These two words, claims and discoveries, bubbled to the surface of my thoughts this week as I reflected on several group discussions and e-mail conversations I have been a part of recently. To be more specific, they were the words that emerged for me as the discussions centered on where truth can be found. Even more specifically, I was drawn to think about what happens to the word “truth” when it is placed in front of each of these two words.

          I firmly believe, along with Jesus who John quotes in John 8:32, that truth’s purpose is freedom. Jesus said that as we hold to his teaching and therefore become disciples, we will know truth and that the truth will set us free! Yet too often throughout history, and still today, those who feel they have learned the truth use that truth to “put people in their place” rather than using it as a means to free people. And I believe this happens primarily when we decide to “lay claim” to a truth we’ve “discovered”.

          I’ve come to wonder if this phenomenon happens whenever we lose sight of the source of truth. Have we forgotten that the ONLY source of pure, unadulterated truth is God? Is it possible that we’ve forgotten that the residence of truth is always, forever and only in God? I contend that we are in danger of forgetting that any time a human agent makes a “truth claim”. Truth, I believe, cannot ever be claimed or owned by anyone other than God. Rather, the best we can hope to do is to discover truth and then to reflect, practice, and live out that truth in our lives.

          What difference does any of this make, and why am I even saying this? I believe it makes all the difference in the world when it comes to the ability of God’s people to be transformed by and proclaim the Truth of God. Think about this with me for a minute.

          If we make truth claims, we inevitably feel a need to defend that truth as something we’ve acquired and now “own”, even if we might not say it that way. (Think gold or coal mining claims) But if we make truth discoveries, we can’t help but be changed by them and then share them with others! In fact the more powerful the truth we discover, the more we are transformed, and the more compelled we are to then share that truth with others!

          Beyond this new perspective on  “ownership”, if we adopt the stance of truth seekers instead of truth defenders, we just may discover a lot more truth! Imagine the new approach this might give us to an encounter with a person of a different background than ourselves. What if we began all such encounters with the question of what truth discoveries do we have in common? This would give us something to celebrate and a basis on which to form a relationship. Then what if, as seekers, we would look for and listen for some part of God’s Truth that they have perhaps already discovered that we have not yet ourselves? Imagine the rich dialogues we could have!

          My hope and prayer, as I think about what God’s invitation might be for us in this area of truth-seeking and sharing, is that our witness and testimony for the Gospel would be strengthened and that some of the damage we’ve done by the ways we’ve laid claim to Truth might be undone, and that more and more people would be drawn to enter God’s Kingdom of Love.  May it be so.