Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Romans 12:11 (NAB)
Oh, we've all heard it - that old adage that goes something like, "if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." That's just an old-fashioned platitude, though, right? I mean, in this day and age, when there are so many viewpoints and possibilities, none are better than the other, none are "more true" because then it would make someone else's ideas wrong, and that's not right, right?
What a mess we've become. We have become so fearful of offending others, especially as Catholics sometimes, that we have lost the beauty of knowing the fullness of Truth that resides in our midst. How can we begin to function as ambassadors of Christ if we don't even know what we believe among the sea of ideas and possibilities. If all ideas and beliefs are equally true, then it stands to reason that they are all equally false. That is not what Jesus Christ died on the cross for. He died for Truth with a capital T, and we squander it away for fear of offense. I am not in anyway advocating a ruthless or aggressive campaign for Truth. In fact, I'm a firm lover of St. Paul's imagery of the clanging symbol - from personal experience, no one likes a noisy gong. We must advocate in love, but that does not mean forsaking truth for comfort.
The old adage remains quite true - if we don't unite ourselves with the truth of Christ, we do fall for anything, however wise we may think ourselves. Let us hope to always stay in sync with the Holy Spirit that we might discern the Truth, speak in love and be open to new understanding as Christ wills it.
Oh, we've all heard it - that old adage that goes something like, "if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." That's just an old-fashioned platitude, though, right? I mean, in this day and age, when there are so many viewpoints and possibilities, none are better than the other, none are "more true" because then it would make someone else's ideas wrong, and that's not right, right?
What a mess we've become. We have become so fearful of offending others, especially as Catholics sometimes, that we have lost the beauty of knowing the fullness of Truth that resides in our midst. How can we begin to function as ambassadors of Christ if we don't even know what we believe among the sea of ideas and possibilities. If all ideas and beliefs are equally true, then it stands to reason that they are all equally false. That is not what Jesus Christ died on the cross for. He died for Truth with a capital T, and we squander it away for fear of offense. I am not in anyway advocating a ruthless or aggressive campaign for Truth. In fact, I'm a firm lover of St. Paul's imagery of the clanging symbol - from personal experience, no one likes a noisy gong. We must advocate in love, but that does not mean forsaking truth for comfort.
The old adage remains quite true - if we don't unite ourselves with the truth of Christ, we do fall for anything, however wise we may think ourselves. Let us hope to always stay in sync with the Holy Spirit that we might discern the Truth, speak in love and be open to new understanding as Christ wills it.
0 comments:
Post a Comment