The Truth About Truth
Monday, February 11, 2019
In today’s society, truth is no longer
absolute, but what you make it to be. It
is relative. Some people
believe that there is no such thing as absolute absolutes. But how can they be absolutely
sure? To make such a statement as that is in itself of claim of an absolute truth, and therefore, contradictory. Without truth, how
can we be said to have any rights at all? The truth is staring us right in the
face yet people will deny what they know just to fit in, or to be accepted.
Dishonesty is acceptable in our society today, and in our culture it has become
a common habit. The truth about truth is
that it can’t be avoided, it will always be truth regardless of whether you
want it to be or not.
First off, let's talk about the meaning of truth. Truth may be defined as the way things really are.
Whatever reality is, that is the truth.
But not many people are willing to accept reality,
or the truth. There’s a quote by Winston
Churchill, and he says, “the truth is incontrovertible; Malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.” The truth cannot be changed, no matter
how hard we try, or how much we wish it could be changed. It’s always going to be there, as
solid as a rock, hitting us in the face whether we like it or not. Truth is truth and it can’t be
avoided. Either something
is right or something is wrong.
In our society, there are people who claim to have their “own”
truth. But there is no such thing as “your
truth” or “my truth.” There is only the truth. It is not possible to live in a world where
your truth and my truth have genuineness.
The problem with their
truth is that it is in conflict, in direct opposition of the truth. There are so many
people who believe that multiple religions can be right. Take
a look at the Muslim faith and the Christian faith. The Muslims believe that Jesus was a great
prophet. But they don’t believe that He was God’s son or God
Himself. But Jesus claimed to be God, if Jesus isn’t who He says He is
then wouldn’t that make Him a false prophet? Those are two so-called truths that
contradict each other and they cannot both be right. They cannot both be truth.
I believe a big reason so many people are
opposed to the absolute truth is because they’re so used to being fed
lies. They’re prone to falsehood. It’s a sad realization of how many people
don’t want to acknowledge or accept the truth if it doesn’t match what they
want to believe. But here’s the catch- “Truth will always be true, even
if no one believes it; and falsehood will always be false, even if everyone believes
it” (Os Guinnes – A Time For Truth). Truth is exactly what it is named, and it
will always be that. Regardless of whether or not it hurts you or sets you
free. It’s the truth.
Now the question is asked, where does truth come from? Let’s look at scripture. John 14:6 says, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the
way, the truth, and the life…’” Again in John 8, “…’if you continue in My word,
then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and truth will
set you free.’” For some people, this is a hard pill to swallow because for
generations so much of mankind has wanted to earn salvation or find their own
way to God. But, if we conclude that the
Bible is true, we have got to make decisions based on all of it- not just the
parts we like. Christ, as God, is the
personification of truth. He embodies
truth. Truth in the Bible is revealed as
the character of Christ, His teachings and His promises. Anything that does not agree with the Bible
is false. Take the
use of relativism for example. It is the
idea that truth, knowledge or morality only exist in relation to culture and
are not absolute. But that doesn’t line
up with the truth in the Bible.
Truth is a weapon. In Ephesians Paul describes truth as part of
the armor we are to put on as we live simultaneously in the physical and spiritual universe. Having the
belt of truth buckled around our waist helps us to hold everything
together. It gives us a system for
thinking about things and filtering them through biblical understanding. When you do that, it’ll be harder for the
enemy to blindside you.
There will be times when truth requires us to do
things we don’t always want to do. For
example, in the book of Daniel, we see the story about Shadrach, Meshach and
Abed-nego. They were faithful to the
Lord and did everything in their power to serve and bring glory to Him. But they were commanded by the king
Nebuchadnezzar to worship him and his gods.
The three brothers knew the consequences of disobeying the king, to be thrown
into a fiery furnace. But they knew the
truth- that God is the One True King and He is the only one worthy of their
praise. They stood by that truth, and
did not bow down to the king or his idols.
As a result, the king sent them into the fiery furnace as their
punishment. But, for standing up for the
truth, and living to serve only God, the Lord rewarded them and saved them from
the fire. They weren’t afraid to speak
the truth, even if it meant dealing with the horrifying consequences. All that mattered to them in that moment was
the truth. That being said, we won’t
always be rewarded for speaking up for the truth. As a matter of fact, in a world where
acceptance- or tolerance, is the highest ideal, standing up for the truth in
public could more than likely get you slammed. You'll most likely be made fun of
or ridiculed. But as long as you are
speaking the truth in love, then you’re doing the right thing. Truth isn’t always easy, but that doesn’t
make it any less true.
There are instances when Christians
have compromised on the truth. For
instance, our society has determined that homosexuality is perfectly
acceptable. As Christians we don’t need
to go very far into scripture to realize that it is not acceptable in the sight
of the Lord. It doesn’t line up with the
truth in the Bible. But there are
Christians who will compromise on this truth.
By not speaking up against it when it is brought up, and just keeping
hush about it, they don’t cause any trouble, and just go with the flow. But as Christians, we cannot afford to just
go with the flow, if the flow is directing us away from God and His truth.
Knowing the truth is truly a wonderful
thing. But it is not enough. We must act
on the truth. More important than
knowing the truth is to live out the
truth. Walk in truth. Wisdom, knowledge, understanding and truth
are all attributes of Christ and we should strive to seek after it. After Him. Ask yourself, what do I define truth as? Is the truth I claim to be true, really
true? Or am I bending the truth, molding
it into what I want to fit under the description of truth?
Don’t shy away from the truth. It will not change, and you will not be able
to avoid it. Even if it means being
ridiculed or not well liked, in the end, the truth will set you free.
That is the truth about truth.
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