Mark 12

"Do you all want to be known as liars? Is that what you aspire to? Because as I see it, if we sell a product with no intention to support it -- that's what we are!"

That's a paraphrase of a challenge that lives on in the "lore" of the company I work for and that marks a stark turning point in our company mindset. The man who delivered it was a subordinate employee (at the time) in a meeting with the executives and founders of the company.

I'm sure it was a bitter pill to swallow and hard to receive those words in humility. But to the credit of the company leaders, they acknowledged the challenge as truth and changed in response to it. But that is not our uniform response to painful truths uttered by others about us. Far more often we respond in ways similar to the way the Jewish leaders responded to Jesus in our reading for today.

As I read Mark 12 today, a phrase in verse 12 stood out:

Now they wanted to arrest him (but they feared the crowd), because they realized that he told this parable against them. So they left him and went away.

The Jewish leaders were used to considering themselves above criticism. I was about to add, "like many people in leadership roles of any kind,"...but it's not a trait restricted to leadership is it?

Don't we all like to think of ourselves as unimpeachably right? Even when we have done something demonstrably wrong, it was for a good reason, right? Not that we always respond that way -- but I think we all recognize that tendency in our own hearts.

So it is worthwhile thinking about: "How do I respond when I recognize that scripture is indicting me?"

Many options are available:

• Deny the charges (though I know them to be true)
• Discredit the accuser
• Hit back, harder

All of these were attempted by the Jewish leaders. And all of them we've seen used by people trying to escape uncomfortable truths in our times as well. But there is a better response. What if I...

• Receive it humbly, with repentance?

Here's an example -- in one of our previous readings, Jesus explains a part of one his parables as describing people who hear the Gospel, and respond to it -- but allow worldly cares, the seductiveness of possessions, and the desire for the things the world offers to choke out the word and rob them of their ability to bear fruit.

He was talking about ME there.

I could respond by arguing how frugally I try to live. I could question how a story told to address an agrarian society 2000 years ago couldn't possibly have such a direct application to me.

Or... I could:

• Admit what I know to be true
• Resolve to want Him more than the world's things
• Confess my misplaced priorities to those I'm in a discipling or accountability relationship with & ask them to help me grow in this area
• Talk with my family about what changes need to be made

I don't know where you've found Jesus to be speaking about you -- but I know that as long as you're reading His word, you'll certainly find such places. It's easier to respond rightly when we've thought about it dispassionately, before we're bearing the immediate weight of an uncomfortable truth. So, join me in pondering how you want to respond to such situations.

My prayer is this:

Father, help us to know your truth when we hear it -- even when it is a truth that pains us. Help us to accept truth humbly, yearning to grow as a result. Help us to be faithful in meditation on Your Word, and to not escape without being changed by it. And thank you for the forgiveness you give us where we fail.