This week we will be talking about honesty and openness, especially with regards to making our community a safe and supportive one for everyone. In the context of being part of the body, which we talked about last week, living in the truth gives us freedom (John 8:32) to support each other and become closer, as one body (Ephesians 4:25) and stand together as followers of the truth (Mark 3:25, John 14:6). This allows us to trust each other and be in community with each other in truth and love (Ephesians 4:15) so that we may grow in maturity and be faithful to one another (James 5:13-16, James 3:14). Being truthful and obedient to God also gives us encouragement (3 John 1:4) and builds us up (Proverbs 14:25).
By walking in the truth we invite the Holy Spirit (a.k.a. Spirit of Truth) to work in us and bear fruit (John 14:16-17, Galatians 5:22-23). The truth and love that we are speaking of is not just spoken with words, but carried out in action (1 John 3:18). I pray that we will be an encouragement to each other and a light to campus as we live in honesty and openness with each other. May we take steps to build trust and friendship with each other!
Love in Christ,
Peter
P.S. If you didn’t have a chance to take the personality quiz last week, here is the link again:http://www.humanmetrics.com/
P.P.S Here are the questions we will be covering this week; if you would like to answer or discuss any of the questions, please feel free to reply all and start a conversation!
- Look at Philippians 2:1-14. What are some practical ways that this supportive community can be lived out? What needs to be in place for honesty and openness to flourish? How do we make a safe place for sharing, honesty, and openness?
- What happens when you try to tell the truth or sharing honestly in a community that is not loving and open and honest? Are the instructions in James 5:13-16 possible if we do not trust each other? Think also about John 8:32: what does it mean, “the truth will set you free?” (There are many dimensions to this statement). Think specifically about how truth in a relationship will set the people in a relationship free.
Compare to the negatives of Isaiah 59:9-15 (Lying is closely linked with lack of justice, and in turn with many unpleasant consequences. What are some everyday, practical consequences of lying?), Jeremiah 9:4-6 (Deceitfulness breeds distrust; honesty grows trust. What happens in a community without trust?), Luke 18:10-13, Matthew 23:4 (What would happen if you went to a Pharisee—who judges by appearances and not by truth—to share your troubles? In what ways are Pharisees not open and honest?).
- 1 John 3:18 Let us not love with words and speech, but with actions and in truth. People believe when they see with their eyes, not just hear words (e.g. 1 Kings 17:17-24). How do we live out truth in actions?
- James 3:14 Why not deny the bitter envy or selfish ambition in your heart? Consider the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous:
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
- Proverbs 14:25 In what ways does a truthful witness save lives? (Think of this outside of the courtroom, too). How can being a truthful witness build others up? Perhaps it is thoughtful also to think about the opposite: how do lies destroy/damage lives?
- Is it okay to tell a ‘white lie?’ (A ‘white lie’ is when you lie to someone because you think that the truth would be more hurtful. Trite examples: 1. “Does this make me look fat?” “No, honey!” 2. Sick person, “Do I look better?” “Of course you do!”).
- Genesis 18:9-15 Why did Sarah lie; how did God react? How is this relevant to your life? Think of a time when you were tempted to lie.
- Did you? What happened? What can you learn from this?
- Did you not? Why did you decide not to? What did you learn?
- Matthew 22:16 The disciples of the Pharisees are using a truthful statement maliciously, and we can see (at least) two lessons here.
- “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are.” What is a sign of walking in the truth? What are the practical implications?
- The disciples of the Pharisees are not speaking the truth in love (compare to Ephesians 4:15). What are other ways that the truth can be spoken not in love (perhaps think of a hurtful rebuke)? What does it mean to speak the truth in love? What happens when the truth is not spoken in love? What happens when there is love without truth (is that even possible)?
- John 3:21 “Walk in the light” is a recurring theme throughout the New Testament. What does that phrase mean? What happens if we stop walking in the light (e.g. what does 1 John 2:9-11 mean practically)?
- John 15:26 Discuss being truthful in light of the work of the Spirit and the Spirit’s power to work in us (John 14:16-17).
- Ephesians 4:25, Mark 3:25. “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” holds true personally and corporately. What is the relevance to honesty and openness as followers of Christ?
- Proverbs 27:5 Why is open rebuke better than hidden love? Think of this in the context of:
- Relationship, edification, community, etc.
- Regret (Think of the saying, “It’s better to regret something you did than something you didn’t do”)
- Matthew 6:16-18 Does being open and honest mean that we have to tell everyone everything?
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