Jesus said, "I am the truth."

Please note that he did not, according to the Gospel of John, say that the writings about him are the truth or the doctrines developed about him are the truth or the theories about why he died are the truth. He said, "I am the truth."

As I ponder and study the scriptures, a clear picture of this Messiah emerges. It is of one who is always willing to reach out to others, always willing to comfort the afflicted and speak out for the oppressed, always willing to love the unlovable and forgive those who have hurt him. That is the Jesus I meet in the Bible and when I hear him depicted in other ways, when I see him being used to bolster un-Christlike actions, when I encounter his words being used to exclude, to damn, to destroy, I know that this is not the truth.

Truth is experiential.

It is never simply an exercise in intellect. You cannot go and simply read the truth and memorize it or type it on a card and put it in your wallet.

The truth must be experienced to be believed.

Surely that is why Jesus also said, "Follow me."

"Experience what I am experiencing, do what I am doing, love who I am loving and you will discover the truth."

Jesus didn’t say study him or write books about him or sing about him and only rarely did he even say that we should believe in him.

What he did say, over and over again, was, "Follow me."

Follow him to the truth.

Such action takes great courage because it means that our discovery of the truth will come as we live out our lives. It means that the truth will be shaped and molded by what we do. It means that the truth will not be a static thing. It will be a living thing.

I remember a short story by Mark Twain that spoke with horror of people who turn the truth into a dead thing.

The story was about a good young woman who followed all the rules and was always on her best behavior.

Once she was asked if she would ever lie.

"Absolutely not," she courageously replied.

"Even if it would help someone else?"

"Never."

"Even if it would save someone from pain?"

"No."

"Even if it would save someone’s life?"

"No, because lying is a sin and I wouldn’t want to put my soul in jeopardy."

God save us from such a narrow and ugly understanding of the truth.