Over Thanksgiving, my pastor asked the youth: "Would you rather have truth or freedom? "
People hesitated at the question. One person asked: what do you mean by truth?
He gave an example, but the example wasn't that good, and if you start giving situations and examples, the question gets messed up.
and yea, the Sunday school answer is truth, because Jesus is the truth, the way, the life. But intuitively, for me, the answer was also truth. And I wondered why that was the intuitive answer for me. Perhaps it's because I realize that my memory sometimes fails me; my mom remembers a lot more of my own memories from college and high school than I myself remember. Perhaps it's because I see that so many of my friends have fallen away from the faith and have chosen different theologies and lifestyles. Perhaps it's because I've seen too many movies and dramas about people who didn't know who committed the crime that significantly impacted their lives. Perhaps it's because my generation and my Asian-American self struggles so much with the question of identity and who we really are. In the midst of all uncertainty, doubts and wavering thoughts, truth becomes critical.
And the truth will set you free (John 8:32). Therefore, truth comes before freedom.
