27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
Sometimes questions are asked with wrong motives, and the motive for some questions determines what answer is given. Here is a perfect example. The religious leaders are asking Jesus about the authority He is using to bring healing. They are not interested in surrendering their will to His, but simply in finding an excuse to arrest Him and have Him killed. Their motive is wrong, so Jesus doesn’t give them an answer to their question. Sometimes people come to us with questions and their motive is other than simple inquiry. They are looking for a reason to trip us up, to discredit us in some way. This is especially true with the news media. They are always looking to trip up people who disagree with their views. They want to twist our words in order to make us look foolish. They do this so that their ratings get boosted and their pay gets increased. They are not after the truth, they are after advertising dollars. They just want to be able to sell their sensationalized version of reality. We have to remember this. Everyone who has money attached to their words must guard against the tendency to stretch the truth, to spin the truth in a way that increases the audience draw. It is very difficult to keep the truth paramount when money gets attached to the message. Very difficult! So remember that next time you listen to the news. Everyone has an angle. As we listen, try to find the angle. Then you can hear their motives and come closer to the truth. The story is not that miners died in an accident, but that the safety inspection system of mines in this country suffered another defeat. It is not that someone was hit by a car, but that the car inspection regulations are too lax to catch vehicles with poorly functioning brakes. It is not that another soldier died, but that the policies of the US have failed to bring peace. Jesus was able to hear the motives and he answered appropriately. We need to do the same.
The Arnold Journey 