Picture yourself in the open door of a light prop airplane flying three miles high, about to make a jump. Conspicuously absent is a bulging pack on your back containing a life-saving parachute. But then a parachute isn’t necessary; you’re headed down to the safety of a large, billowing cloud several hundred feet below.
So, out you go through the open door, pummeled immediately by a blast of frigid air at the height and speed you are traveling. Free falling at nearly one hundred fifty miles per hour, the large cloud below is now only minutes away. Appearing to rise up to you rapidly as you descend, the soft deceleration it will bring to your rapid descent will be welcome relief.
The moment of contact is quickly approaching, but as you brace for the initial deceleration, you suddenly realize that the well-defined border of the giant cumulus is merely wispy vapor. Terror-stricken at the awful realization of truth, you now know – much too late – that your knowledge of clouds was fatally flawed.
Absurd as this skydiving tale might sound, it well illustrates a far more perilous “leap of faith” great numbers of people are willing to take in the area of truth and tradition. Rather than carefully researching all they hear taught in the name of truth, they choose instead to jump in blind faith. Far too often, their truth assumption is as flawed as our skydiving example of faulty cloud facts.
The adage, “look before you leap”, pertains well to both truth and skydiving. The perils of misinformation are all too obvious in our skydiving example, but perhaps less so in the realm of biblical truth. The example of a school classroom test takes precedent over our skydiving analogy, as the assumption is made that, come judgment day, God will somehow “grade of the curve”. Sincerity, no matter how misguided, must certainly factor in to God’s kingdom entrance requirements. But, our skydiving example serves us especially well in this area – no matter how sincere our skydiver is in his/her belief about the nature of clouds, the truth is destined to be tragically evident.
Are you willing to risk the prospects of life in the age to come on assumptions that you have never tested or researched? Are you truly willing to gamble eternal life on the presumed truth others teach and proclaim? Sadly and tragically, a majority of people – as exhibited by their attitudes and actions – are clearly declaring, “Yes”, to these questions. “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Jesus – Matthew 7:13-14).
A truth revolutionist assumes nothing about truth and questions everything. Like someone meticulously examining all the details of a legal contract before signing, truth revolutionaries operate on this basic assumption: deception lurks everywhere, and truth must be diligently ferreted out. Paul’s admonition to Timothy is the mantra of a truth revolutionary: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
Are you a truth revolutionary?
Awesome Truth!
I heard this once said, fits perfectly with your post
A deceived person is one who really and sincerely BELIEVES he is right. He may be sincere-but there can be a lot of SIN in that word “sincere.” Can you find it? Look at the first three letters!
Keep up the good work. Thank You!
Thanks for your comment, Dale. There is a general assumption that God will “cut some slack” for those who are sincerely wrong in their beliefs. I’m not willing to risk the life of the age to come on that assumption.
I love your point about “sin” in the word “sincere”. A truth-seeker does not want to be tripped up by the sin of sincere assumption.
Keep on as a good truth-seeker.