Reflections on Truth
As a child I used to think that truth was subjective. Truth depended on whoever could come up with the most convincing argument, and communicate it with the loudest voice. As I had both convincing arguments and a loud voice, I can remember numerous occasions when my older brother ended up with the raw end of the deal for things that I did.
In the new millennium the word “truth” has fallen on hard times. A few may believe it is an illusion, that it doesn’t exist, though I have a hard time believing that deep down very many people are really convinced of that. More people believe that truth is out there but we just don’t have the ability to know it. Unfortunately, too often people determine “truth” the way I did as a child – whoever has the loudest voice and the most convincing argument has the truth. Some people are scared of those who claim to have found the truth, while others take great comfort in having a certainty of truth.
Where are we in our relationship to truth? Have we found truth? Are we seeking truth? Are we 100% certain what we have is absolute truth? And how do we interact with others in relationship to truth? Is it our moral obligation to speak truth when somebody is in error? All the time? Sometimes? How do we know when to speak and when to remain silent?
These are big questions, and involve more than one small article can address. However, I would like to try to share some of the landmarks that have stood out along the path of my personal journey for truth in recent days, hoping that it could be helpful in your quest for truth and your interaction with others.
Finding Truth Involves Finding Faith
When I speak of truth to people oftentimes I forget the role faith plays in truth. Take morality for example. You can’t have morality without faith. Whether your faith is in the practicality of consensus, “If every culture in the world thinks murder is wrong, it must be wrong.” Or your faith is in social consequences, “If you are hurting somebody else you shouldn’t do it.” Or your faith is in God or a god, which reveals that some things are right and some things are wrong. But the truth is every area of our lives involving truth at some level comes down to faith. The basis of science is also faith. Faith in the scientific method or faith that the universe works the way it does and will always continue to work that way.
As humans our only understanding of truth comes through the carrier of faith. Why is this such an important landmark? Because if we are going to help our culture find truth, what we are really doing is helping our culture find faith. Finding faith does not come through logical argumentation; it comes through a journey of love, companionship, and the Holy Spirit’s working. Faith can not be proved, it has to be believed and lived. People don’t like hearing our “truth” because they don’t hold to the faith that our truth is built on. If we really care about helping people find truth, we need to speak from humility as people of faith.
Truth and Knowledge is not always the Same Thing
For hundreds of years the medieval church knew that the earth was flat and they had their own system of the universe figured out with verse to prove it from the Bible (Eccl. 1:4-6, Psa. 93:1, Psa.104:5, 2 Kings 20:11, Joshua 10:12-14). But their knowledge was wrong because their data was incomplete.
The nation of Israel knew how the Messiah was going to come, and if I would have been in their shoes interpreting the Old Testament I would have agreed with them. However, Jesus came in a way that was so different from what they expected, they missed that it was Him. Later we can see how the prophecies make sense, but at the time our knowledge was so limited.
Why is this an important landmark? Because of all the knowledge that God contains, we know so little of it, and every time we get a little more knowledge our understanding of things changes. It pushes us back into a place of humility and dependence on God where when we speak of truth what we are really speaking of is relative certainty based on faith and the knowledge we have acquired (which is so limited).
Why Seeking Truth is Better than Finding Truth
That is probably a weird subtitle to read (it was to write), but let me try to explain. If we feel we have found truth, we stop seeking and are forced into preserving what we have found. We feel the need to confront falsehood, and are in great danger of becoming prideful. It also assumes all the relevant knowledge on the subject has been uncovered.
Being a seeker of truth might mean that you have found some along the way, but you keep seeking as there is much more to find. It is a continuous process of discovery and requires humility to be able to say there is so much out there that I have no idea about, but I will keep searching.
Related, Jesus says that He is the truth. Yes, at some point in our lives, we can say, “We found Jesus.” But if Jesus is leading, doesn’t that means He is not staying in the same place, but taking us somewhere and we need to follow and seek after Him? The minute we stop seeking Jesus is the moment our spiritual lives will run dry and we become ineffective. Viewing truth as a process of “seeking after” brings the humility that is required to eventually find pieces of truth along the way.
I believe the more we care about truth, the more we will be pushed towards love; as it is in loving others that we help them find a faith in Jesus the author of truth.
With love,
Pastor Jon
In the new millennium the word “truth” has fallen on hard times. A few may believe it is an illusion, that it doesn’t exist, though I have a hard time believing that deep down very many people are really convinced of that. More people believe that truth is out there but we just don’t have the ability to know it. Unfortunately, too often people determine “truth” the way I did as a child – whoever has the loudest voice and the most convincing argument has the truth. Some people are scared of those who claim to have found the truth, while others take great comfort in having a certainty of truth.
Where are we in our relationship to truth? Have we found truth? Are we seeking truth? Are we 100% certain what we have is absolute truth? And how do we interact with others in relationship to truth? Is it our moral obligation to speak truth when somebody is in error? All the time? Sometimes? How do we know when to speak and when to remain silent?
These are big questions, and involve more than one small article can address. However, I would like to try to share some of the landmarks that have stood out along the path of my personal journey for truth in recent days, hoping that it could be helpful in your quest for truth and your interaction with others.
Finding Truth Involves Finding Faith
When I speak of truth to people oftentimes I forget the role faith plays in truth. Take morality for example. You can’t have morality without faith. Whether your faith is in the practicality of consensus, “If every culture in the world thinks murder is wrong, it must be wrong.” Or your faith is in social consequences, “If you are hurting somebody else you shouldn’t do it.” Or your faith is in God or a god, which reveals that some things are right and some things are wrong. But the truth is every area of our lives involving truth at some level comes down to faith. The basis of science is also faith. Faith in the scientific method or faith that the universe works the way it does and will always continue to work that way.
As humans our only understanding of truth comes through the carrier of faith. Why is this such an important landmark? Because if we are going to help our culture find truth, what we are really doing is helping our culture find faith. Finding faith does not come through logical argumentation; it comes through a journey of love, companionship, and the Holy Spirit’s working. Faith can not be proved, it has to be believed and lived. People don’t like hearing our “truth” because they don’t hold to the faith that our truth is built on. If we really care about helping people find truth, we need to speak from humility as people of faith.
Truth and Knowledge is not always the Same Thing
For hundreds of years the medieval church knew that the earth was flat and they had their own system of the universe figured out with verse to prove it from the Bible (Eccl. 1:4-6, Psa. 93:1, Psa.104:5, 2 Kings 20:11, Joshua 10:12-14). But their knowledge was wrong because their data was incomplete.
The nation of Israel knew how the Messiah was going to come, and if I would have been in their shoes interpreting the Old Testament I would have agreed with them. However, Jesus came in a way that was so different from what they expected, they missed that it was Him. Later we can see how the prophecies make sense, but at the time our knowledge was so limited.
Why is this an important landmark? Because of all the knowledge that God contains, we know so little of it, and every time we get a little more knowledge our understanding of things changes. It pushes us back into a place of humility and dependence on God where when we speak of truth what we are really speaking of is relative certainty based on faith and the knowledge we have acquired (which is so limited).
Why Seeking Truth is Better than Finding Truth
That is probably a weird subtitle to read (it was to write), but let me try to explain. If we feel we have found truth, we stop seeking and are forced into preserving what we have found. We feel the need to confront falsehood, and are in great danger of becoming prideful. It also assumes all the relevant knowledge on the subject has been uncovered.
Being a seeker of truth might mean that you have found some along the way, but you keep seeking as there is much more to find. It is a continuous process of discovery and requires humility to be able to say there is so much out there that I have no idea about, but I will keep searching.
Related, Jesus says that He is the truth. Yes, at some point in our lives, we can say, “We found Jesus.” But if Jesus is leading, doesn’t that means He is not staying in the same place, but taking us somewhere and we need to follow and seek after Him? The minute we stop seeking Jesus is the moment our spiritual lives will run dry and we become ineffective. Viewing truth as a process of “seeking after” brings the humility that is required to eventually find pieces of truth along the way.
I believe the more we care about truth, the more we will be pushed towards love; as it is in loving others that we help them find a faith in Jesus the author of truth.
With love,
Pastor Jon
posted by Jon Knapp at
9:35 AM
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