The Reign of God as truthfulness. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com . The Reign of God as truthfulness is not like the sign I saw on a church building. It noted that they still taught the Truth. I wanted to go in and ask them what it was. The same thing happened in New Orleans. There were two people setting up their 'religious stuff' and in a glance we could see that they were ready to pedal the 'Truth' as they saw it. Most often, such 'truthfulness' as this is not - in my opinion - the vision of truthfulness within God's Reign. This 'we got the truth and we will let you in on it' is often oppressive and demanding and will dictate how life is to be because it is the 'truth' - about God - about life - about world affairs - about healing - about sin - about redemption, etc. The Reign of God as truthfulness is an invitation into a discussion about how the Good News of this Reign can be the saving grace for any - and all. This 'all' is not meant to say this is how all must follow. Rather it is the 'all' of life that is open to many voices so that truth is never contained or owned by any. The great lie about religious 'truthfulness' is that groups tend to think they now have the way of life that is the best and the correct way. This is often very true of new devotees of a religion - that is why they can so easily be pulled in and won over to this or that side. The Reign of God as truthfulness is not about winning people over to any particular side or gaining insight into a practice that will be the final word. It is about life that can be lived to the fullest and life that can be shared with others and life that pursues the call to acts of justice, mercy, kindness, love, and the endless dialogue of truth-seeking that just never ends. O God of love and new life, you lead us on into the domain of your truthfulness and on that journey we ask that you keep our hearts filled with the Spirit of your loving kindness and our minds open to the adventure of you ongoing revelation of new life. Amen. |
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