Truth

            Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17)

            “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.” (John 18:38)

           Who gets to decide in which direction a society goes? Who gets to decide what truth is? There are people who think that the majority decides. Others think that experts should guide us. There are times when both of those are very likely adequate to the task. For instance, I think it’s perfectly acceptable for the majority to decide what products are going to be sold, whether or not money should be spent to fund a project, and whether or not a statue is going to be built or be retained in a city park. I’d much rather than experts plan and construct a building, fly a plane, and perform surgery. There are certainly places for expert and public opinions.

           With the vote of nine men, abortion was declared legal. It would not have mattered if ninety-nine percent of the American population was against abortion, it was now legal. Nine men also made it illegal for schools to have an organized moment of prayer. Another nine men (and women this time) decided that it was homosexuals were to be granted legal and official status equivalent of marriage and even to use that title for it. The point, for me, is not whether or not you agree with those (at most) twenty-seven men and women. The point is that those twenty-seven imposed their will on the nation. Were they right in their decision? Were they right in their assumption of the right to make the decision? I believe the answer to both questions is, “no.”

          Some folks like to claim that all truth is relative and that there is your truth and my truth, and everyone else has their own. The problem there is the law of non-contradiction. Mr. Trump and Ms. X cannot both be president of the United States at the same time. The god of the Bible and the gods of the Hindu religion cannot both be the true god(s). The Browns and the Steelers can’t both win the Superbowl this year (though they can both not win it.) I can’t both publish and not publish my book. Truth is always exclusive.

          So, to repeat Pilate’s question: What is truth? Those who aren’t hogtied by relativism are likely to say that truth is what corresponds to reality. That’s a good beginning. I’d take it further by saying that truth is what corresponds with reality whether I like it (or you like it) or not. It must not be or depend on opinion. It is objective, not subjective. It is harder than a diamond and sharper than a scalpel. We may assault it, but we will come out of the fracas bloodied, while it stands undaunted and undamaged.

          So, as I pointed out to someone else this morning, if you claim to be a Christian, and “loving” people (whatever that means) is more important to you than loving God, when Scripture repeatedly states that we are to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths, and only to love people as we love ourselves. When people being temporarily happy now means more to you than their eternal salvation, or than what God has to say on the matter, there’s a rejection of the truth going on. There’s a separation from God taking place, and we’ve lost the battle for in which we were supposed to wear all the armor we’ve just discussed.