Acts 24:24-25 NKJV And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. (25) Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.”
“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.” In essence they found truth or heard truth, but quickly chose to ignore it instead of taking action because of it. The main reason people do this is fear. They are afraid of the responsibility that comes with the Truth they hear and how this truth impact their life. They fear what the truth means for them.
Alethephobia is the fear of hearing the truth. Not to be confused with veritaphobia, which is the fear of telling the truth. Felix, the governor of Judea, had heard the reports about Jesus and the message that His followers shared and had a general understanding of what Christians believed. But as Paul shared the In Him realities of how a relationship with Christ impacted ones righteousness, nature, and eternity, Felix became terrified. He recognized that what Paul was saying was true and it scared him. It frightened him because he knew that meant that for him to embrace this faith would be the end of his governorship and many would no longer respect him.
People often fear and hate the disclosure of truth, because it carries with it and self-perceived insult to their own narcissism (narcissistic insults). Although they see a plain reality, it offends their ego. So in effort to avoid the bruised ego and the fear of that it means, they hold onto their previous ideas for dear life, limiting the extent of both their intellect and their personal freedom. They choose to be in bondage to a lie, instead of freed by the truth.
Some Christians do this too. They selectively hear certain divine truths, while carefully avoiding others that challenge their personal comfort zone or compel them to take action. The Lord wants to help you grow and walk in all the freedom he died to provide you. John 1:1 calls Jesus the Word and John 17:17 tells us His Word is truth. So the Lord will speak truth to you through His Spirit, His Word, and even His people that will challenge how you see Him, the world, or even (gulp) YOURSELF.
When you find yourself hearing things that makes you uncomfortable, search them out. Examine it and make sure it says what you are hearing and that it isn’t being twisted in some way (Oh and make sure you don’t twist and try to rationalize the Scripture either), ask for clarification or further teaching instead of trying to ignore it, and then act on the truth. The truth about ourselves is often hard to hear and can be scary, but it is necessary for us to live truly free. Don’t fear hearing the truth.
What a great explanation of a very basic truth. Good to remember when trying to convince someone of the truth.
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