SILOAM SPRINGS — Years ago, Hans Christian Andersen wrote a story called "The Emperor's New Clothes." In that story two swindlers came to the capital posing as weavers of cloth. "They said, the clothes woven from this magic cloth could not be seen by anyone who was unfit for the office he held or who was very stupid. The beautiful clothes could only be seen by those who were fit for the offices they held or who were very clever."

In reality, there was no cloth to see.

The swindlers simply stashed in their luggage the silk material and gold thread they were given to weave cloth for the emperor. Beside the materials they placed the large amount of money they were paid in advance to tailor his new clothes.

No one was willing to risk rejection by their peers in order to speak the truth.

No one that is, except an innocent child who told it the way he saw it.

"He hasn't got anything on," said the child as the emperor walked by. Once the truth was spoken fear was conquered and everyone admitted they could not see any clothes made of magnificent special cloth.

Though sad, we can understand the logic and feelings of the emperor who felt he had no choice, even though he knew and admitted the truth to himself, but to go through with the public procession pretending nothing was wrong.

The emperor's obsession with clothes kept him from leading his people well.

He allowed his obsession to make a fool of himself. It is easy to see another's flaws. It is difficult to see them in ourselves.

Matthew, a former tax collector turned follower of Jesus Christ, once said, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" Are we afraid of what we will see? Are we afraid to see what others see?

Is ignorance really bliss?

Is denial a worthy strategy? Is our obsession to be popular, spiritual, wealthy, powerful, or the best at whatever we do really worth making a fool of ourselves?

Truth is not our enemy.

Truth will enable us to be the best we can be if it is spoken in love.

Love wants the best for another even if it calls for sacrifice on the part of the giver.

Who do we have to speak "the truth in love" to us that Paul writes about in the book of Ephesians: Chapter 4?

We all need a friend and a mentor we can tell the truth to, even the ugly truth about ourselves.

John Wesley encouraged people to place themselves where they could hear the truth about themselves in the midst of many, in the midst of a dozen or so, in the midst of four and in the company of one other.

Most of us are in poverty of truth telling friends.

All need friends who will tell us the truth because they love us even when it may hurt them to tell it and us to hear it.

Better to hear the truth in private than to discover it in public, however.

Such friends are both a gift from God and the result of careful searching.

- Dr. Randy Rowlan is pastor of First Unite d Methodist Church an d comments are welcome d at randyrowlan@yahoo.com.

Religion, Pages 10 on 09/30/2009

Comments

To report abuse or misuse of this area please hit the "Suggest Removal" link in the comment to alert our online managers.

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.