“Amen I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.”
The “My Truth” Lie
Are there any prophets left in our culture? Or have they all been cancelled by a prevailing notion the truth is what I say it is? A cute story highlights the absurdity of the belief in the “my truth” fantasy.
There was a little boy who adopted a turtle as a pet. One day the turtle rolled on his back and died. The boy was so heartbroken that he could not be consoled. His mother called his dad, who rushed home from work to help the boy in grief. After a few failed attempts at consolation, the father said, “Look, son, here’s what we will do. We will have a little funeral ceremony. You can invite your friends and we will all process out to the backyard and bury the turtle next to the rose bush. We will have candles and flowers.
Afterward, we will go out and have some ice cream and cookies and have a party”. By this time the boy’s tears began to dry up and he was smiling from ear to ear. At that very moment, the turtle, which everyone had thought was dead, flipped over on its legs and walked away. The boy’s smile immediately turned into a frown. He then looked at the father and said, “Let’s kill it!”
Even when Jesus, the literal Word of God, began teaching the “my truth” dynamic was alive and well. When those who heard the truth of God that he was going to bring glad tidings to the poor, they were thrilled because they themselves were poor. Then they heard words that there will be liberty to captives. A great message because they were themselves oppressed by the Roman government. They must have thought, “What a great prophet you are Jesus”.
But when they heard more about the truth, they couldn’t accept it. Remember, he is the one who tells them that they should love their enemies; they need to turn their cheeks and let them be struck again. Wasn’t it our Lord that said that you should not forgive seven times, but seventy times seven times? And didn’t this Son of God alert the world that God’s love is extended to the whole world, not just a chosen few. And heaven forbid, the Romans and the Egyptians were loved by God too. Did he not make their blood boil when he claimed that he could forgive men’s sins? You see, in this context, this Jesus was indeed without honor in his native place.
Then how can anyone Know the Truth?
First one must be honest. Sometimes the truth is not something we like to hear. Honesty and fidelity to the truth is not always a feeling of content, but an acknowledgement I am not the source of the truth, nor do I have the power to change it no matter how difficult it may seem at a particular time.
Know this—every person has the ability to know the truth because they have been created in the image of the truth. The truth is a fundamental reality of every person’s life but with all that is good in a fallen world, it can be abused and the truth is one of them.
The misuse of God’s truth is what is known as a sin. No human can be anything but miserable when they sin or choose to live in sin. What else can happen when you try and kill something that is intrinsically good?
The “my truth” lie is as old as time itself. Our first parents, Adam and Eve thought they could manipulate the truth by falling for the lie of Satan into thinking they could be as great as God. Thanks to Jesus and his teaching about God can we see the fallacy of the “my truth” falsehood.
Yes, there are still prophets in the world and the “my truth” revolution has little power to stop them from speaking God’s word:
“I am the Way, the Truth and the life. No one come to the Father except through me (Jn 14:6).