By Pastor Ron Buxton
A couple of decades ago, there was a popular movie made called “A Few Good Men”. It was a military drama, and I must admit that I’ve never seen the entire film. However, there is a quote from that movie that seems to have “out-lived” the movie itself.
The scene was in a military courtroom, and the Navy lawyer—played by Tom Cruise–is cross examining the Marine Corps officer portrayed by Jack Nicholson. The dialogue gets very heated, and Nicholson glares at Cruise, and shouts out: “You can’t handle the truth!”
Folks, our very human existence will either be enslaved, or liberated, based on our ability to handle the truth. Life in a fallen world requires us to navigate what I call the dungeons of deception. The Good News is that Jesus Christ came to set us free from the enslavement to sin.
Christ declared in John 8:31-32: “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”. Frankly, we must be Christ followers to handle the liberating truth. Otherwise—only deception, depravity, disease, and eventual death awaits a person.
Let me illustrate how powerful deception can be. We all probably remember when the circus used to come to town. That was a special occasion. However, if you had looked behind the big tents, you would have seen something bordering on ridiculous. You see, behind all the busy activity of that circus, they had extremely large elephants tied up with extremely small ropes, which were connected to extremely small tent pegs. It looked somewhat cartoonish.
The explanation is this: when those elephants were infants, the circus crew would tie them up with small ropes and small tent stakes. At that time, the elephants wanting to be free from that restraint would pull and pull against that small tent peg. All to no avail. This went on for several days until the elephant finally gave up. Their will to be free had been defeated. And since elephants are known to have very strong memories, they never forget. Tragically, that memory proves to be their enslavement.
How many people are now enslaved to sin, and have believed the lie that they could never be free? I pray to God that they could “handle the truth”–declared by Jesus–to be set free! Do you want to be free?
