More On Truth as a Tool of Reconciliation

Let me expound a little more about the concept of truth as a tool in the ministry of reconciliation before we move on to the second tool.

In the great story of God, there is a deciever, Satan, who constantly works to discredit God's truth. In fact, "when he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44) The truth is that God has created us and everything for himself. He desires for us to be in fellowship with himself and one another. His desire for us is an abundant life whereby we hear and respond to the voice of his son, Jesus, the good shepherd.

We live in a fallen world which is entangled in a web of lies. The enemy, Satan, is happy to have people believing in false gods, in no god or even in an incorrect view of who god actually and truthfully is. He is happy to have people accept less than the truth that God desires for our relationships with others. He delights in the falsehood that there cannot be happy marriages, godly families, communities where people care for one another and respectfully care for creation. And he is estatic to lead people to a marred self-image of who they are and how valuable they are to God the Father. In short, Satan is a weaver of the web of lies and uses this web as his main mode of operations to keep people and even nations in darkness.

This is why we stress truth as the first tool of our efforts at reconciliation. Speaking and living truth about who God is and who we are in relation to him is critical to break the web of lies that would so readily entangle us.

And it is not just any truth that we speak. It is the truth that God reveals through his word, the basis for all truth. His word is a lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path (Psalm 119:105) It is the truth that is "living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividng soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)

Speaking and living truth to a lost and dying world blindly tangled in a web of lies...the first tool of reconciliation...

Next tool of reconciliation - touch...