TRUTH TORMENTS

It is said of joking that it hurts because there is a grain of truth in it. This reality doesn't justify such joking but illustrates the fact that Truth can hurt. Not only does it hurt, it angers. Once on YouTube I watched a video clip of a street preacher in San Francisco simply declaring what the Bible says about sins including homosexuality. He was measuredly proclaiming what the Bible said without any mean- spirited, ad hominem attack. The homosexuals surrounding him were raging at him, spitting out venomous tirades, "You're a bigot. You're judging. You're intolerant. You're a hater." Of course, they were exhibiting those very things of which they were accusing the street preacher. Why were they so vitriolic? Why were they so angry? If the preacher was just an idiot with archaic beliefs, why not just ignore him and walk away? Why were they so upset and reacting so? Because what he was saying was God's Word, the Truth, and being the Truth, it pricked their conscience, it made them uncomfortable, irate. If rejected, the Truth will torment. In Revelation 11 the narrative records the future world-wide celebration when the Two Witnesses are slaughtered and left lying in the street. It also notes that the celebration arises from the joyous relief from the silencing of the Witnesses' prophecies which had tormented the people of the world. Why were these prophecies of Truth torment? Because the people unrepentantly rejected the Truth of them. Think of Stephen of Acts. As he preached the Truth, they gnashed their teeth at him with maniacal anger. Why? The Truth tormented them. It tormented them because they rejected it. The Truth strikes any remaining chords of conscience, twinges innate awareness of our created design and purpose. As a piercing thorn triggers the nerves sending pain signals to the brain, so Truth triggers the spiritual nervous system of the human. However, the torment of Truth, or, should I say, the continuing torment of pain, is the simple effect of rejecting Truth. The torment of the pain of rejected Truth results in this unbridled anger. It need not be. Truth rejected is torment. Truth accepted will set free.