Satisfy Your Truth Tooth

Satisfy Your Truth Tooth

Radio talk show host Frank Pastore interviewed me a few years ago on Christian station, KKLA. What an honor! It was part of LOCC being selected as “KKLA Church of the Week.” One question was about my take on culture and what I see happening in the world. Part of my response had to do with a trend I see in people—young and old: they’re hungry for the undisguised, unrepackaged, Word of God. People want to hear the Truth, presented in love. I believe that the growth of Living Oaks is, in part, a reflection of that real, not just felt, need out there.

The closing that I’ve used in much of my written correspondence over the past couple of years is “Advancing Truth in Love.” In a recent discussion with an advertising consultant, I was asked about a tag line or motto that encapsulated our image as a church; like KKLA’s catchphrase: “The Intersection of Faith and Reason.” She is a member of LOCC and pointed out that my line “Advancing Truth in Love” is really what we’re all about. She’s right. We have our mission and purpose statements, but I think those four words actually summarize what kind of church God has called us to be.

C.S. Lewis, (who also gained renown through radio J), wrote in his book, God in the Dock:
“One of the great difficulties is to keep before the audience’s mind the question of Truth. They always think you are recommending Christianity not because it is true but because it is good...You have to keep forcing them back, and again back, to the real point.”

Yes, what we have to offer as a church is good, it is helpful, it is comforting, etc., but many organizations, products and services can claim those very same benefits. The unique purview of the church is that we offer Truth; and not just any truth—the Truth.

Truth is like food. As with any good meal, a constant diet of one dish, no matter how tasty or nourishing, is not necessarily a good thing. The presentation of the food is important too. Even Truth, repeated in predictable, bland ways can become unpalatable and some well-meaning churches slipped into that very thing.

As a reaction to the bland presentation of Truth and boredom with the same old menu came what I call “The Burger King Church” (Burger King’s slogan was “Have it your way”). Utilizing demographic studies, surveys and questionnaires, church leaders found out what prospective attendees wanted to see on the menu. Truth didn’t seem to be high on their wish list. Instead, if people were going to consider attending church they wanted things like entertaining services, shorter sermons, no collection plates and casual attire. Rather than scripture, they wanted stories. Instead of theology, they wanted theatre. And the services needed to be offered at times convenient to the consumer.

In many ways, Living Oaks is the beneficiary of the effective aspects of the “Burger King” approach to doing church. Regardless of our commitment to presenting Truth, there is no denying that gauging the Christian “marketplace” has affected the way we do things. We have been influenced by those who sought to counteract the growing cultural irrelevance of the church. But the pendulum may have swung too far toward relevance and away from revelation, in many churches.

Now the pendulum is swinging back toward God’s revealed Truth. For many, their felt need is truly their real need: Truth. In a hyper-entertained, handheld hi-tech, sensory-overloaded culture, the church can’t compete for attention with bigger, better, louder, brighter and faster methods, nor should they try. Instead, let’s practice advancing Truth—not just teaching it, but living it—in love and with excellence; “forcing” people, as C.S. Lewis said, “back, and again back, to the real point.”

“I am…the truth”
─John 14:6 NKJV