Commentary on "The Fruit of the Spirit is Truth"

STEVE PITCHER

 

Day 7: Friday, March 19, 2010

 

Today’s lesson provides two passages from the writings of Ellen White followed by some questions. It is the questions that must be addressed at this point.

The first question (on p. 148 of the Teacher’s Quarterly) is stated as follows:

Is there any sense at all in which truth could be relative; that is, it may not apply all the time to every situation? If not, why not? Are there certain truths, perhaps, that could be relative while others aren’t?

Here’s the dead horse again. Even the lesson author seems to answer this very powerfully on day two (Sunday), on p. 138 of the Teacher’s Quarterly by stating, “With these words, Jesus establishes the reality of objective truth. Here is Truth. Period. Few verses in the whole Bible are more contrary to the sentiment of relativism than this.”

One cannot have ultimate, objective truth and allow for “certain truths ... that could be relative” at the same time. In trying to do this type of mental gymnastic, confusion is a common result.

One could argue that certain truths, such as “there’s a global deluge coming” (Noah’s message) was relative in the sense that it was true for Noah’s day, but not for ours. This is just playing with words. No one in their right mind would suggest that that is no longer true. It is as true today as it was in Noah’s day. For us, however, we are looking back on the historic event, not predicting the event as future. This in no way makes that event a relative or “present” truth.

Either truth is objective with the “property of being in accord with fact or reality” or it is not. We cannot have it both ways. When it comes to truth, objective and subjective are mutually exclusive.

The lesson goes on to ask other questions. The fifth question is:

In class, discuss this question: What’s better, to do the right thing for the wrong reason or the wrong thing for the right reason?

Again, this question provides for some mental gymnastics, but can result in either confusion, or an attitude of “so what?” The lesson only provides two choices. Neither of these are optimal choice for a Christian. We can present a fuller range of choices graphically.

 

	RIGHT THINGS	WRONG THINGS
RIGHT REASON	QUADRANT 1 GOOD Christians	QUADRANT 4 X ?
WRONG REASON	QUADRANT 2 O.K. Philanthropists / Humanitarians	QUADRANT 3 X ?
EVIL REASON	QUADRANT X X Evil People

 

It is never good to do wrong things. It is only good to do right things. Given this, we must go on to the practice of doing good things as a Christian. Christians recognize that there are humanitarians and philanthropists in the world who do good things. Many of these philanthropists, however, are not Christian. If they are not in Christ, they may have pure motives when judged by the worlds standards, but not pure when judged by the standard of Christ.

We can return to the example of Mohandas K. Gandhi presented earlier this week. He attempted to know what the right things were, with a desire to correct some grievous situations in his country. As far as it was possible for him, he accomplished some good things. Many of these things were accomplished for right reasons as determined by the standards of this world. Yet Gandhi rejected Christ and his message of salvation. Therefore, as Christians, we must ultimately classify his good in quadrant 2, noted above. This is a non-Christian good.

Only those “right things” that are done for the “right reason” are truly Christian in nature. Doing right or wrong things for other than right motives, are questionable, if not evil.

Given the limitations of the question as stated in the quarterly, one must wonder whether the question is being provided by a Christian source. In other words, what are the motives for this type of question in a Sabbath School class?

A great passage about both right motives and right actions is contained in Psalms. Psalm 24:3-4 tells us:

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

The only safe course, of course, is first to be in Christ. Once Christ has become your Lord, the Holy Spirit comes into you and begins to convict you of any sin. For the Christian, anything that is not the right thing to do, and/or done for the right reason, may be sin. Christians must be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit and his revealing of “dirty hands” and “impure hearts” that we are all prone to have as fallen creatures.

Doing the right things for the right reasons is really the only option open for Christians. All other options are non-Christian, and are not profitable to be entertained by Christians.

May we all, together, ascend the hill of the Lord. As we do, we will find that our hearts and hands are joined together by the Holy Spirit who is our seal.

 

Summary

1. On the last lesson this week, we are again presented with the idea that there may be some truths that are relative. In light of the commentary for this week, as well as a bold statement by the lesson author on day 2, any provisions for “relative truth” must be avoided by Christians.
2. Either truth is objective with the “property of being in accord with fact or reality” or it is not. We cannot have it both ways. When it comes to truth, objective and subjective are mutually exclusive.
3. A strange question is asked about doing right or wrong things for right or wrong reasons. The lesson only provides two alternatives, neither of which is necessarily Christian. There are a number of alternative options, some of which are inherently evil.
4. As Christians we should strive to only do those things that are right, and do them for the right reasons. This is in accord with Psalm 24:3-4 which tells us about having clean hands and a pure heart.
5. We can ascend the hill of the Lord together as we are sealed by his Holy Spirit. Only in him are our hearts and hands truly united with one another.

 

All scripture references are from the English Standard Version, unless otherwise indicated.

 

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