We’d all like some way to be more sure of what we know and
how we know it. Yet in a world in which
we cannot reasonably be expected to think identically we must also learn to
think graciously in ways that respect those who differ from us. Jesus, I believe, showed us the way to do
this when he promised
his followers in John 16:13 that the Spirit of
truth will guide them (us) into all the truth. It’s a remarkable promise and an important
part of understanding how we know what we know.
It tells us that even when we are
feeling confused and unsure, even just plain stupid, the Spirit of truth will –
in some sense – still guide us into
all truth. And that of course is gospel, great good news, and welcome
news.
This
promise is part of a sustained teaching section by Jesus that we find in John 13-17. It’s Jesus talking at length to his closest
circle of disciples the night of his betrayal and arrest. He knows the next day he will die. And he’s looking
for some way to reassure them, something to get them through the horror of
the next twenty-four hours, and then to prepare them for his eventual departure some weeks
later. For three years they’re been the
closest of traveling companions, together day and night, always talking, always
there for one another, but all that will end in just a few weeks. And what he says to them is: “I will not
leave you alone.” In 14:16 he tells
them, “God will give you another counselor – the Holy Spirit – to be with you forever.” In the Greek, the word he uses for
“counselor” is “paraclete.” It means,
literally, “one who is called to your side,” one who is on your side. I will not leave you alone, Jesus
promises. I will give you the Spirit of
truth. The Spirit of God will be with you when you’re lonely and feeling
abandoned, when life turns dark, when you’re down and out, and confused and
weak, and you don’t know what to think or believe. In fact, that’s precisely when he will be
with you.
But you will never be alone. Picture yourself
alone in a big empty room maybe as afternoon shadows fall, or laying in bed in
the middle of the night wide awake because you can’t sleep. You’re worried and confused. Life has thrown another curve at you. And you don’t know what to do or what to
think. You feel very alone in all this. Picture then the Spirit of God entering that
room, at first, maybe way up high in the corner of the room. Sense this Spirit spreading through the room,
bathing the room in warmth, coming closer and entering you. Feel the healing, the warmth, the cleansing,
the companionship of God. You are never
alone.
It’s in this context that Jesus
promises that when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.
But
what does it mean to be guided into all this truth? It’s been
understood and misunderstood in
many ways. Some have believed that it applied only to the apostles and the
Scriptures they wrote, or to the apostolic succession, to those with
special authority in the church, to the apostles and their successors, the
bishops, and ultimately to the Bishop of Rome. Now what
all these positions have in common is their
need to control the truth, to restrict the truth, to restrict it to
the New Testament, or to church authorities or Bible experts. And somehow this kind of truth always turns
out, sooner or later, to be timeless, heartless abstractions that do not fit real life, notions that
work well in abstraction until you actually find yourself or someone you love
in a real life situation trying to apply it.
The longer I live, the more my heart resists these presumptions. The
longer I know Jesus, the more I know that he’s saying something simpler and
kinder.
Do our societal modes of learning encourage empathy? Seems to me that the task of learning and relating to others isn't as encouraged as often as I believe it should be. While it's difficult if not impossible to put oneself in another's position without having the same experience, we can use our own individual resources to try our best. And trying seems to be the key. If we aren't willing to hear out someone else's experience then we're already stuck in the mud. An interesting quote attributed to Aristotle that I've heard in my head for a long time is: "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
ReplyDeleteIn today's institutions it can feel like people are simply being instructed to feel and think a certain way without ever seriously entertaining a different point of view or to look inside themselves as opposed to the generally accepted social view. To me everything we ever need and will need in our lives to overcome adversity and succeed is already inside of us, planted in our soul. People may call it different things. But for me it's God inside of us, that Infinite spark, that enables us to feel for the other and guides us towards love. And if what we hear from our institutions and educational outlets doesn't promote that love and then it's our responsibility to hold them to a higher and more inclusive standard.