There are two “realities” that we live with – the Truth and the Lie. The Truth is. The Lie is not. Just as Light is, and Darkness is not, so it is with the Truth and the Lie. Darkness is the absence of Light. One cannot ascribe essence to Darkness. The reason is that Darkness can only be defined in terms of Light, the absence of Light. So, it is with the Lie. One cannot ascribe essence to the Lie because it can only be defined in terms of the Truth, the absence of Truth. One might argue, however, that Lies take many forms. Granted. So, it is with Darkness. There is the “wet” Darkness of the deep ocean and there is the “dry” Darkness of deep space. However, the Darkness is not defined by the deep water or by the deep space. Rather, the reality of Darkness is defined by the fact that Light is absent in both places. So, it is with the Lie. One can Lie by stating something that is not true. One can Lie by stating something completely different – but which is also not true. Both Lies are defined, not by the things that are not true, but by the reality that neither is Truth.
So, then, one can choose to believe the Lie or the Truth, just as one can choose to remain in Darkness or to come out into the Light. Believing is not the key to reality. Choosing What to believe is the key to that which is real. I can believe with all my being that Darkness has essence, but that will not make it so. Rather, my choice to believe that Darkness is reality will only serve to keep me in the Darkness – that which is not real. However, should I choose to believe in the realness of the Light, I will walk into the Light. As I walk into the Light, I will then see things that could never be discovered in the Darkness. In the same way, when I choose to believe the Lie, the Truth remains hidden from me. However, when I choose to believe the Truth, I will see that Truth is real, because I will see things that I could never have seen, had I remained in the Lie.
So, then, Truth reveals more Truth, while the Lie reveals nothing, trapping me in the Lie. But, one might argue, Lies are powerful, hurtful and harmful. Does that not prove that they have substance, or essence? Yes, Lies are powerful, hurtful, and harmful. But what gives them this power? Is it not given by the one who chooses to believe the Lie? If I choose to believe the Truth, the power of the Lie is broken, because the Truth reveals that the Lie has no basis in fact. The Lie is nothing, then, unless I choose to be bound by it. Therefore, Jesus said, “You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free!”
Now, someone will argue, there are such things as half-truths – part lie and part truth. Why are they not called half-lies, with the emphasis on the Lie? Perhaps it is because they are meant to deceive, an attempt by those of the Lie to keep others from the Truth, to keep them in the Lie, or, to put it another way, to keep them in the Darkness. Half-truths are like being trapped at the bottom of a deep well that is full of Darkness. One can see a pinprick of Light above, but the pinprick of Light, True though it may be, serves the purpose of the Lie. That little pinprick of light, True though it may be, is used by the Lie to create despair or resignation in those trapped in the Darkness at the bottom of the well. In the Darkness, one cannot see the outstretched arm of the one sent to save them. Instead, they are trapped in the Darkness with no apparent way out. The pinprick of Light, thus, serves to discourage, not encourage. Therefore. the apostle Paul wrote,
“Romans 10:14 (NIV)
[14] How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? Romans 10:15 (NIV)
[15] And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
That is why God calls each of us to carry the Light of the Truth, the Good News, to the entire world. First to those around us, then to our community, then to the uttermost parts of the earth.
(And God calls some – we call them missionaries – to carry the Light of the Good news to those steeped for ages in the Darkness of the deep well. We lower them, so to speak, into these Darkest of places to bring hope to the hopeless, Life to the lifeless, Truth to combat the Lie.)
