Truth

 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20 English Standard Version

Truth is not fungible. Many try and make it so; however, no matter what they say, it is not. We endure a cultural penchant for seeking out inputs that reinforce our previously held positions. In many ways we have things backward, seeking proof for our preconceived ideas before understanding the facts. Yet, adherence to truth forms the foundation for the creation of a workable and defensible worldview. A worldview, well-grounded in truth, provides the basis for successfully interacting with an increasingly chaotic and challenging world. Our world is increasingly integrated, linked to far distant people and places with their own requirements and desires. Decisions made in ignorance and self-centered isolation lead to conflicts, conflicts avoidable if we take the time to search out and integrate truth into our worldview; however, people increasingly ignore truth, seeking out those who say the things they want to hear.

3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. II Timothy 4:3-4

This is nothing new. Paul spoke to this over two millennia ago. We like to think that we have moved past believing myths; however, when we actively seek out those that say what our “itching ears” want to hear instead of engaging in the struggle required to integrate truth into our worldview, we choose to believe a myth of our own making. We see this in almost every aspect of modern society; social, political, economic, and religious. Rather than actively seek the light of truth, we build our worldview and then go off in search of those who support our worldview. Then when things go awry, we conveniently blame the other. After all, if they would but adjust their worldview, we would not need to deal with those pesky facts. This cultural penchant makes us weak and easy prey.

Unscrupulous men and women exploit our ignorance. Realizing that we remain wedded to a very specific worldview, they parrot the same dogma, using it to hide their own personal agenda, which is normally gaining and maintaining power. They understand that for many of us, fealty to worldview outweighs truth, which is ironic. We forget that for those of us who claim the mantle of Christian, Jesus made some very potent claims regarding this subject.

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

When we embrace the name of Christ, we embrace fidelity to truth. For the Christian, truth matters, words matter. They matter more than political party, economic system, or personal philosophy. Search for the truth and you’re searching for Jesus, the Word made flesh. Sometimes people will say that truth is hard to find. I do not think finding truth is the problem we face. The problem is facing the truth that we find. Often, we mistakenly go in search of facts to support our beliefs instead of looking for facts and letting them shape our worldview. We fall into the trap of shaping our worldview first and then finding someone who speaks to our “itching ears.” Ultimately, we end up in a sort of echo chamber which serves to reinforce our preexisting beliefs instead of educating us. We do not like the facts so we invent our own. We must unflinchingly face facts, letting them inform our understanding of the world around us. Some might complain that this type of reasoning works against faith. I do not believe that it does. Jesus said that he was the truth. Ultimately truth will lead us to Jesus, not away from Jesus.