John 8:32 – “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Ever heard this scripture before? I certainly have. There is no doubt about the fact that a person coming to the truth of Jesus Christ will be set free. But I want to have a look at one little word in this scripture that is overshadowed by the deeper concepts of “Truth” and “Freedom.” And that word is the word “Know.”

Let us first make the cause-and-effect assumption that a person “knowing” the truth (effect) follows their exposure to some degree of information presenting the truth (cause). In 21st century society we are exposed to more information on a daily basis than the average person 500 years ago was exposed to in their entire life. Based on this, and the fact that information relating to the truth of Jesus Christ is more widely delivered than ever before, we can only assume that most of the world now should be able to “know” the truth and be set free. Right……?

For some reason, the “knowing,” or exposure, or even the comprehension of the truth doesn’t appear to be enough. Otherwise, we could all grab a cool yesHEis video explaining the gospel, post it on our Facebook walls and 800,000,000 would be saved before supper time. Obviously this isn’t the case.

So what I’m getting at is that, based on my structured argument and comprehensive delivery of the evidence, this piece of scripture is clearly wrong.

Kidding!

Rather, perhaps “knowing” the truth is a bit more than just knowing the truth, if you follow me.

Let’s look at this from another angle.

Western media frequently exposes us to stories of people suffering from disease, malnutrition and persecution. These struggles faced daily by millions of men, women and children make the life that I live appear so comparatively abundant, I should be compelled into compassion.

However – and I am ashamed to say this, relative to the enormity of the truth – I was in the past somewhat un-moved by these messages. Is this because I was cold hearted and selfish? I sincerely hope not. Is this because I believed the information presented to me was false and didn’t represent truth? No. Perhaps even though I understood the truth, I didn’t necessarily “know” the truth.

So am I lost? Am I destined to forever be de-sensitized to the truths of the universe? I don’t think so. What I believe needs to take place is an encounter with the truth that will overcome this desensitisation.

Earlier this year, I travelled to the nations of Thailand and Laos in South East Asia. I was personally exposed to the people behind the truth of third world suffering. This same truth that was delivered to me through those media campaigns, moved from cognitive comprehension to personal conviction. How? Through the contact I made with the people behind it. Now I “know” the truth and my soul is moved with compassion towards the sufferings of my fellow man.

So what does it take to “Know” the truth and be set free like it talks about in John 8:32?

I believe, in context to the truth of Jesus Christ, “knowing” the truth is more than an understanding or cognitive comprehension, it is a personal encounter. A person can be exposed to the truth, they can comprehend the truth, they can even believe the truth, but unless they meet the truth that is Jesus, they will never be transformed by the truth.

And this is the exciting part; we aren’t responsible for this. God himself is the only one capable of meeting someone on a personal enough level to awaken this “knowing”. We may be involved in creating the opportunity, but it is God who will bring the transformation to someone’s life.

So what’s my point? My point is that in our day-to-day efforts in sharing the truth of Jesus online, let’s not forget to pray that God would open up the hearts of the people we are connecting with to move far beyond just an understanding of the truth we are sharing, to a knowing of the truth that is Jesus himself.

What do you think about knowing the Truth and being set free? Leave your comments below or connect with us on Facebook to join the discussion.

Also keep an eye out over the next few days for round 2 of this discussion.