Why does truth hurt the messenger when spoken aloud today?
When I was in high school, during an English class, the teacher was presenting information using PowerPoint, but was just reading off of the slides. Not that long ago, we had a class on how to give presentations and the main takeaway from that was "Whatever you do, do not read the slides". After class, I asked her why, and rather than giving a real answer, she gave a wishy washy answer and threw it back at me, asking me who am I to question her teaching methods.
I did not sleep well that night, and the next day, apologized for asking her, as she had control over my marks for the class, and it being English, the ability for me to enter university.
This is an example of hurting the messenger, and this article will go into more detail about what it means to walk with God in a world where truth and power often coincide.
As seen in the USA, truth is power in society, and defining what is true offers immense power to those that wield the pen. In a world filled with alternative facts, lies, half truths, and purposeful befuddlement, people are exhausted from wading through crap to find anything of value, and instead, turn their minds off and drink from the fire hose.
This is the easiest way to gain control, if you cannot dazzle with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit. While they are stuck wading, give more, and they will be in an information coma, allowing you to do whatever you want. Overloading them and then giving them something to fear leads to gaining control.
The best way to not get caught in this is also the way that I found that society needs to adapt to, otherwise we are to be sucked back into feudalism, just with megacorps instead of kings.
The way to do this, is to discern, defend, and own, not as the world does, but as God teaches.
Discern what is important from what is not, defend what needs to be defended, and own the truth to pass it on.
Discernment, the ability to pull the fire hose from your mouth, and digest what was just given. To determine what is "good" and the difference between performative good and actual good. The best example of this is the relationship that Jean Valjean and Javaert have with their definitions of good, in the play Les Miserables. Javaert, being an officer of the law, is steeped in the goodness expressed by the society of a collapsing France. A might makes right, and the letter of the law is to be followed. Valjean on the other hand, literally states "My soul belongs to God, I know I made that bargain long ago He gave me hope when hope was gone He gave me strength to journey on" right before making the decision that starts the entire plot, that of admitting the truth of who he is, slave 24601. Both have their layout of good, and both discern based on this, but the difference is that one is external knowledge, rote following, while the other is that of God's wisdom, of internal. 1 John 4:1 illustrates this by "Test the spirits to see whether they are from God." Judge based on the character of God, not by what they say, but by what they do and most importantly WHY they do it. Discernment is not cynicism, it is cared paired with clarity of the full truth.
Many areas of society are failing, in the same way that France fell, power without compassion, and that leads to uncertainty and the need to defend. There are 2 main ways to defend, out of care, and out of aggression. Out of aggression, this is the main way most people think of defence, sword in hand, charging the enemy, the best defence is a good offence. But what this does is make you stoop to their level of might makes right, and all that happens is you join the pig in the mud and the pig likes it. Instead, let's look at care. Care for truth, compassion and the sacred. Amazing works of art like the Mona Lisa are defended, not by locking it in a vault with armed guards and hiding it from site. Instead, it is elevated, raised to a position to see, and is cared for. Meticulously protected, but shown. Teaching the content with compassion. Rather than displaying it in a dingy basement, it is a rite of passage to see it. It is not the first painting, its position was planned to get you in the right mindset to see it. This is the defence brought forth from care and compassion.
Finally, ownership. Owning truth is not the same thing as how ownership of ideas works today. The difference between ownership and knowing it is the difference between performative knowledge and lived wisdom. To perform knowledge is to say "look at me, I know stuff, respect me!" vs to hold the information with open hands, in stewardship of the idea, to pass it on, and share it. You are not the last to own it, it is your duty to own it in such a way to pass it on, not suck the life out of it until there is nothing but a dried dessicated corpse while you move on to find the next one. All knowledge is bought for a price, but not usually monetarily generated, own it like it is priceless, and share it so it grows in value from compounding with more knowledge. This is God's way of ownership, to be stewards for the earth, to hold it long enough to prepare it for others.
In the beginning, Adam and Eve had everything, save for one thing: the knowledge of good and evil, as borne by that tree. Temptation set in, and they were told "they would be like God", with the ability to wield knowledge. But what was missed is that they could have asked God. He could guide them to obtain the knowledge through his compassion as they were ready. Instead, they went for the power, without Godly compassion, and we live in the results. They joined the dark side, and we are still in its shadow.
To escape this shadow, we need to, as a society, shift from lofty goals of conquering to more righteous goals so that we may live. Rather than life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, or peace, order and good government, we need to look to God to discern, defend, and own what is ours.
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