Why so much “deconversion” and “quiet quitting” from the glorious faith once delivered to the saints? Why so many young people and not so young people who “should know better” jumping off and embracing that which so brashly defies God’s Word and Spirit? The longer I father/pastor locally and counsel across the country/around the world the dear people of God, the more I realize that the number one need in our ranks is so basic but so urgent-getting and keeping our minds in sync with nothing more or less than the mind of God.

Do you realize that our fade from God’s truth starts not with exterior-oriented compromises in our lives but interior ambivalence in our minds? God has been truly working in my mind through a sermon series that we recently launched here in our church, “As Children: A Study on Humbly Adhering to God’s Truth in II and III John.” (Link to full opening sermon here)

John uses the word “truth” four times in just the first three verses of 2 John, so it is an important word. Basically, it means ‘reality’ as opposed to mere appearance, the ultimate that is the basis for all that we see around us. The introduction of the “postcard” length letter provides for our minds THREE WAYS of thinking that we must carefully and consistently maintain before the Lord:

COMMUNAL Thoughts About Truth

2 Jn 1 “The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;”

Without regular and full disclosure in Christian community, we will start to “privately interpret” the events around us in a way that will lead us away from and not towards the Lord! In confronting the “Jesus and me alone” mindset that is so pervasive today, Paul Tripp writes, “None of us is wired to live this Christian life alone. None of us is safe living separated and unknown. Each of us, whether pastor or congregant, needs the eyes of others in order to see ourselves with clarity and accuracy.”

In 2 John, the apostle introduces himself as “the elder.” As to age, John was the last of the apostles who had accompanied the Lord Jesus during His earthly ministry. As to official position, he surely was a bishop or overseer. To stick with the truth requires us to submit to and honor the assigned-by-God “elders” of Christian community who strive to live it/teach it/lead us to do the same! Mistreating or undervaluing the sincere ones is often the first step towards doing the same toward God Himself.

Lady (kyria) likely refers not to a literal “lady” but to the “congregation” or “church” in a figurative sense. The church is a lady in much the same way as we refer to a ship as “she.” As the “elect” or chosen bride of Christ, it is proper to refer to the church as “she.”  “And her children” would then mean the members of the church. We need to lost the “it” in our vocabulary of reference to the church. It is impossible to stay faithful to inanimate objects over the long haul.  It has to be deeply personal and relational!

The love of John and others for this community of believers was founded on God’s truth.  Those who are saved find themselves in a wonderful fellowship, loving others whom they never would have loved, were it not for their common love for the truth of God. It is God’s truth that binds hearts together. Division is our ranks is inevitable when we love any preference, tradition, agenda other than the truth of God!

Michael Kruger recently asserted, “When we are wrestling with deconversion-leaning doubts, we must wrestle with them in community…not like a wounded animal who goes off by itself to curl up and die.” Oh to have more communities of believers that warmly welcome these sincerely-seeking doubters! Truth, even God’s truth, will lose it sheen and soundness in your view if only interacted with in an individual way.  Only the “family feel” of the local church and our active part in it can help us maintain an “as children” sense of humility and consistency! As David Murray wisely concludes, “The Christian faith is a social faith. It was never meant to be lived out alone, but always in community with others.”

Reflection Question: Where are you too isolated in your thinking about God’s truth and what can you do to process it with more with other people?

Recommended Resource for All: “What Do We Do with Doubt?” (Kruger)

Recommended Resource for Church Leaders: Pastoral Friendship: The Forgotten Piece in a Persevering Ministry (Haykin, Croft, Carroll)

EXPERIENTIAL Thoughts About Truth

2 Jn 2 “For the truth’s sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.”

God’s truth is not meant to be simply an abstract concept or academic exercise; it is intending to practically impact our day to day lives right now…that makes it seen, felt, lived, woven into the fabric of our being. A reality that makes it exceedingly difficult extract ourselves from even in the face of a feebleminded moment or season.

We have the truth of God indwelling us through the Person of the Holy Spirit, the “Spirit of Truth” (Jn 14:17; 15:26; 16:13)! Wiersbe adds on this verse, “The truth is not only an objective revelation from the Father, but also a subjective experience in our personal lives…This means that “knowing the truth” is much more than giving assent to a body of doctrines, though that is important. It means that the believer’s life is controlled by a love for the truth and a desire to magnify the truth.” With intimate, abiding access to God’s Spirit in a very real way, we have no valid excuse to fade from truth!

As the end of verse 2 alludes to, it is wonderful to contemplate the fact that we shall spend eternity surrounded by truth, growing in our knowledge of truth, and serving the God of truth. Since the truth will be with us forever (not “going outdated or irrelevant”), we certainly ought to get acquainted with it now and learn to love it.

Our intimate relationship with God’s truth assures us that our future, real experiences with God are as secure in heaven as the Word of God itself! If all three PERSONS OF THE TRINITY (Spirit here, Father and Son in verse 3) are invested in our day-to-day thoughts, then this is meant to be highly personal and experiential IN OUR LIVES! Nothing unleashes the steadying truth of God like letting it into our lives in a real and constant way. Richard Blackaby puts it this way, “Your optimism for the future is based not on how well you know your challenges, but on how well you know your God!”

Reflection Question: How can you allow God’s truth to move from only a head knowledge to something you interact with in your heart and life?

Recommended Resource for All: Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners (Dane Ortlund)

Recommended Resource for Church Leaders: Faithful Leaders And The Things That Matter Most (Rico Tice)

GRATEFUL Thoughts About Truth

2 Jn 3 “Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.”

Without a regular mental exercise of gratitude, we start to develop a God-hasn’t-done-anything-for-me-in-quite-awhile heart position/mindset and all the FALSE CONCLUSIONS we then arrive at. John now lists a brief summary of the glorious gifts from God that should stir the recipients of this letter to perpetual thanksgiving…a discipline that most children—including God’s children—have to learn!

How did this elect lady and her children come to know the truth and become children of God? Through the grace and mercy of God. To those who think this cannot apply to “loser you,” God is rich in mercy and grace (Ep. 2:4, 7)!  To those who are tempted to think you came to these conclusions all on your own, nothing about you intrinsically merits it, finds it, or holds to it. What fuels our gratitude is not just HOW GOOD GOD HAS BEEN TO US but HOW LITTLE WE DESERVE IT!

Peace is the resulting wholeness of being when sin and deceit is removed.  It is the restlessness and dissatisfaction INSIDE OF US much more than the threats and circumstances OUTSIDE OF US that cause us to wander from God’s truth. It is significant that at the very outset of his second letter John affirmed the deity of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. He did so by joining “the Lord Jesus Christ” with “God the Father”—a status no one else has the legitimate right to claim. As William MacDonald articulates it, “The Father is the Source and the Son is the Channel.“

Instead of just wishing grace, mercy, and peace for his readers, John confidently announces lastly that they would experience these things in truth and love. You cannot find grace, mercy, and peace by pursuing the convenient, fickly “truths” of this world.  They are found ONLY in God’s unchanging truth and love!

Do you remember what are the two evils confronted by God in Jeremiah 2?
Evil #1: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters.
Evil #2: They hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Je. 2:13)
Piper concludes from this text, “The essence of evil: Finding God unsatisfying, and preferring dust.”

Without an acute sense of/appreciation for the grace, mercy, and peace that has provided by OUR HEAVENLY FATHER and HIS SON/OUR BROTHER, we will slowly fade from/full-blown abandon the truths upon which they stand.

Reflection Question: Where do you need to practically manifest more gratitude for God’s undeserved truth that will keep you from wandering from it?

Recommended Resource for All: Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy (Wolgemuth)

Recommended Resource for Church Leaders: “Rely Upon God’s Power Within You” (TGC)

The Golden Gate Bridge in the San Fransisco Bay that is pictured above is today one of the biggest destinations for suicide in the world. On average, 30 people or more are lost to the bridge each year, with the first death occurring mere months after its completion in 1937. Currently, a 4-foot-high railing is the only thing preventing people from stepping over the edge. Calls for a more effective barrier date back to the 1950s and construction finally began on a suicide deterrent net in 2017, more than 80 years and almost 2,000 deaths later.  It’s expected to be completed by the end of 2023.  What should concern all of is that we tend to drift in our heads from God’s truth long before we fully acknowledge it and other observe it.  With access to God’s truth, we have no excuse to be unsteady in our thinking that “would send us over the edge.”  God has given us everything we need in Jesus to BRIDGE the gap between us and Him! As John Mark Comer summarizes, “The mind is the portal to the soul, and what you fill your mind with will shape the trajectory of your character. In the end, your life is no more than the sum of what you gave your attention to.”

Photo from Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District