The Parable of the Wise and the Foolish Builders (also known as the House on the Rock) is a parable of Jesus from the Sermon on the Plain in Luke (6:46–49) as well as in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew (7:24–27). It illustrates the importance of building one’s life on obedience to the teachings and example of Jesus.
It’s also linked to the concept of searching for, recognising and knowing the truth.
It is commonly said that truth is the first casualty in war. A truer word has never been said as we consider the war against Hamas and the clash of civilisations of which 7 October 2023 is a recent example. What is the truth about what is going on over there?
It is also often said that, ‘the truth will set you free’. This is neither an accurate quote of the original, nor is it in fact true. In John 8:22, Jesus said: “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
The truth does not help us unless we know it.
This is because truth is simply accuracy of representation – a statement is true if it accurately describes underlying reality. Rev. Mark Leach recently presented this perfect illustration: think about it – if your car is about to run out of fuel on the freeway, that truth doesn’t help you if you don’t know about it. And your fuel gauge only tells you the truth if it accurately reflects how much fuel you have in your tank.
As this example illustrates, knowing the truth matters because reality is what you run into when you are wrong. And running into reality can range from the mildly painful to the truly catastrophic.
This is more important than ever in the world today, where we are bombarded with information about so many of things. As followers of Jesus and children of God, we should ensure that we do our utmost to know the truth – truth about God, but also truth regarding what is happening around us. It’s easy to be drawn down rabbit holes and into echo chambers via on-line algorithms etc.
James 1:5 says that we should ask God for wisdom. And we should be ever prayerful about our sources of information and reactions.
Darryl
Recent Comments