Have you ever noticed how stories change as they are passed down from person to person? Even in the little game many of us played as children in which you sit in a circle and pass a story around, by the time the story gets to the last person, it is often completely different than what the original person said. Sometimes it has to do with our human mind being unable to remember all the details. Therefore, we fill in the gaps, often unintentionally. However, there are those times we just cannot help but to embellish a story so that it is more dramatic, drawing more attention.
An element of truth is tainted or lost altogether when we do not go to the source of what we are looking for.
Take social media as an example. I cannot count how many times I have read an update about an event, only to find out later the details were…well, just a bit off. Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram have their place in social networking. However, they just are not the best source for truth. The fact is, it is rare to get the whole truth when a story has been passed down. Regardless of what we are reading or talking about, to get solid truth we must go to the source: someone who experienced the story first-hand.
If we have trouble remembering and communicating truths about everyday events, then we have trouble with truth regarding God as well.
If we can admit that we often fail to properly disperse truth about events, people, and other things, it’s important to acknowledge it must also be happening with our image of God. We are very capable of verbally communicating untruths about Him (purposely or unintentionally), and we can also do it with our behavior. For instance, after we have been rejected by people enough times (and yes, this means in church circles, too), it’s really hard not to get the message that God must be rejecting us, too. Although Scripture clearly states He is not like us, we tend to believe He is just as distant, smothering, controlling, unfriendly, demanding, hateful, aloof, angry, critical, and unforgiving as the people we encounter routinely in this world, including ourselves!
It is of massive importance that we seek truth for ourselves.
Second-hand testimony is a great thing, but it cannot sustain us forever. As powerful as it can be, the effects are often short-lived. And the last thing we need is to feed on a steady stream of gossip about God, through words OR behavior. We need the truth in a deeply personal way, and we need to experience it for ourselves so that we are inclined to believe it for the long term. This not only affects how we view Him, but how we view others and ourselves. Distorted images of Him lead to things like anxiety, depression, and grudges. Truth about who He is leads to things like peace, joy, and loving others.
What we believe about God affects every aspect of our life.
What we truly believe about God determines our view of everything. When we are fed untrue stories about God, it can lead to false images of Him that distort everything else. If key people in my life have been aloof with me, then I might see my Heavenly Father that way. If God is aloof, then I believe I must not be important. If I learn, incorrectly, that He is critical, I learn to work endlessly to please Him, or just give up in a state of hopelessness when I believe I cannot. If He is unforgiving, I must not be good enough (and no one else may be in my eyes either). The list of possible effects goes on infinitely. The Good News is we can find the truth about Him for ourselves. Scripture has a wealth of knowledge about Him. Jesus reveals to us His true nature. The Gospel Message tells a story that clearly reveals His true attitude towards His children. And He even reveals Himself to us through experience as we walk with Him. He pursues us with a passion unlike anything else we can experience. It is nice to pass our stories around, but it is essential that we get first-hand knowledge so that we can experience and remember our own stories regarding Him.