“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (John 16:12–13, ESV)
Intro
This post is the result of a few conversations I’ve had lately. As I’ve spoken with people throughout the United States, there are themes that keep coming up. So, I have felt the need to address them.
Confusion
One of the main comments that keeps coming up in conversation is, “I don’t know what to believe anymore. There are so many fake news articles out there that I don’t know which one is true.”
Many people are in this position. They have been reading medical studies that say masks are effective. Then they read another medical study saying masks are not effective. They read an article describing fraudulent election practices. Then they read another article describing how it is impossible that the election was fraudulent. How in the world can we know what is actually true?
Gaslighting
I’ve also had numerous conversation about gaslighting. The basic idea of gaslighting is that if you tell a lie strong enough and long enough people will believe it. Many people believe there is a gaslighting campaign going on.
Yet, here’s the interesting part. Not everyone agrees on WHO is doing the gaslighting. I’ve spoken with Democrats who are convinced the Republicans are running a gaslighting campaign and I’ve spoken with Republicans who are convinced the Democrats are running a gaslighting campaign. And both sides are convinced they’re right.
In the same way articles and studies are pointing in different directions, people are pointing in opposite directions—placing blame in opposite directions. How in the world can we know what’s true?
A Spiritual Battle
We have to realize this is a spiritual battle and Satan is leading the charge. Satan is running this gaslighting campaign. How do we know Satan is leading the charge? Because there are lies everywhere and Satan “does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44).
Satan’s goal is to get God’s people to cry out like Pilate, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). So he spreads lies like gangrene in order to bring about confusion and frustration. The more we’re surrounded by lies, the more difficult it is to see the truth.
Waging Spiritual Battle
Since we KNOW we’re in the midst of a spiritual battle, we must take up spiritual weapons. The Apostle Paul reminds us that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12, ESV). So, the he tells us, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.” (Ephesians 6:13–18, ESV).
Spiritual Armor & Weapons
Notice the armor we’re given for this battle. We’re given the belt of TRUTH, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit—which is God’s Word and prayer. We are given a lot of armor and only one weapon (which is two things).
The armor provides protection from the attacks.
The belt of truth provides protection because we KNOW there is truth—don’t be tempted to believe otherwise. We may not know what is true at the moment, but we KNOW something is TRUE.
The breastplate of righteousness and the shoes of the gospel of peace protect us from the temptation to fight this battle using worldly, unrighteous methods. Don’t fall into this trap. We do not wage war as the world wages war. We fight, but we fight like Christians who fear God. We have a gospel that brings peace and righteousness
The shield of faith and helmet of salvation protect us from despair. We may see the world falling apart around us, yet we know that our God saves. He has brought us salvation and He is working out His plan of salvation throughout the world. So, we trust Him. We have faith in Him and we don’t collapse in despair.
Our Weapons
We are given one weapon—the Sword of the Spirit. The Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God (which was inspired by the Spirit who continues to help us understand and obey this Word) and prayer (which is offered up to God by the Spirit).
Jesus told us “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…” (John 16:13, ESV). He does this through God’s Word—which is the truth. Whenever we find ourselves in a position where we can’t figure out what’s true, we need to SATURATE ourselves in the truth of God’s Word. The more we’re surrounded by lies, the harder it is to see the truth BUT the more we’re surrounded by the truth, the easier it is to see the lies.
Then, we need to pray. We need to pray that the Spirit would lead us into all truth and that He would open our eyes to the truth. We also need to pray that he would silence the lies of Satan and shut people’s ears to his lies.
So, what do we do when we do know what’s true anymore? We read our Bibles, pray, live the Christian life, and trust our God.