What is Real?
"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
Sometimes you hear someone speaking and you wonder, What world are they living in? You both experienced the same events, yet it’s like they have a completely different set of facts they are operating with. They inhabit a drastically opposing reality than the one you do.
You can see how things like this develop so easily. Politicians declare strange ideas at press conferences. News media cherry picks details and calls on its favored “experts.” Social media makes the most sensational, emotional take go viral. And now, artificial intelligence can create images, make videos, copy voices, and cite non-existence research to craft any narrative the world wants to affirm.
After some time hearing all the different stories, you might start asking yourself if you are taking crazy pills. Everyone around me seems to have a different story. The constant stream of news only creates more fear and anxiety. How do I tell: what is truth (John 18:38)?
In a world of confusion, Jesus gives us clarity, “If you abide in my word,…you will know the truth.” Of course, many who are crafting and spreading narratives are using Bible verses to tell their stories. But that is not what Jesus is saying.
Abiding in the word means more than simply knowing some Bible verses, or even reading your Bible regularly. When Jesus said this, he was talking to a group of people who claimed to know the Scriptures. They quoted the Bible and identified themselves as the good guys in the story. But Jesus explained that they missed the true story completely.
The truth is the story of God culminating all of history, the entire planet, in Christ (Eph. 1:10). Every Bible character, every law, every prophet, every story, every parable, every promise finds its definition, its identity, its purpose in Christ (John 5:39; 2 Cor. 1:20). When you read the Bible as a story by, for, and about Jesus establishing his kingdom of glory through the church in all the earth (Eph. 3:10), he gives you eyes to see through all the world’s narratives and rest in his story. By faith in him he makes you a character in his epic tale by his Spirit in you, giving you an unshakable identity among his people on his mission. That is the truth.
When you know this truth, the truth will set you free from anxiety and fear that the world’s drama creates. Jesus is the light of the world, and when you are immersed in his truth, you can navigate your way through the darkness (John 8:12) and not be tricked into investing in false narratives, no matter how passionately they are argued for or cleverly they are devised.
Brothers and sisters, don’t get caught up in the machine of competing narratives. Put the phone down. Open up your Bible. Go visit some Christian brothers and sisters. Stay on the narrow path, being a church that stands firm as the pillar and buttress of truth (1 Tim 3:15). Remain under the authority of Christ among his people, and you will have the wisdom, the eyes, to see truth even in the darkest of places.
Basking in the Light of Christ in you all,
Adam and your elders