The Truth Is Out There… | The Community
The Anglican Church of Canada home page
Sites at the Anglican Church of CanadaFind a ChurchFrequently Asked QuestionsStaff Listing

The Truth Is Out There…

Truth. Some rights reserved (CC SA-BY-NC 3.0) by LMP+Yes, I’m an X-Phile. But that’s not really where I want to go this week; the iconic tagline was just too good to pass up.

I want to continue on some thinking spurred by a discussion on last week’s post, about how what we throw away can demonstrate to the world what we believe. I was ranting about how the disposable society we live in is not following our basic Christian values, by talking about the coffee pods and disposable drink cups. The theme went towards this question:

If aliens saw how we acted, and the implications, would they know we’re Christ-followers?

I really believe that everything we do should reflect our beliefs. And, more so, that it does. Whether we realise it or not, we’re showing to the world the truth of who we are every moment of every day. Because the truth of what goes on inside us becomes what we put out there – the truth IS out there.

So what truth are you showing the world? Are you showing the faith you profess during worship services? Are you making the hard decisions every day to live out your baptismal vows?

It’s hard. It’s hard in a society where apologising can be seen as weakness or as a liability, rather than an effort toward reconciliation. It’s hard in a society where ‘snark’ and insult seem to be socially acceptable (or even expected). It’s hard in a society where being popular is more important than being faithful. It’s hard in a society where a really good deal makes us forget what we’ve learned in the news in past months. It’s hard in a society that’s been built on unsustainable practices that will force us to drastically change our ways. It’s hard in a society like ours.

But we can make the choices to demonstrate our Christianity to the world by being counter-cultural. We can ask the difficult questions about the source of our purchases; we can research how ethical the companies we support are; we can search out alternatives that are less damaging environmentally; we can prioritise relationships over things; we can say (and mean) ‘I’m sorry’ instead of ‘I was right!’; we can outwardly express love and compassion instead of refusing to risk rejection or discomfort. We can show the world the truth that we know in our hearts, if we’ll allow it the opportunity to shine forth.

“They’ll know we are Christians by our love” as the hymn says… thinking about our own lives recently, will ‘they’ really?

About Laura Marie Piotrowicz

I'm a high-energy priest, now serving in the Diocese of Niagara, catching glimpses of the kingdom in daily life. I consider church to be a verb, and I'm passionate about prayer, eco-theology, and social justice. I love travel, reading, canoeing, camping, gardening and cooking, playing with my dogs, and drinking good coffee. http://everydaychristianityblog.blogspot.ca
This entry was posted in Everyday Christianity and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to "The Truth Is Out There…"