I am sharing another conversation / prayer that Kyle and I had on a Friday. Here is the link to what in the blog world I’m talking about and here is the link to the first conversation. May this conversation bless you.
Kyle
So I want to revisit and expand on this question: What is truth? We’ve all heard the popular claim that the truth changes; in fact, I saw it twice last week in a public school classroom – discussions built around this premise. I even had the same conversation with my 29-year-old son last weekend on the golf course. My point is that the notion that truth is a moving target is a popular one in today’s world. But it’s a dangerous and faulty premise to build one’s life upon.
Science, religion, philosophy all strive to uncover and discover the truths of our world, the answer to the really big questions of meaning and purpose and how and why, and those are admirable pursuits. In fact, Matthew 7:7 assures us that asking, seeking, and knocking are efforts the Lord will always reward. But God never, ever tells us that the Truth we seek is malleable, relative, or elusive. Jesus tells us: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
As humans, our understanding is limited. Quite frankly, in our current state, we can’t handle the truth. But we uncover facts as we go. Our facts are baby steps closer to or further from “Capital T Truth.”
Facts change.
Truth does not.
Facts Change. Truth Does Not.
If Truth were a moving target, subjective to each individual and changeable over time, space, culture, and whim, then it would not be worth pursuing.
The characteristic that makes Truth worth the effort is its unchanging and absolute nature. God is the only unchanging being, the only unchanging thing, in existence. He is Truth.
Jenay
Yes. He is the Truth. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Every generation thinks they have learned something new. There is this idea that the latest is the greatest discovery. When we make a true discovery about truth it holds up over time. We are just discovering what has always been there. If truth can be changed it isn’t true. It maybe new ideas or old ideas but it’s not truth.
I think of foundations. They are not the most seen part of the building but they are the most important. Everything built on that foundation is based on the foundation. The foundation doesn’t move or change even though the building can go through many remodels. Our foundation has to be built on truth and then we can build and learn and grow from that but we can not abandon the foundation and begin to build on “new ground” or it won’t stay. It will crumble and the next generation will start from scratch and end in a pile of rubble.
This may be a weird example but it comes to mind. We know babies need food to survive. If a new generation decided to feed a baby new information rather than food because someone decided that’s the truth, it doesn’t make that new (food) theory true and it will lead to death. Just because the way we gather and process information has changed doesn’t mean the truth has changed.
Kyle
Yes! Great analogy. We must start with a foundation of Truth — faith in God the creator of all — even if we don’t understand it completely, and then spend our lives in the worthy pursuit of (seeking, asking, knocking) a greater understanding of the Truth that always has been and always will be. It is revealed to us by God as we can handle it — as we are ready and willing. And the only way to that fuller understanding is through faith in Yeshua (Jesus) the man God embodied to show us and teach us the way back to the one, absolute, and unchanging Truth.
We don’t get to change the truth or call it faulty just because the desires of our flesh — or the popular ideology of the current day — consume us and please us and bring us momentary pleasure. We get to choose freely whether we move toward Truth or away from it. God gave us that choice. But the further we move from it, the more we will struggle with anxiety, depression, fear, confusion, and brokenness. If we choose Truth, this world is as bad as it will ever be for us. If we choose the lies, this current brokenness is the best we will ever experience.
But I say all this not from a place of arrogance or of condemnation. We are all on the path, and we don’t get to condemn anyone else for where they are. Only Jesus gets to do that. Our job is to meet people where they are, where He sends us, and love them.
Jesus never forces Himself on anyone. He always, always respects free will. If He does that, we must do so as well. I can know and speak and strive to live the Truth and still love myself and others regardless of what lie (sin) we are struggling through at any given moment.
Jenay
Exactly! If we are offended by people who do not know Truth or believe Truth then we are not acting like Truth that we know and believe. Grace and mercy fill us, who know Truth. We don’t need to be defensive, we need to trust the Truth to be revealed. Because like you said, it is not a moving target and if people truly desire to know Truth, it will be unchanged and unmoved and solid as it’s been since the beginning of time.
Kyle
Amen, Sister!
John 8:31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
