Thursday, March 19, 2009

Truth?

After reading John 16-18 this morning, this was my response:
How unoriginal are our ideas! This postmodern thought of personal truth seemed to be a new one, yet in John 18:38, Pilate asks that very question, "What is truth?" We are woefully the same sinners throughout time. Satan makes us think we are original, that these concepts are ours, for our time alone, that these are new thoughts and problems, that we are so far advanced that only we could come up with such a grand idea as subjective truth. Maybe they are, within the constructs of our current society, but the thoughts were there among the ancients as well.
What is truth? To be truth, by definition, can it be changeable? My thought is no. Truth, in order to be Truth, must be unmoving, unwavering, and continuous. There is no fluid truth. There is no "my truth" and "your truth". There is "my experience" and "your experience", but it doesn't mean the same as truth. Truth is from God- it is His way of showing who He is, unmoving, unwavering, and continuous. He always was, is and will be. How comforting to know God doesn't vacillate! The The things He says and does can be stood upon. They stand the test of time. The more we understand the world, the closer to Truth we should come. It opens our eyes to new facets of God. It doesn't change anything but our own understanding. Unfortunately, people often take new information as the whole, versus a piece, and make it their new truth. Truth in the 1400s: the world is flat; truth now: the world is round. Truth in the 1800s: diseases are created by the air and grow out of nothing. Truth now: viruses and bacteria are microscopic, and can grow in the presence of air and food and cause disease, but they don't grow from nothing. Are these new truths? No, just a greater understanding of the world.
So, why don't we see God that way? Why, when it comes to ourselves, do we believe truth to be fluid? I think it comes down to- that's what we want to believe. If there is no Truth then I can justify living however I want to. There is no moral obligation for which to live my live by, there is no standard to test my actions against. I can do as I please. Ultimately, isn't that our greatest struggle? To live MY life? "No one can tell me what to do!" I fight against this daily. Always have. I hate being told what to do! But, maybe, if I remember the Truth of God, I would be more content and at peace with my life. If I remember He has a plan and a purpose that started before time, I wouldn't fight with the world's new ideas and thoughts. I would hold fast to He who doesn't change. I would remember Jesus's love for the world and seek to bring it to them. And that's the truth.

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