When Batman was foiled by his mom – The Belt of Truth, Preview

When my son was just a little guy, he was convinced that he was Batman.  And he had a point.  You never saw Batman and my son in the same place, did you?  Nope.

At the time, we lived in the city of Lancaster, and our home had only street-side parking.  Some evenings when most neighbors were home, it could be very difficult to find parking nearby.  One evening, my wife had our four kids out by herself, and they had to park a couple blocks away.  As they were walking home in the dark, they came across some older kids in a fight.  Immediately she saw a look come across my 6 year old’s eyes. He was thinking this was a job for Batman.

My wife grabbed his arm, and nearly had to drag him away from the fight.  In her mind, it was most certainly not a job for “Batman.”  Once at home, he put on his Batman costume and walked to the front door, intending to go back out there.  Mom said, “No way.”

Our little Batman was very unhappy with his mom that night.  But he was ready.  He had his Batman armor, including Batman’s ever-present utility belt.  In that belt Batman has a gadget for seemingly every situation.  It could be said that Batman’s belt is the central feature of his suit.

Last week we started a blog series on the Armor of God, and this coming week, we learn about the first and central piece of armor.  The Belt of Truth.  This might surprise you, but Paul doesn’t mention a belt.  My Bible, the New International Version, however, tells us that Paul writes this: “Stand firm, then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.”  What gives?  I promise you, Paul didn’t write that.  He wrote something else.

Starting Monday we’ll learn exactly what Paul wrote, we’ll learn why my Bible includes something (a belt!) that Paul didn’t include, and especially we’ll learn what Paul is actually talking about and how it matters to our lives.  It’s all about truth, and that is exceedingly important.  Truth is central. But the truth is hotly debated.

In our previous blog series through the Gospel of John, we studied Jesus’ trial before the Roman governor Pilate.  In John 18:37, Jesus says to Pilate, “I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”  But Pilate responds, ”What is truth?”

Pilate’s question sounds very contemporary, doesn’t it?  What is truth?  On the blog starting Monday we’ll talk about this central topic.