Taking Truth to the Negotiating Table?

It’s time to revisit a topic in the forefront of many people’s minds these days. Pontius Pilate, confronted with what to do with Jesus, whom religious leaders regarded as rabble-rouser at best and outright threat at worst, famously asked, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). Lots of people these days seem to be wondering the same thing.

We tend to treat truth as a negotiable commodity, like going into a grocery store and choosing between brands and flavors of jelly (or jam or preserves), kinds of deli meat, or varieties of cereal. Everyone likes multiple choices, don’t we? 

If you’re old enough, you remember having only three TV stations – or if you’re not that old, about a dozen cable channels. Boring, right? (Today we have hundreds of channels from which to choose, and still can’t find anything worth watching!) When cars were invented, Henry Ford said something like, “You can have your Model T in any color you want – as long as it’s black.” Can you conceive of not having dozens of makes, models, sizes and styles of cars, vans, SUVs and trucks, not to mention color schemes or accessory options?

Lots of folks view spirituality the same way. They recoil at the notion that there could be such a thing as absolute spiritual truth. I read this post recently on social media: 

“One can believe they have a corner on the truth and God’s will, but that would be true of any number of people from any number of religions.” 

In other words, who’s to say that Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and all the other “isms” aren’t equally true? (Despite the fact that even a cursory comparison reveals they differ greatly on many key points, often diametrically opposed and irreconcilable.)

Should we agree that truth is simply a matter of what’s right in the eyes of the beholder? As long as one is sincere – or convinced? Kumbaya, anyone?

Well, drawing cues from everyday life we discover truth isn’t nearly so negotiable. Take, for example, commonplace realities like gravity, blood, or even roadways.

What would you think of someone who said, “I’m jumping off this cliff. My truth says I won’t fall, that instead I’ll soar like an eagle”? Gravity has little interest in what our “truth” tells us. What goes up must come down, like it or not.

If we need a blood transfusion, in most cases a blood type matching our own is required. Tomato juice or red fruit punch won’t do; not even blood from a cow or a camel. No matter what someone decides they want their “truth” about their blood to be, the type of blood they have is the type they will need.

Many roadways are very clearly designated for one way. Especially highways. We don’t want some driver deciding “her truth” says it’s okay to drive south in the northbound lane. We’ve all heard about what happens when one person’s truth collides with someone else’s truth on the interstate.

There’s a tendency to balk when we’re told there’s only one way to achieve a desired objective. But imagine a passenger of the Titanic, struggling to stay afloat in the frigid waters as the fabled ocean liner sinks to the ocean floor. (This is shortly after the ship captain’s “truth” told him the Titanic was unsinkable, and that there couldn’t be an iceberg in the vicinity poised to rip a hole in the ship’s hull.) 

A lifeboat comes across the frantic passenger treading water. There’s room for one more person in the lifeboat, and it’s the swimmer’s last chance for survival. Yet he emphatically refuses to climb in, insisting he’ll wait for a larger rescue boat. His own “truth” convinces him this isn’t his one and only option. How long do you think his truth would keep him alive?

For this reason, when we read Jesus make the seemingly audacious statement,“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6), we should at least take a moment to consider the magnitude of His claim. Many argue, “Jesus is the only way? No way!” Then they move along pursuing their own way, their “truth.”

But Jesus didn’t make that assertion just once. He made it clear truth was of eminent importance for Him, such as the time He addressed the esteemed Pharisees: “Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me…. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!’" (John 8:42-45).

Harsh, tough words, right? Jesus apparently hadn’t read Dale Carnegie’s book about how to win friends and influence people. But sometimes there’s no soft-pedaling, no sugarcoating the truth.

If He were standing among us today, I believe Jesus would say the same thing. As He told Jews who were following Him, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

And how can we find this truth? How can we know it? Jesus gave this answer as well: "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father – the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father – he will testify about me” (John 15:26). 

Beware of Counterfeits

Have you heard about how Federal agents are trained to spot counterfeit money? I did some research and verified the story is true: The agents are brought in for several days – even as long as a week – and spend more than 90 percent of the time inspecting…real currency.

Our susceptibility to counterfeits depends on
how well we know the real thing.

They examine elements of the genuine article methodically and meticulously, things like portraits and other artwork, Federal Reserve and Treasury seals, borders, serial numbers and paper quality. Agents pour over real money from every possible angle. They learn its details until it’s as familiar to them as their own hands.

Only then, after many hours of examining and becoming intimately acquainted with bonafide currency, are they introduced to counterfeit money for their consideration.

Knowing the real McCoy so well, the fake cash stands out as if printed on pink paper with red ink. (Of course, in a sense, the Federal government does print paper with red ink – but that’s a topic for some other time.)

Sadly, our world surrounds us with counterfeits. Expensive-looking watches, knock-off purses and shoes, high-end fashions and high-tech devices are often foisted on naïve consumers who think they’re getting a bargain. Instead, they’re receiving mere copies, falsified replicas of the real deal. Even romance has its counterfeit these days, with TV and the movies masquerading raging hormones and lustful motives as “true love.”

There’s an important principle to be learned here. To be capable of spotting a counterfeit, it makes sense to know the genuine article very well.

This is as true in the spiritual realm as anywhere. Some make the claim, “All religions are the same.” Others would say, “It doesn’t matter what you believe, just as long as you’re sincere.” These views sound reasonable – until we compare counterfeits with the stuff of genuine faith.

Are we to assume Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity and whatever other belief system you want to toss into the discussion are all essentially the same? They are alike in one respect – a shared conviction that even though we live in a material world, it has a very real spiritual dimension. After that, however, comparing them side by side reveals considerable – and irreconcilable – differences.

For the disciple of Christ, it’s helpful to know these differences. But even more important is having a clear understanding of what we believe – and why. The key is being so familiar with the Word of God, the Bible – just as Federal agents are familiar with genuine currency – that pretender belief systems become obvious.

In fact, Jesus assured His followers, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (John 8:31-32). He promised we could know THE Truth, not someone’s opinion of what the truth should be.

The book of Acts offers an excellent example of the attitude to have when confronted with new spiritual claims: “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11). Another translation says they “searched the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (New American Standard).

In other words, these fervent truth-seekers from Berea knew the Scriptures extremely well, and as the apostle Paul taught in the synagogues, they would diligently compare what he said with what they knew to be true from the holy writings passed down through the centuries. “Accept no counterfeit!” might have been their motto.

The question is, are we in danger of being seduced by counterfeit teachings? The only way we can avoid this is to spend time studying, examining, meditating on and absorbing the real thing. Then, when faced with the counterfeit, we can recognize it and dismiss it for what it is.

Why are some people seduced by a Coach purse replica, a fake Rolex, or a counterfeit $20 bill? Because these look close enough to the actual item to deceive. But if you know the real thing, you can identify the counterfeit easily.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Believing is Seeing

Sunrise at Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Alan Cash)

The adage tells us, “Seeing is believing.” This particularly applies to our physical world, in which we make observations and draw conclusions based on what we’ve seen. Prior to the initiative and inventiveness of Orville and Wilbur Wright, mankind suspected it might be possible to fly but as every effort failed, it seemed a hope beyond belief. After the Wright brothers demonstrated human beings could in fact travel aloft, albeit for only a short distance at first, others saw, believed and pressed forward to discover what it would require to travel by air.

Of course, some still feel a disconnect between sight and belief. They’ve seen planes in flight, perhaps even close-up at an airport, but refuse to board a jet for fear it will crash. Even though many more people die annually in car crashes, while plane accidents are relatively rare, they’d sooner walk a tightrope than get on a plane. Seeing doesn’t always correlate to believing.

There are times when the antithesis of the adage is also true. A child stands at poolside, looking simultaneously at the water and open arms of a parent who urges, “Jump!” The little girl gazes around, weighing her options, probably thinking, “Daddy, you’re not raising some fool. That water’s deep, and I’m little…. I’m not going to jump.”

Yet after persistent parental pleadings, the toddler casts childlike sense to the wind and, believing in daddy – even though the water still seems threatening – leaps and is captured by her parent’s waiting hands. Believing and trusting in the parent, the girl finally “sees” her father protecting her from the watery depths.

Decades ago C.S. Lewis, one of my favorite writers, and a very astute thinker, made this observation; “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” Lewis – a former atheist – found that believing is seeing.

From a spiritual perspective, this is the conundrum. We’re asked to believe – and trust – in a God we can’t see. From a scientific, empirical sense it’s true – we can’t prove the existence of God. At the same time, neither can you prove scientifically or empirically that God doesn’t exist. The spiritual is not confined or controlled by physical laws. So you can either conclude, “I can’t see God, therefore He (or she, or it) does not exist,” or you can decide even though you can’t see God in physical, quantifiable form, you’ll believe in Him just the same.

Think about it this way: Do you believe in love? Can you prove the existence of love in a scientific way? No, you can’t. You can observe its effects, but you can’t categorically “prove” love – after all, people do “fall out of love,” don’t they? Maybe they weren’t “in love” to begin with; they just liked what they got out of a relationship and when they tired of it or it stopped meeting their needs, decided it wasn’t love after all so it was okay to bail out of it.

In the same way, while God can’t be observed in a test tube, Petri dish, microscope or telescope, we can observe His effects: Compassion shown to people victimized by disease, disaster or tragedy. People who give generously to people, as well as causes, that can offer them absolutely no personal benefit, other than the joy and satisfaction of knowing people have been helped and causes advanced because of their kindness. Individuals giving up lucrative, comfortable careers and lifestyles to immerse themselves in alien cultures with strange languages and unfamiliar customs to assist the less fortunate in the name of Christ.

We all have an inner sense of right and wrong. We admire acts of selflessness and humility. We applaud the “good Samaritans,” so-called because of a biblical parable, who go to great lengths to come to the aid of those in distress. No, we don’t have to believe in God to abide by some moral code, but where do those values come from in the first place?

Years ago I took a step of faith, committing my life to Jesus even though I had no clue what that would mean. As it’s turned out, it has meant much, much more than I could ever have imagined. As I’ve been hoping to share through this blog over the past six years, similar to what Lewis wrote, I believe in Christ as I believe the sun has risen – because by Him, and through Him, I see everything else.

Or as Jesus said even more eloquently, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Free not to do anything I want, but free to progressively become everything He wants me to be.