Most excellent Theophilus

1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, 3 it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; 4 so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught. - Luk 1:1-4 NASB




Have you ever noticed that when someone is telling a story about a situation you were present for it never turns out quite the way you remembered it? Of course you do, it's a rhetorical question. It happens all the time. The story shifts from person to person. From perspective to perspective. From motivation to motivation.


There are few things that get under my skin more than telling the wrong facts from a story or situation. I cannot explain how much I squirm and writhe under the sound of such wrongness. But what goes beyond simply telling it badly or leaving out the facts is altering a story just to make it funnier or to evoke some emotion from a listener that could otherwise not be had because of the truth of the matter.


I notice this quite often. Today in fact, when I sat a listened to a friend recount the events of yesterday's weekly get together, I noticed how they chose to remember the happenings. Emphasis was placed on key things that were said, things that I saw as nothing out of the ordinary aside from minor bumps between friends. Don't get me wrong, this was not a mudslinging party or slander-fest, it was just one person recanting what they felt were the more important details. I found this most intriguing that they would emphasize certain things over other things and disconcerting that some things got changed outright. Their motivation as far as I could tell was to acquire pity from the listener. I find this upsetting. I hate the alteration of the facts to shape the outcome. I understand the need sometimes to reshape its presentation but don't touch the actual facts themselves.


Perhaps this is why I am so fond of how Luke opens.  "...to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; 4 so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught." That makes me so very happy to read. That someone has taken the time to collect the facts in order to know the exact truth. How lucky were you most excellent Theophilus that such time and care was taken.


Recently seminary has been putting me through the ringer in regards to inerrancy and compilation of scripture. It seems such a mess of debate and opinion. It's like digging a well with just a shovel, sure you need the water but there's only so far you can go until you start piling the dirt on top of yourself. Likewise in my pursuit for answers I feel this burden of unanswered questions being added to by the discovery of more unanswered questions. Honestly it is hopeless in my own strength.


But I take heart in the one revelation I have had, God has taken care to "write it out in consecutive order". He is the ONE ultimate author and as such I can work from the premise that He, being intentional, has put those things before me for a reason. So now it can be, "what are you trying to show me Father?" Instead of, "what isn't from you God?" Now I find myself feeling like Theophilus, and am one step closer to getting out of this hole.


And as for my friends, I'll just have to learn how to gracefully extend my help.