In Light Of Truth

In the seventh book of Plato’s Republic, Socrates tells the analogy of the men in the cave. This story, which most are at least familiar with, is a picture of the impact of truth on the individual. It tells of two men who are chained up in a cave. They are restricted so that they can look in only one direction, and have been so since childhood. In front of them, on the wall of the cave, they see reflections, lit from a fire that is behind, of all that pass by behind them. To these two, the only reality that they know, are the shadows that move across this wall. They know nothing of the things that make these shadows.

Socrates speculates that if one were to loosen one of the prisoners, and turn him around so that he could see, several things would happen. First, this man would be blinded by the light of the fire. He would also find it strange to see these things which make the shadows. Keep in mind, that he has no concept of shadows, since all he has ever seen are shadows. Such a confrontation with reality would be disturbing to such a man. He would probably want to return to his former position where his eyes didn’t hurt, and where he was more familiar with what he observed.

Next, Socrates speculates, that if you took this man out of the cave to a high summit, and had him stare at the sun, he would be utterly blinded. The excruciating pain from the light would make him want only to return to the cave. The strange sights and sounds of the surroundings would unnerve him, and he would want only to shun this reality, and return to his comfort.

The fact is, many of us have a hard time understanding why such a man would not be glad to be free. We wonder how he could ever want to return to the place of his enslavement. However, this is a picture of what happens when people are confronted with the truth. In our lives, we get comfortable with our reality, and think that it is where all truth lies. However, when one turns us around to see the truth, we so blinded by it, that we find it offensive.

When we as Christians are confronted in such a manner, we often react in the same fashion. The light of Scripture is offensive to us, and we would rather turn back around and look simply at the shadows on the wall. Occasionally, Someone drags us out of our cave, and not just someone, but in reality the Holy Spirit, and takes us to a high summit. There we are forced to look into the bright light of truth, much brighter than a simple fire, and the pain is excruciating. We are so uncomfortable with what the Word says that we would rather crawl back into our comfortable cave. We are so overwhelmed, that we do not realize that in the cave we are imprisoned, but on the summit we are free in the light of the Truth.

If we choose to stay, or rather, by God’s grace are enticed to stay, our eyes become adjusted to the light of the truth. If then, we decide to return to the cave to persuade someone to come out to see the light of truth, we are often ridiculed and called foolish. We describe the wonders of the truth, but to these who see only the reflections on the wall, we are but fools. Inside, we have a hard time adjusting back to seeing with such little light that everything seems dim. If we stay too long, away from the Truth, we will soon grow accustomed to the lighting, and find it more comfortable to stay.

The task before us is to live in the Truth. What a shame it is for Christians, who have the wonderful opportunity to see the Truth, to refuse the light, and remain complacent, simply because it is more comfortable and less painful. Woe be to the man who places the reality of the shadows on the wall above the Truth that is found in the light. For there are some who have done such a thing, in rejecting what Scripture has taught. May those, who by God’s grace have seen the light of the Truth, be ever so careful not to find themselves getting comfortable in the cave. The key is that we must be faithful to come out, by immersing ourselves in God’s Word, no matter how uncomfortable, and be washed in it that we may be found living in light of Truth.