Closing your ears to the truth

In the past 17 years of teaching church leaders at three seminaries in Eastern Europe, one tendency has shown up again and again. Students do not like to get bad grades on their assignments. Most typically assume that they did a good job and should be given a good grade. Regardless of how detailed my explanation of what is wrong in the assignment, some students are just not willing to accept that they did a bad job. They cannot accept the truth because they do not want to accept it. However, I cannot be too hard on them. I see the same tendency in myself when someone corrects my Russian.

I have been trying to learn and improve my Russian for over 25 years. I have worked hard at it and most people think I speak it pretty well. I recognize that my Russian will never reach the level of native speakers. My soft sounds will never be as soft as they should be. I will always have trouble pronouncing certain consonant combinations. And I will always speak with an accent. Even though I realize all this, it is still painful when someone draws attention to the fact that I put an accent in the wrong place or have trouble pronouncing a particular word. Most of the time, they do not do this directly; they repeat back to me what I messed up in the right form with an intonation that indicates, "That was what you meant, right?" However, a few people stop me and correct me on the spot.

I wish I could say my reaction is always to accept these corrections with humility and gratitude, but that is not always the case. Sometimes I begin thinking, "Well, that is just their opinion. Maybe they do not pronounce this the right way. After all, native speakers do make mistakes." Or, I think, "Maybe they are just perfectionist that love to nitpick." Like my students, sometimes it is hard for me to accept the truth of what others are telling me -- not because of how they are doing it, but because I do not want it to be true.

In Acts 17.1-15, the apostle Paul met with this tendency as he dealt with a group of Jews from Thessalonica that did not want to accept the truth he was proclaiming and did not want to give others the chance to hear it either. When he arrived in Thessalonica, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the dead (Acts 17.2-3 Christian Standard Bible). The word "reasoned" meant to speak back and forth or alternately, to converse with, present intelligent discourse, discuss (Complete Word Study Dictionary). So, the Jews had ample opportunity to listen, make comments and ask questions.

The second term, "explaining," implied to cause to see what was not seen before (CWSD.) Paul drew their attention to what had been contained long ago in the Old Testament passages to which he referred, but the meaning of which they had not comprehended before. The third word used here, "proving," referred to presenting arguments in a logical order. Paul did all that he could to help the Jews and gentile proselytes there to see that the long-awaited Messiah had to die and rise again, and that Jesus was that long-awaited Messiah (Acts 17.3 CSB). He did this three Saturdays in a row. So, people had ample time to consider the truth Paul presented.

In the end, some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, including a large number of God-fearing Greeks, as well as a number of the leading women (Acts 17.4 CSB). However, some of the Jews, probably the Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence (English Standard Version Notes) became jealous (Acts 17.5). The word "jealous" could have a positive or negative meaning. Overall, it meant the capacity of state of passionate commitment and referred to the forces that motivate personality. When used negatively, it referred to "jealousy, envy, competition, or contention (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament)." These Jews who did not accept the truth Paul proclaimed began to oppose him. They did so not based on intellectual doubts. They were bothered by Paul's success. This unspiritual motive led them to bring together some wicked men from the marketplace and form a mob and start a riot in the city. Attacking Jason's house, they searched for them to bring them out to the public assembly.

The word "wicked" referred to people who were "evil in a moral or spiritual sense, wicked, malicious...evil-disposed, malevolent, and malignant (CWSD)." These "holy men" resorted to partnering with such evil people to stop Paul from sharing the truth. Their lack of desire to listen to the truth and their jealousy even led them to aggression and violence. They formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities (Acts 17.6 CSB). Then they put forth lying accusations. These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also...they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar (Acts 17.6-7 CSB). Due to this fierce, violent opposition, Paul moved on to Berea, a city about 50 miles from Thessalonica (Acts 17.10).

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men (Acts 17. 11-12 CSB). Once the Jewish leaders in Thessalonica heard about what was happening in Berea, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds (Acts 13.13 CSB). These Jews did not want to listen to the truth and did not want to give anyone else a chance to consider it. They violently opposed Paul in their city and even traveled 50 miles, evidently on foot, to do the same there. They did all this not because they thought Paul was spreading untruth, but because they did not want what he was sharing to be true. So, they closed their ears to the truth and violently charged forward opposing the truth.

In the end, these unbelieving Jews did not stop the spread of the gospel in Thessalonica or in other places in Macedonia. "Our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, You became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God (1 Thess. 1.5-9 ESV)."

Some people today act much like these Jews from Thessalonica. The problem is not that they do not understand the truth; they understand it well. They just do not want to admit that it is the truth because they do not want to submit to the truth. They like their life just as it is. They do not want to change. Accepting the truth would mean they would have to turn their back on their favorite sins and habits and maybe even find a new set of friends. So, they respond with aggression, violence and lies. They close their ears to the truth, rushing forward to falsely accuse those who proclaim it in hope that they can prevent others from hearing it and believing. Nevertheless, as it was in the first century, so it is today. The truth of the gospel is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and came to truly appreciate God's grace (Col. 1.6 CSB).

How are you responding to the truth? Are you seeking it out, accepting it and modifying your life in light of it? Or are you closing your ears to it and joining the mindless mob in opposing it?

DAN UPCHURCH is a native of Bollinger County. He and his wife, Lori, have spent many years as missionaries in Ukraine and currently serve in Poland.