Truthiness and Christianity

While on a retreat I was reminded of the 2006 Merriam-Webster's word of the year - Truthiness.

Truthiness may not be a word everyone is aware of, but if you are a Colbert Report fan, then you are well aware of the definition of "truthiness". The best definition I have heard came from Loyd Allen who defined it this way: "the preference for facts we wish to be true over the facts that are known to be true." 

During a time in the retreat I was on, the question came, "if you believe in God, then turn to you neighbor and tell them why you believe in God." 

I heard in my group a series of people say that they believe in God because humans cannot make trees or the sun so there must be a God. I hear other people say that they believe in God because it holds their beliefs together - to remove God from the structure would result in a collapsed worldview. Others tried to express they believe in God because of some evidence that points them in that direction. 

I get it. It is difficult to express why we believe in God. However most of the conversation that I hear about why people believe in God (or much of anything for that matter) comes back down to our preference to truthiness than Truth. 

And so, I want to offer up a reminder that Christianity is not a religion that primarily seeks Truth. Christianity is a religion that primarily seeks Love.

I am not afraid of truthiness because we all - atheist and deist alike - have a preference for the facts we wish to be true over the facts that are known to be true. I try not to waste my time in changing other people's minds. I will spend my time changing people's hearts. 

This is the change I wish to see. 

Hats

I do not like to wear hats because they never fit right.

Which is why I prefer hats that form around my head.

Fitted baseball hats, toboggans, even bandannas are welcomed because,

These hats conform, they are comfortable.

These are the hats my friends wear and we all agree hats should be made to conform to us.

And this crown of thorns I was given, I rarely put it on.

It does not conform to me.

I must conform to it.

The unforgivable sin

Have you come across this or remember reading it before:

“‘Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven of their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’ - for they had said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’”

— Mark 3:28-30 (NRSV)

Can it be that there is a sin that is so bad that it is unforgivable? A line that even God says, "even I cannot go there.' Some action that is so reprehensible and evil that you will have a mark of shame on your soul for eternity? And if there is such an act, is "blaspheming the Holy Spirit" such an act?

Jesus makes it clear that disciples are forgiven to the extent that they forgive others. The Lord's Prayer even says it: "And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those trespass against us." We are restored through the act of forgiveness.

The role of the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of forgiveness. Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit being the "Advocate". The Holy Spirit is advocating for the accused, much like what God does on behalf of Job to Satan (the "Accuser").

Blaspheming is speaking wrongly about God. So when one blasphemes the Holy Spirit, one is saying that Holy Spirit cannot/will not forgive. 

When we say there cannot be forgiveness for someone else, when we are not forging the trespasses of others, then we are not restored.

And so, if we are forgiven to the extent that we forgive and we say the Spirit of Forgiveness cannot forgive someone, then we commit an unforgivable action. Not because God does not desire forgiveness, but it becomes a closed circle.

And now for the crude and over simplified "paint" version:

Only forgiveness can break the cycle.