Truth with an agenda

Truth with an Agenda
February 19, 2019

I guess it shouldn’t bother me so much. But it does. Any more when I hear a news story, read a headline, catch a flash briefing, I have to ask myself the question: “What is the agenda of the writer/reporter/organization?” Some would tell me that this is part of being a well informed individual; to question the source and its motivation. I find it wearisome!

There are times when I just want to be informed about what happened, from an objective standpoint. I don’t want someone to spin the information to steer how I think and feel about a subject. It takes work to research the source of the information and to attempt to ascertain the hidden agenda. I do not want a hidden agenda. I just want the truth.

Now I know that there are some that would claim that there is no truth without an agenda. And I get that. Pilate wasn’t the first, but was probably the most famous to recognize this when he asked Jesus in Luke 18:38, “What is truth?” From Pilate’s perspective, in an ever shifting political environment, truth always had an agenda. People have agendas. People want what they want, and in that world and in ours today, they will do and say what ever they need to, to manipulate someone else into helping them achieve their agenda.

While this seems pessimistic, at least from my reading of history and the Bible, and being a father and husband and brother to so many people, it seems to be truth. But there is a greater truth, and it is found in the person of Jesus. John writes in John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory; the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus, calls himself the “truth” in John 14:6. And yes, Jesus had an agenda.

Here is the thing, though; Jesus’ agenda was to do the will of the Father. Jesus’ agenda was to tell us the truth as God defined it, in the person of Jesus. The scripture is full of God’s agenda for God’s people. God does not want to manipulate us to His agenda, God woos us to His agenda. If we believe that God designed us, made us in the image of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, then it makes sense to us, that God would know best for us. If your cell phone broke you probably wouldn’t take it to an auto mechanic to have them fix it. [The one auto mechanic I know tends to break most phones.] The designer knows what is best and how to fix what is not working.

Many people in our world want to define themselves in lots of ways. Straight, gay, male, female, rich, poor, ethnic, etc. However, until we accept that we are made in the image of God, and God’s agenda for us is the best agenda, we are going to flounder. Like a fish out of water, we can’t seem to catch our breath or hit our stride. Any agenda, other than God’s agenda, is an agenda that seeks to push us in a direction. God’s agenda is to pull us into a relationship with God.

I know that it sounds rather simple and minimalistic to summarize God’s agenda down to the fact that God wants what is best for us and that is a relationship with God. Regardless of how simplistic it may sound, it is not easy. Jesus said it this way in Mark 12:30-31 “Love the Lord your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second commandment is this: “love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment [agenda] greater than these.”

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