It’s commonly thought that the truth will set us free. That may be true, but what about the burden of obligation it puts on us?

Truth doesn’t let us off the hook like ignorance does. All of a sudden we are obligated to respond in certain ways, ways we perhaps would not naturally be inclined to.

It’s a terrible tension, this gap between knowing and not wanting to know and remaining oblivious to the realities around us.

Perhaps this is part of that narrow road we are called to travel down, this path so unlike the one of least resistance. To live in the light of knowing and being known.

THE CALL

First, we should at least unravel a bit of the mystery that lies in the phrase “that narrow road.”

It was uttered by Christ, an alternative to the broad road that most men travel. It is a pathway in which spiritual realities are essential; in which the physical world is not all there is to know.

And yet it is so much more.

It is not a path paved with good intentions, or a mental ascent to a higher power. It is one that demands action and attention to detail.

Stragglers need not apply.

To be sure, the call of Christ is demanding. “If anyone would come after me,” he says, “he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow.” Not the kind of comments we hear from today’s peddlers of cheap grace, salvation sold to those anxious to avoid hellfire and damnation.

But the Call is so much more than a form of “fire insurance,” as some are apt to label it.

It is an invitation to taste the reality of truth not confined by the restrictions of time and space, and most importantly, the fraility of our humanity.

In Christ, we find a mediator between ourselves and God, one who longs for our reponse to this Call to follow.

NEVER MEANT TO BE EASY

However, following Christ is not easy and was never meant to be. We become obligated to act and react in certain ways, always mindful of others and of God. Always ready to reject ignorance as an option.

We must never become narrow minded, content to remain in the comfortable niche we carve out in life, but lacking in critical thinking and holistic Christian living.

We must always press forward, unearthing truth in all facets of life. Exposing lies, corruption, evil and greed, while offering hope in the name of Christ as a light on a hill, as beacon in the darkness.

We cannot remain silent for those without a voice. Indifferent to those who are lost in the shadows. Callous to those who have yet to see.

The truth compels us. It burdens us. It weighs heavy on our hearts and minds — or at least it should. And Christ will help us bear it.

Though ignorance can be bliss, like a boat out at sea in calm waters before a coming storm, it can hide the calamity that’s headed our way. The calamities and casualties of life can’t be avoided. Though you may not see them, they are coming.

The truth it seems, does set us free from the unreality we would rather live in. We become aware of our temporal surroundings, an injust world in which the machinery of government and societal mechanisms — and quite frankly the demands of everyday life – crushes, maims and kills.

We cannot remain blind to the truth, or deaf to Christ’s call. Ignorance is not an option.

© 2009. Chuck Kuepfer. All rights reserved.