”And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”
John 8:32
Truth
Winston Churchill: “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.”
In 2016, the Oxford Dictionaries announced their 2016 Word of the Year:
Post-truth (adjective): Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.
The accompanying press release by the Oxford Dictionaries explained that, “rather than simply referring to the time after a specified situation or event—as in post-war or post-match—the prefix in post-truth has a meaning more like ‘belonging to a time in which the specified concept has become unimportant or irrelevant.’” A post-truth world, then, is not one in which the truth has ceased to exist; it is one in which it no longer matters.
I admit that I have some angst approaching this subject as it has political and secular overtones. But when I reflect on biblical direction regarding truth, I see a different interpretation of truth and what it means to us as Christians.
I believe that, as Christians, we are both obligated and directed to seek the truth in all things, both secular and spiritual. Most importantly, the truth that we seek and Christ refers to in John is not of this world and may not be revealed to us until we have reached a higher spiritual awareness.
In John 18:37, Jesus replied to Pilate, “Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”
Prayer:
Holy God, may my thoughts and actions be directed toward Your Truth and not those of this world. In Your Son’s name, Amen.
