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"When you shoot an arrow of truth, dip its point in honey" - Arab proverb
INTRODUCTION
As a young child, subject to the usual childhood ailments from time to time, my mother would expend a lot of energy trying to force some pure, unadulterated medicine down my throat. I would run, hide or do anything I could not to swallow that foul tasting brew, but after a while she got wise and adopted a strategy made popular by a classic movie of the time, "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!" She whipped that medicine with so much sweetness I thought I was eating candy and went from running a mile to begging her to give it to me.
IT'S A LONG WAY BACK!
Sadly, both the world and to some degree, sections of the church have moved far from the Christian-Judeo version of absolute truth. The world has gone the way of trendy relativism and now vehemently calls 'evil good and good evil,' mainly because the church has surrendered its moral authority and allowed the ethic of the age to seep into it, rather than getting itself out more into the world. To bring them both back to God's perspective on the issue of truth is one of the greatest challenges facing those who still have a passion to see His righteousness established on this earth "...as it is in Heaven!
THE PIVOTAL PURPOSE
It all started with the serpent's question to Eve in the garden, "Did God really say...?" (Gen 3:1 NIV). This question was the first chip of doubt on the pillar of absolute truth. In the broadest of senses, it can be said that the entire biblical perspective on the history of humanity since then has been an endeavor to correct the lie of Eden. The written Law was a band aid fix for fallen man, nevertheless, it foreshadowed a better solution in the ultimate revelation: Jesus - God become flesh! Out of this came the Body of Christ, the Church, entrusted with the primary purpose of keeping the flame of truth as bright as it was received. Nothing is more pivotal to the social, economic, and spiritual future of humanity than the restoration of biblical truth.
STRONG MEDICINE
One of the early church fathers, Saint Augustine said, "Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe." Due to the almost terminal state of truth in our time, strong medicine will be needed to stop the rot before it's too late. However, it's not too late for the Church to take a stand against error, whether it be within or without. But if it is to have a fighting chance in this restoration, it will have to take a page out of my mother's book of child-rearing wisdom. Absolute truth is a timeless message, but to restore it in a post-modern age will require a 'wise as a serpent, gently as dove' strategy, watered with a faith that believes it is possible to see our culture reclaimed in our day.
POWERFUL PACKAGING
Consumerism has been the dominant 'god' of the west for several generations now. In a consumer culture, packaging is everything. Manufacturers understand that because people have been conditioned to buy on the promise of the outer wrapping, often they have to spend more on packaging than on the product. If we are going to take on the enormous challenge of proclaiming the strong medicine of truth to this generation, we must be prepared to add a lot of sugar, otherwise, like me when I was young, they will run a mile and not receive it. Jesus always met people where they were at, and we must do the same.
THE NEO-NAZARITES
It is encouraging for me to see a new generation of young Christians arising who not only have the Sword of the Spirit within them, but are being trained to use it in defense of truth by those from the previous generation who have survived intact. These young Neo-Nazarites are separating themselves morally from the current popular culture but are continuing to infiltrate it spiritually from within, being the salt that Jesus said we should be. They are finding relevant ways of communicating timeless truths to an intellectually arrogant age, speaking the truth in love but understanding there is no substitute for the yoke-breaking anointing of the Holy Ghost!
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