What Happened to the Truth?
In our world, the idea of ultimate truth—something that is true at all times in all places and has relevance for our lives—is about as extinct as the dinosaur. In fact, nearly three out of four Americans say there is no such thing as ultimate, or absolute, truth. And the numbers don’t look much better among those who claim to follow Jesus.
In a society where ultimate truth is treated like a fairy tale, an outdated idea or even an insult to human intelligence, the motto of the day becomes, “WHATEVER!” Believe whatever you want. Do whatever seems best to you. Live for whatever brings you pleasure, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone. And of course, be tolerant. Don’t try to tell anyone that their whatever is wrong.
But where does that leave us? If we have ultimate truth, it gives us both a way to explain the world around us and a basis for making decisions. Without it, we’re alone. We’re just eight billion organisms running around, bumping into each other. It’s every man for himself. And we’re without a purpose; if there’s no true story of where we came from and why we’re here, then there’s nothing that really gives our lives meaning. Sounds a little depressing, huh? And maybe frightening.
The first rung on the ladder out of this “no-truth” hole is realizing that it’s reasonable to desire truth. In fact, those who tell you it’s useless or narrow-minded to believe in ultimate truth have more explaining to do than they can pull off. When someone says, “There is no such thing as absolute truth,” that person is actually making a statement that he or she believes to be absolutely true. Contradictory, isn’t it?
And it’s even reasonable to search for ultimate truth in God. There is a huge mound of evidence for Christianity, God, Jesus and the Bible. And based on this evidence, it’s reasonable to believe that God reveals truth through revelation.
Where can we find revelation today? And what do we learn from it? The best source of revelation is God’s word—that’s right, the Bible! In the Bible, God gives us history lessons, unfolds His plan of salvation, and gives us guidelines for how to live our lives. The word truth appears more than 200 times in the Bible, because it holds the truth for all kinds of circumstances, and we can trust it for answers to all kinds of questions.
Truth is powerful. It brings life. It has been here since the beginning, and it still exists today. Truth is available to all who seek it in the person of Jesus Christ. Even though our society tells us that it’s narrow-minded to believe in ultimate truth, there’s lots of evidence that says we should run after it with all our hearts. Christ says the truth will set us free. And that promise is true for all time.
—Lindy Keffer, adapted