Page 57 - Phonebox Magazine April 2016

Churches Together Newport Pagnell
What would you do?
Suppose you had a disagreement with someone. Would you handle the situation differently depending whether that other person was
your boss, your colleague, an acquaintance, a close friend, or a family member? Stop for a moment to think carefully about this. What if the disagreement rested on something you knew to be true, but which the other person wanted to see differently, or even worse, wanted you to act differently, to deny the truthful case?
What would you do?
Is this an unusual situation to be in? We can choose how much we make the other person feel good, or how much we might avoid trouble by minimising ‘troublesome details’ or avoiding the truth. It’s the same when a politician uses ‘plausible denial’. So where are you, in your day-to-day dealings, on the slippery slope between the whole truth, and a complete pack of lies?
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Where did Jesus stand? What did Jesus do? In his exchanges with both the population at large, and the religious authorities of his day, Jesus always stuck to the whole
truth. He told it how he knew it was, but with immense love, compassion and gentleness. There is, of course, a price for doing this, and we seem to understand this, by the way we try to dilute the pain we might otherwise feel by sticking too much to the truth.
If the truth is too threatening for the other party, and the other party is too powerful, we could be in real trouble—damage or lose a relationship, lose our job, or in a severe situation, lose our life. For us there is a risk calculation.
When Jesus met Pilate and faced this, there was no question, and he paid for it with his life, in the cruci xion.
It’s a hard act to follow, but we have help in the living presence of the Risen Lord, Jesus The Christ.
This is why Easter is so important!
More information can be found on our website at www.ctnp.org.uk.
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April 2016 | Phonebox Magazine 57