Verity Christian Fellowship

In ancient Greece (469 – 399 BC), Socrates was well known for his wisdom.

One day the great philosopher came upon an acquaintance who said excitedly, “Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students?”

“Wait a moment,” Socrates replied. “Before telling me anything I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Triple Filter Test.”

“Triple filter?”

“That’s right,” Socrates continued, “Before you talk to me about my student, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say.

The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?”

“No,” the man said, “actually I just heard about it and …”

“All right,” said Socrates. “So you don’t really know if it’s true or not. Now let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?”

“No, on the contrary …”

“So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad about him, but you’re not certain it’s true.

You may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be useful to me?”

“No, not really.”

“Well,” concluded Socrates, “if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?”

This is why Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.

How’s your Greek?

Some people wonder what the Old Testament is really all about. How can a book that is mostly over three thousand years old be of any relevance to us today? And how is the Old Testament relevant to Christians? After all, we believe and follow Jesus and it’s the New Testament that tells us all about him. So what is the relevance of a load of old stories and lists of names?

If this is how you feel or think about the books that make up what we call the Old Testament, then you are missing the most important truth that is hidden within these scriptures. That truth is the very essence of God, who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

We should consider that the scriptures, both the New and the Old Testaments, are not something that only exists in the distant past or in isolation. The truth is that we are living in scripture right now, this very day.

The Old Testament was not just the beginning of the story. True, it sets the scene and introduces the early characters for Gods involvement with man. But it is not something that can be considered separately, because it identifies Gods plan for us from the beginning right through to the final conflict which is yet to come. The arrival of Jesus was not the end of an era but only a milestone on the path to the final conclusion of Gods plan for man.

But how is it that the Old Testament can talk to us about our present and future when it is only the stories of people that happened so long ago. There is of course the obvious answer in the books of the Prophets, a lot of whose prophesies have yet to be fulfilled.

But there is a much more subtle truth which is written within these ancient writings. And this can be discerned as much for what is not written as for what is written.

For an example, the book of Numbers, chap 5, verse 11 : 31 deals with adulterous wives. Does this mean that there were no adulterous husbands? Certainly not. But the reason behind this scripture has more to do with Gods relationship with us. The real husband that this refers to is God and his bride is the people of Israel, who were adulterous when they turned to worshiping other gods and idols.

Paul uses this same analogy in the book of Ephesians when he refers to the church as the bride and Jesus as the bridegroom. Husbands are told to love their wives as Jesus loves the church (his people) and wives are told to be obedient as the church (that’s us) submits to Christ. The consequence of adultery, as set out in numbers, is that we shall be responsible for the consequences of our rebellion.

But as with Gods instructions to the prophet Hosea, who was instructed to marry an adulterous woman, but to remain faithful to her, God remains faithful to us even when we turn against him. He never stops loving us.

And this is the importance of this scripture. For the story is not over yet and if we are to make it through to the end we are going to need all the love from God we can get.

When most people outside church think of sin they think of things like murder or robbery. Therefore when we talk about being sinners, they think ‘well I haven’t done anything bad’, and so switch off, thinking it is not relevant to them. But sin is not just the big things. It is all the little things we do which stop us having a full relationship with God.

Sin is like a stone in your shoe. When we look at it, it is only a small stone and may seem insignificant. But although it is tiny, it can be very distracting, even to the point of preventing us walking properly.

Sin is the small things in our lives that prevent us walking in peace and harmony with God and with those around us. The resentment and anger we feel at what people have done to us. The things we have done which have hurt someone else, whether intentionally or not. The small things we do which we think won’t hurt anyone, but belittle our own character. It is these small things which are sin and stop us being what God has planned for us.

But don’t think you are any worse than anyone else, or any better for that matter. For we all make mistakes and get things wrong. That is part of being human. We try to teach our children that when they make a mistake they should say sorry. But how often do we say sorry when we make mistakes?

And don’t think that God judges harshly or does not understand. Jesus knows exactly what it is like to be human, and he knows what it is like to be tempted. He never gave in, but he does understand that we do. Because he himself suffered he is able to help those who are suffering.

So whatever is happening in your life, take a few moments to examine yourself. Think about all the things that you know are wrong. If you can’t think of any, then, if you have the courage, ask God to show you what He thinks is wrong in your life. Finally, open your heart to God and say sorry. Ask Jesus to help you take the stone out of your shoe, you will find walking so much easier