In the 1992 film A Few Good Men, Colonel Nathan R. Jessep, the character played by Jack Nicholson, delivers what is likely the most memorable line in the movie. In a pivotal scene near the end of the movie, the colonel was being interrogated as a witness in the court-martial of two young marines under his command. The defense attorney pressed Jessep to admit whether he had issued a “code red” command that tragically ended another young marine’s life. In response to the attorney’s fierce demand to hear the truth, an outraged Jessep finally blurted out, “You can’t handle the truth!”
I have thought deeply about Jessep’s statement since I first watched that movie. It is true that sometimes we just don’t want to hear the truth. We would rather hear words that confirm our own ideas or wishes. This is what the apostle Paul said when he wrote to Timothy, “For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear. They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths” (2 Tim. 4:3-4).
Paul’s message to Timothy was not the first time the apostle spoke about people who didn’t want to embrace the truth. In the first chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul identified three types of people who weren’t interested in hearing the truth.
Dividers can’t handle the truth. In 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, Paul addressed the problem of rivalry and division in the church at Corinth. Believers were forming factions based on their preferred spiritual hero. Some claimed to prefer Paul. Others circled around the gifted preacher Apollos. Still others claimed an alignment with Cephas (Simon Peter). And, of course, there were some who boasted of being true Christ-people. Paul wanted nothing to do with such divisions, because the gospel is a unifying truth. Paul prayed that all believers would “be united with the same understanding and the same conviction” (1:10).
Prove-it-to-me people can’t handle the truth. The Greeks of Paul’s day were well-known for human logic and worldly wisdom. Think Plato and Aristotle, for example. Therefore, when Paul proclaimed the gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected for the forgiveness of our sins, many Greeks could not handle the truth. They couldn’t wrap their heads (or hearts) around such a message. In all honesty, the influence of Greek worldly wisdom still echoes today, causing many to reject the gospel simply because it doesn’t fit their worldview. Paul declared, however, that “God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached” (1:21).
Show-me-a-sign people can’t handle the truth. Where the Greeks of Paul’s day required worldly wisdom, the Jews of that time demanded to see miracles, especially miracles of deliverance. There were plenty of stories in the Old Testament of how God worked mighty miracles to protect and deliver His covenant people. Thus, they expected the coming Messiah to be the Master Miracle-Worker. John 6:30 tells of a time when some Jews asked Jesus, “What sign, then, are you going to do so we may see and believe you? Jesus refused their demand. For the Jews, therefore, the gospel of grace through faith in the crucified and resurrected Messiah was not the kind of sign they wanted. They stumbled over the gospel.
What about you? Can you handle the truth about Jesus?
David Briscoe is a content editor at Lifeway for Explore the Bible resources.
In speaking with others, I have found also that people want more than one truth. It’s hard for some to accept that there is one overall Truth. Discipleship is so important when listening to a non-believer.
Hi Keith.
Thanks for your additional thoughts about truth. I agree wholeheartedly about the importance of discipleship.