During our years in Edmonton, I did quite a bit of teaching and preaching in Alberta and Saskatchewan towns. I developed relationships with a number of farming families through visits to their churches. Some of those families sent their children to our Bible School. Among the many things that impressed me about farmers: they deal daily with reality. They sniff out pretence, falsehood and deception quite readily. You can't get away with deception for long in rural communities. They live in reality - nothing virtual about it.
The opposite is true of city life, isn't it. Many people pretend to be wealthier than they are, with heavily mortgaged houses or expensive cars they can't really afford. Advertising with its often deceptive practices fits with city life. People dress to impress much more than in the country. Jobs appear important but eat at the souls of many city executives. The party and bar scene on the surface looks so great.
While I have lived most of my life in cities, including several very large cities, I know that truth does not do well, on average, in city life. Deception is packaged and sold; superficial temporary relationships are often the norm.
I thought of all the above when I read one day "Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth." Zechariah 8:3. This descriptive is unusual, possibly unique in Scripture. (About half of our English translations translate Faithful instead of Truth. But I think Truth is the better translation given the context.)
Given what we know and experience in city life, I love to think one day there will be a Truth City. Of course it will be ruled by the One who said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." Can you imagine what life would be like if you could totally trust every salesperson's word, every advertisement. Can you imagine how many lawyers would be free to pursue another career if everyone kept his/her word and what contracts promised was always fulfilled? Imagine if every conversation was faithfully true!
Because God loves truth, He communicates through Zechariah to the people of his day, "Speak the truth to each other and render true and sound judgment in your courts; --- therefore love truth and peace." 8:16, 19 From God's encounter with Adam after the fall through the sad encounter with Adam's murderous son, He has always been calling us back to the truth. One of the great ten commandments prohibits deception : "Do not lie."
We humans find it so easy to lie. No one ever had to teach a two year old to be deceptive, it comes naturally. Yet how much pain and sorrow would be avoided if we obeyed the NT instruction: "speaking the truth in love"; "put off falsehood and speak truthfully". Ephesians 4:15, 25
We are called to follow and to emulate the One "who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." John 1:14, 17 So now we practice truth telling and truth living. And sometimes we fail. But one day we will get to live in the safety and security of Truth City! Wow! That is an attractive part of God's great Good News!
The opposite is true of city life, isn't it. Many people pretend to be wealthier than they are, with heavily mortgaged houses or expensive cars they can't really afford. Advertising with its often deceptive practices fits with city life. People dress to impress much more than in the country. Jobs appear important but eat at the souls of many city executives. The party and bar scene on the surface looks so great.
While I have lived most of my life in cities, including several very large cities, I know that truth does not do well, on average, in city life. Deception is packaged and sold; superficial temporary relationships are often the norm.
I thought of all the above when I read one day "Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth." Zechariah 8:3. This descriptive is unusual, possibly unique in Scripture. (About half of our English translations translate Faithful instead of Truth. But I think Truth is the better translation given the context.)
Given what we know and experience in city life, I love to think one day there will be a Truth City. Of course it will be ruled by the One who said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." Can you imagine what life would be like if you could totally trust every salesperson's word, every advertisement. Can you imagine how many lawyers would be free to pursue another career if everyone kept his/her word and what contracts promised was always fulfilled? Imagine if every conversation was faithfully true!
Because God loves truth, He communicates through Zechariah to the people of his day, "Speak the truth to each other and render true and sound judgment in your courts; --- therefore love truth and peace." 8:16, 19 From God's encounter with Adam after the fall through the sad encounter with Adam's murderous son, He has always been calling us back to the truth. One of the great ten commandments prohibits deception : "Do not lie."
We humans find it so easy to lie. No one ever had to teach a two year old to be deceptive, it comes naturally. Yet how much pain and sorrow would be avoided if we obeyed the NT instruction: "speaking the truth in love"; "put off falsehood and speak truthfully". Ephesians 4:15, 25
We are called to follow and to emulate the One "who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." John 1:14, 17 So now we practice truth telling and truth living. And sometimes we fail. But one day we will get to live in the safety and security of Truth City! Wow! That is an attractive part of God's great Good News!
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