The Spirit of truth

John 16 : 12 - 15

..."when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth"...

The world searches for truth. It seems to be part of being human to want to find out how, why, what, who.......about everything. There are proponents of 'absolute truth', and there are people who easily compromise on the truth. One such person was Pilate who asked, "What is truth?" in response to Jesus who said, "for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me" (John 18: 37 -38). For Pilate, truth was anything that worked in accord with his own agenda. Pilate was first of all dishonest with himself. Therefore he could not really be convicted by the One who claimed to testify to the truth.

As we search for truth, even the truth of God, we have to first of all be honest with ourselves. Do we come with our own agenda even as we ask the Spirit to guide us to truth? Do we come to the Scriptures with a doctrinal position and place that as a grid over all that we seek to understand? At one time I was confused when I realized that Scripture scholars may interpret the same passage of Scripture in different ways. And I noticed that lay people often pick up one strand of thought and think that they have the 'gospel truth'. No doubt this gives a person some form of security, for who would want a faith where they cannot claim to know the truth, especially in this postmodern world where everything is 'relative'?

However, for myself, with an inquisitive mind, I was drawn to read and even study further, hoping to clear up my confusion. I did not want to always be fed 'milk' or predigested food. I took up the challenge to go to seminary and take a TEE (theological education by extension) course that allowed me some flexibility to choose modules. That experience was well worth the effort, not because I now know the 'truth' but because I have learnt to approach the Scriptures in an open way, willing to engage with different viewpoints. Perhaps I am most grateful for the stimulus to think critically. This does not mean becoming more critical of views I do not agree with, but it means greater humility when defending (or rather sharing) the view I hold. As Christians, we only understand things as they are revealed by the Spirit of truth. The Spirit recalls, authenticates and enlivens the teaching of Jesus for us in every generation. The Spirit of truth also works creatively in the church bringing a new prophetic word (which of course never contradicts the historic word of Jesus). May we remain honest and open in order to discern the Spirit's voice today.