadelphia that testify to slavery in America. They do so at their own spiritual peril.
As Dostoyevsky writes, “A man who lies to himself, and believes his own lies, becomes incapable of truth and ruin follows.”
As Satan is the Father of Lies, truth becomes even more crucial to pursue.
Truth in a time of lies and lying can become more difficult to discern. We can know the truth by seeking and listening to God. Christianity without truth is not Christ-centered but the anti-Christ. Whatever we place above God— our Nation, our wealth, our status, our safety— all these become dangerous when placed above God. Truth is always connected to God for Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Truth requires us to surrender all to God and seek Him first.
“This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.” – 1 John 5:6
