37. Then Pilate said, "So are you a king or not?" Jesus answered, "You tell me. Because I am King, I was born and entered the world so that I could witness to the truth. Everyone who cares for truth, who has any feeling for the truth, recognizes my voice."
38a. Pilate said, "What is truth?"
John 18: 37, 38a (The Message)
38a. Pilate said, "What is truth?"
John 18: 37, 38a (The Message)
I was pushing my son in his stroller through the mall the other day, when I suddenly realized something not so profound about North American culture. We are obsessed with ourselves. Literally, every kiosk in the walkway of the mall was selling a product or service surrounded around me. From t-shirts with my name on them to the personalized engraving for my iPod, everything was there to make me feel better about myself. To step back and look at the mall, one might say that it is almost a modern temple of self glorification. Now, I am not advocating that you stop going to your local shopping mall or start picketing the kiosks. I would, however, like you to look at this example and see the underlying and pervasive problem with our culture.
Since you were born, you have been taught that you are "basically good" and that you should seek out what you are gifted at and what will make you the most successful. You live in a culture where Paris Hilton and Britney Spears grab headlines for their self destructive behavior. More people vote for American Idol than the president of the United States (I know you can vote if you are under 18 and more than once if you wish, but c'mon, that is still pretty bad). The popular opinion is that you can be, do, like, and believe anything you want, no matter how bizarre or untrue.
In all of this, the question of truth inevitably comes up. In America truth is relative. Whatever you want truth to be is good enough. If you want to believe in Creation, fine. If you want to believe in an "Intelligent Designer", that works. If you want to believe that martians exist and are conducting tests on us with government permission, go right ahead! There is one glaring problem with this culture of relativists: Truth is not relative. You can believe what you want, but that does not make it truth. Truth is held up above everything else and is not up for debate. You may not believe that the World Trade Center towers fell to the ground, but that does not supercede the truth of it really happening. And make no mistake about it, you want to know truth just as Pilate did. It is engraved into your DNA to seek it out. As Christians, we have the truth but so many times we act as though we don't. We make exceptions to our convictions because we do not want to offend someone or we compromise on things we know are not up for debate. Lifestyle Christianity is all about holding on to the Truth, the great I AM. And believe me, it is hard. The world believes in science while you believe in faith. The world needs quantitative and qualitative proof while you put your trust(truth) in someone and something you have never seen or heard. But make no mistake, you have the truth. Christ told Pilate what truth was and how He came to provide it, yet Pilate seemed unwilling to believe. Don't relegate yourself into someone who compromises the truth. Christ is the ultimate truth and we rest in supreme confidence that He is above all things. In a lifestyle of Christianity, compromising that will only lead you to confusion, compromise, and eventual failure. Hold Christ up as your truth and He will not fail you.
"The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold" - Aristotle
Since you were born, you have been taught that you are "basically good" and that you should seek out what you are gifted at and what will make you the most successful. You live in a culture where Paris Hilton and Britney Spears grab headlines for their self destructive behavior. More people vote for American Idol than the president of the United States (I know you can vote if you are under 18 and more than once if you wish, but c'mon, that is still pretty bad). The popular opinion is that you can be, do, like, and believe anything you want, no matter how bizarre or untrue.
In all of this, the question of truth inevitably comes up. In America truth is relative. Whatever you want truth to be is good enough. If you want to believe in Creation, fine. If you want to believe in an "Intelligent Designer", that works. If you want to believe that martians exist and are conducting tests on us with government permission, go right ahead! There is one glaring problem with this culture of relativists: Truth is not relative. You can believe what you want, but that does not make it truth. Truth is held up above everything else and is not up for debate. You may not believe that the World Trade Center towers fell to the ground, but that does not supercede the truth of it really happening. And make no mistake about it, you want to know truth just as Pilate did. It is engraved into your DNA to seek it out. As Christians, we have the truth but so many times we act as though we don't. We make exceptions to our convictions because we do not want to offend someone or we compromise on things we know are not up for debate. Lifestyle Christianity is all about holding on to the Truth, the great I AM. And believe me, it is hard. The world believes in science while you believe in faith. The world needs quantitative and qualitative proof while you put your trust(truth) in someone and something you have never seen or heard. But make no mistake, you have the truth. Christ told Pilate what truth was and how He came to provide it, yet Pilate seemed unwilling to believe. Don't relegate yourself into someone who compromises the truth. Christ is the ultimate truth and we rest in supreme confidence that He is above all things. In a lifestyle of Christianity, compromising that will only lead you to confusion, compromise, and eventual failure. Hold Christ up as your truth and He will not fail you.
"The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold" - Aristotle
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