Question: Do we really want truth? 

Example: It’s probably one of the most viewed clips in film history. It’s of USMC Colonel Nathan R. Jessep (played by Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men). You remember, right? I can still see Nicholson’s veins pulsing in his neck and the way he held his head and neck and torso in front of the attorneys and the jury. Adamant, defiant, and intractable to the core (pun intended). And he spoke lines that are some of the finest in screenwriting:

Kaffee: Colonel Jessep, did you order the Code Red?

Judge Randolph: You don’t have to answer that question!

Col. Jessep: I’ll answer the question!

Col. Jessep: [to Kaffee] You want answers?

Kaffee: I think I’m entitled to.

Col. Jessep: You want answers?

Kaffee: I WANT THE TRUTH!

Col. Jessep: YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!

[pauses]

Col. Jessep: Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know; that Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, *saves lives*. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it! I would rather you just said “thank you” and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a *damn* what you think you are entitled to!

Kaffee: Did you order the code red?

Col. Jessep: I did the job I…

Kaffee: [interrupts him] Did you order the Code Red?

I don’t think I have to complete the next line for you that Col. Jessep blasted. If you saw the film, you probably recall the line. 

Follow-up Question: As a patriot to my core, I understand why Jessep authorized what he did and why he said what he said. That’s not to say I condone it, certainly. He authorized violence against a Marine for the sake of the Marines. He authorized scapegoating one for the sake of the many. 

Connection to the Gospel: We are amidst the holidays in the West. The derivation of that term holidays is rooted in holy days. But the pagan West has decided to deracinate and uproot holidays from their historical roots. We want the capital that Christianity provides but don’t want Christ. It’s that whole, “You can’t handle the truth” thing again. Because to flee to Christ as Lord humbles us; it demands seeing that Christ is on the throne of the cosmos, not one of us fallen sinners.

Just give us holidays but jettison the holy. Just give us Christmas break, but not Christ. Just give us Santa bearing gifts, but not Immanuel, God with us. 

 A Personal Reflection: Thanksgiving is among my very favorite times of the year. Why? Because I’m able to be with those I most love. I’m able to gather and give thanks. But to whom do we render thanks if we jettison the very author of benediction? If we don’t humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God and render thanks to Him, what are we doing but living on capital borrowed from the very storyline of redemption? It’s that whole truth thing again, like Colonel Jessep talked about in A Few Good Men. 

I know not everyone is a chaplain; I know not everyone knows the contents of the Bible; I know that there is no shortage of silliness and downright godless error that parades as Christianity … so I will say this as lovingly and clearly as I can: In Christianity, it is clear that there is only one good man, and it’s the God-man: Christ Jesus. 

You remember Jesus’ conversation with the Rich Young Ruler, right?

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18, ESV). 

Or how about Paul’s words to Timothy: “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5, ESV). 

Secular man shakes his fist at the heavens and curses the God he denies. And we are reaping the whirlwind now because the seeds of secularism bloom not in flowers but in blood. We are in cold civil war in the West because we have denied our Creator and God is giving us over to our own folly as a way of judgment. 

Encouragement: But here is one more way that Christianity differs from every other worldview: God in Christ reconciles sinners; we can be forgiven and restored. But it is not by any Code Red from a sinful commander. No, we sinners can be reconciled to the consummately holy God through the cross of Calvary wherein the God-man bore the wrath for our sin, died in our place, and triumphed over Satan, the grave, and hell—all as demonstration of His once-for-all substitutionary atonement for all who will flee to Him in the gospel. 

In short, He says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Come, and welcome to Jesus Christ, the one and only truly good man.” If you want that truth—that truth of redeeming grace–it is offered to you in historical, crucified, risen, triumphant power.