The Truth Always Wins

Whether it is politics, the workplace or even Church, being surrounded by others with different beliefs can be very stressful. We struggle to ‘convince’ others our beliefs are true. We are tempted to ‘shut down’ those who disagree with us, but that only creates battles.

The Lord said to the Jews who had come to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber; but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them. I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.  He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.  And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.”

John 10.1-16

Today is the Feast of Saint Gregory the Theologian, the great defended of the truth of the Holy Trinity. A member of a ‘holy family’ in that his parents were also saints; he stood as Archbishop of Constantinople at a time of great stress. He never was violent. He only preached the truth.

In time his fervor for the Truth proved convincing to the city. By the time he retired, every one of the churches had returned to the Truth of the Holy Trinity. The Arians were defeated not by violence but the Truth. Saint Gregory patiently preached the Truth, and the Truth always wins.

We live in a time of great debate within the Church, but we have not learned the lessons of Saint Gregory the Theologian. We prefer violence (albeit verbal) rather than truth. We prefer ‘name calling’ and persecution rather than patience and truth.

We forget the Arian controversy in the Church raged for decades until finally being left aside by the mainstream Church. There remain even today those who believe in the false teachings of the Arians and other ancient heresies, but the Truth will always win.

I pray we can finally learn the lessons of Saint Gregory. Let’s stop being violent and focus on the Truth of Orthodoxy. The truth always wins because the Truth is Christ.