I have just returned from another missionary trip to Ukraine. Just a few years ago religious faith was officially discouraged by the powers that be, but with the fall of communism religious freedom has found a new life. With the winds of freedom have come all sorts of religions, both Christian and otherwise, to fill up the vacuum.
Quite a few faiths of the Christian variety are seeking converts, and most of them more or less proclaim the message "Among all the Christian teachers and churches, (only) our group has the truth." In nearly every Christian group there are those who proudly proclaim "Come to us. Our group and only our group has the truth." In America, a similar message can be heard from some in nearly every Christian denomination or church.
Unfortunately, people on the outside have no idea whom or what to believe. They are confused and even turned off when they hear these kinds of claims coming from so many different people and churches. This is certainly the reaction in the Ukraine to so many different varieties of Christianity all seeming to claim exclusive possession of the truth.
Actually, the Bible has something very very interesting to say about who has the truth and which churches have the truth, but it is not what you would expect to hear nor is it very often the message you will hear coming from Christians or churches. In 1 John 1:8-9 the apostle John says this to Christians: "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the TRUTH IS NOT IN US. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
Here, the scripture says something about what believers have the truth and what believers don't. If believers (a church) never admit their own sin, their own doctrinal and behavorial shortcomings, if their basic message is that all the other churches and all the other believers are wrong but they never admit to being wrong about anything themselves, if it is always the other believers and the other churches that are wrong but not ourselves, then those believers most assuredly do not have the truth. Because the truth is that we Christians are all sinners and come short of a perfect understanding of the word of God and we fall short of a perfect obedience to the word of God. And if we want God to forgive us, we must be willing to confess our own sin instead of always pointing the finger at other believers and accusing them of their sin.
In Luke 18 Jesus told about the religious Pharisee who thanked God he wasn't like others. It was the others who were guilty of sin. He never confessed that he was guilty of even one sin. In the meantime, Jesus says there was this poor tax collector who felt so guilty he wouldn't even look to heaven, but he prayed, "God be merciful to me a sinner." Jesus says, the tax collector went home forgiven but not the religious and self-righteous Pharisee who could confess everyone else's sin but not his own.
It occurs to me that our churches today are filled with Pharisees who are good at confessing everyone's sins but their own, who are good at confessing the sins of every other church but their own. Who has the truth and who does not have the truth? The Bible gives an interesting answer not often heard above all the claims of truth trumpeted by religious Pharisees of today. Those who confess everyone's sins but their own don't have the truth, those whose position practically speaking is that everyone else has plenty of sin except me most assuredly do not have the truth because the truth is that we are all guilty of sin and a lot more sin than we even know. If we admit this, we have the truth, and people know it.
I have discovered that if I tell people that I am a sinner, that I don't know all the answers to all religious questions, that I am trying to follow God in my own imperfect way, and that the same is true of the congregation as a whole with whom I worship, they recognize the truth of these words and are immediately attracted to this message that is not often heard from religious zealots of the day. "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us of all unrighteousness."
If you wish to respond to this message, write me at this address or use my email:
Stan Bryan
Church of Christ
Route 2, Box 272 A
Cherrvale, Kansas 67335
I would be happy to correspond with you.