Bright Spot: Faith in the Trinity worth your efforts

Any young family has heard of the “terrible twos.” Have you heard of the “terrible threes?” I recall being inserted into a trio made up of members of the very first “Young And Alive.” This was the first show choir any West Branch choir director ever assembled. Not sure why I was picked. I’m pretty sure I know why I was not selected to solo.

On the terrific side, triangle offenses are scoring strategies in both basketball and soccer. Phil Jackson, the winningest pro basketball coach ever, earning 11 NBA championships as a coach and two as a player, made the triangle offense popular and powerful. Three-legged stools are some of the most stable. Deep in my memory banks are scenes of my uncles using one to milk their cows. I could never get the hang of milking by hand and sitting on a three legged stool at the same time. But men can’t multi-task, according to my wife and volumes of research. Pyramids with triangular sides are incredibly strong. Ancient Roman soldiers and gladiators would fight in threesomes, back to back, becoming a nearly invincible triad.

“A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:12)

Humanism, capitalism and scientism are seen as saviors in our modern world. But they often over-promise and under-deliver. Reason, tradition and the Word of God have been viewed as the three classic sources of truth in christendom.

I believe we need a consensus on what sources of truth rule today. It seems like conspiracy theories, fake news and pseudo-sciences currently reign.

Near the first Easter two millennia ago, the Roman governor who thought he was deciding the fate of Jesus Christ asked the scourged Savior: “What is truth?” People were confused about the answer to that question before that and ever since. Would it have changed Pilate in any way if he’d heard Jesus proclaim: “I am the way, THE truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me”? (John 14:6)

In our age of relativism when many erroneously believe all truth, especially moral truth, is relative (“What’s right for me may not be right for you.”) Jesus’ statement sounds intolerant and unfair. “What about all the other great religions?”

But if you study most of the others carefully they are all based on our being good enough to be acceptable to God. Jesus was the ONLY religious leader or god who offered a way of acceptance into real and eternal life through a relationship of love with Him: “Whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25)

I was a part of a disharmonius trio that was painful to listen to. Jesus was part of two divinely designed, life-giving trios − the way, truth and life and Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Let this holy terrific Trinity love you, then put your arms around all three of them to love them back. You won’t be able to fully do that but it’s great trying.

Rick Sams is pastor emeritus of Alliance Friends Church.

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Bright Spot: Faith in the Trinity worth your efforts