Being Wrong

John 16 (Contemporary English Version)
Contemporary English Version (CEV)
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society

John 16

8The Spirit will come and show the people of
this world the truth about sin and G-d's justice
and the judgment. 9The Spirit will show them that
they are wrong about sin, because they didn't
have faith in me. 10They are wrong about G-d's
justice, because I am going to the Father, and
you won't see me again. 11And they are wrong
about the judgment, because G-d has already
judged the ruler of this world.

12I have much more to say to you, but right
now it would be more than you could understand.


In this passage, Jesus sets the record straight.
I like his style. He defines only two categories
of people. This is consistent throughout his
teaching. Remember 'the sheep and the goats'
metaphor? Or the 'wheat and the tares'? There
are only two sides, it's either/or. That helps
to clear the air and focus attention on what is
relevant, and what is not. One group is 'the
people of this world', the other group is the
people who believe him. We tend to be distracted
by notions of pluralism and multiculturalism --
many groups of people. Jesus says, there are
only two groups.

Then he says plainly, 'they are wrong'. I have a
son in the second grade. We sat down for a while
last night and worked out some math problems. He
has a funny way of looking at math. He doesn't
yet have the concept of mathematically correct.
He may be off by one or two or ten, and when I
tell him, that's the wrong answer, it's this. He
says, that's what I did. Then I remind him,
there's only one right answer in math, every
other answer is wrong. He just looks at me like
I'm pulling his leg. We're living in an ebonics
world -- it's all good. But that's not how Jesus
describes things. He says there are two and only
two possibilities. It's like math. Either you
have the one correct answer, or it's wrong.
Maybe that's why math has a hard time winning
popularity contests. We don't have TV programs
like, 'Math with the Stars'.


Matthew 7 (King James Version)
King James Version (KJV)
Public Domain

Matthew 7

13Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the

gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to

destruction, and many there be which go in

thereat:

14Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the

way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be

that find it.


Only two gates, and many ways to get there. But
then you notice that there is only one straight
and narrow way. This was not popular when Jesus
taught it, and its popularity has not improved
since. But it's not a democratic universe. It
has a defined structure. You may not like it,
but it is what it is. You don't get to choose
who your parents are either.

Then after pointing out the error of the world,
Jesus says simply, there is more, but you
wouldn't understand it. It's always easier to
point out what's wrong as an example, than to try
and teach people, even those who are willing to
learn, how restricted the range of truth is.

Jesus points out the obvious. The world has it
wrong, and the illustration of that condition
surrounds you. But where can you see an
illustration of what's right? I'm thinking that
Jesus is telling his disciples that they really
don't know that much about him. They've seen his
example over the past years, but they really
don't get it, just yet. That exposes the need
for the counselor. They need Divine help to find
the right answers. The straight and narrow way
is not obvious. It's easy to be misled.

Given that the truth is so narrowly defined and
hard to grasp, scripture provides easily
understood metaphors to help us recognize where
the truth lies. In a word, Jesus. On the other
hand, given the nature of things in the way that
Jesus describes it, 'this world' avoids encounter
with truth. It prefers the broad way, because
then, it's anything goes. Still, there are only
two choices -- Jesus or another way. We live in
an either/or world.

Just as it was in Jesus' day, so it is in modern
times. Either you are going the way that Jesus
went, or you are traveling the wrong way. The
justice in it all is that you really do have a
choice to make. The right answer should be
obvious. But that doesn't make it any easier.