The truth stands alone, regardless of our take on it.

The Rev. Nate Rovenstine, lead pastor, Lawrence Wesleyan Church, 3705 Clinton Parkway:

“Truth is to be discovered, not created.”

This quote from Dr. Everett Piper of Oklahoma Wesleyan University is a foundational statement upon which Christianity stands. God is truth, and he has revealed truth to the human race through the person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” In addition, God has revealed himself to us through his written word, which “is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16)

Often when we hear something we don’t like, our first response is, “I don’t agree with that.” This is the wrong response.

Truth stands alone, regardless of our “take” on it. The right response should be: “Is that statement truth?” We soon realize that when we discover truth, we encounter the loving God. His truth sets us free and gives us life.

This is not to say that pastors are always accurate in how they present the truth. Passive listeners make preachers lazy. A good pastor will appreciate congregants who check their sermons against the word of God and the person of Jesus. They also will appreciate listeners who respond to truth, even when that truth goes against “what they believe in.”

The pastor’s job is not to procure agreement from the congregation, but to proclaim the revealed truth of God. When your pastor says something that you don’t agree with, make sure that you heard him/her correctly, then seek and respond to the truth in what was said. Truth may not always set well with you, but Jesus said, it “will set you free.”

Send e-mail to Nate Rovenstine at info@lwchurch.net.

Undertaking life’s journey as a family community.

The Rev. Mick Mulvany, pastor, Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 6001 Bob Billings Parkway:

Growing up with eight brothers and sisters meant that mom and dad had to run a pretty tight ship.

If there was ever a disagreement between any of us kids and what mom and dad had to say – if we did not agree with the bedtime that was established, or the curfew, or maybe the way that chores were assigned – there was a standard answer: “As long as you live our house, you will live according to our rules.”

That one line gave mom and dad the upper hand over their nine minions; we knew there was no way that we could afford to live on our own.

I suppose that is how many people view church these days, like we did the rules that mom and dad laid down. And you hear of people moving from parish to parish or denomination to denomination, trying to find the place where the theology or the priest/minister is the perfect fit.

What I have experienced of Christianity, and specifically Catholicism, is that we are a pretty big tent – a tent with the expanse that will fit a great number of people, where we all belong as we try our best to respond to God’s call.

To leave a community because you disagree with something a priest or minister says does not take into account his humanity. Nor does it leave the door open to the reality that we can never know all there is to know. It is a journey that we are on that we take with one another.

Even the disciples fumbled as they often found themselves in disagreement with Jesus. But don’t leave your community over a disagreement. Stick with it … stay a family, and journey and learn together.

Send e-mail to Mick Mulvany at frmick@corpuschristilks.org.