Today, you'll get 225,000,000 hits. Well, Google does say about 225,000,000. You'll find websites devoted to verifying the facts on that last outrageous e-mail you just received, the homepage of a hardware company, a website that "shines the light" on the conspiracies of today, and even a Wikipedia page on Truth. That really excites me, as Wikipedia is the online encyclopedia that ANYONE can modify! Do we really need to allow the world to have their input on what is conveyed by the word "truth"?
Image by Rob Sheridan via Flickr
The underlying reason for all these pages is that the world has stubbornly refused to accept the tenet of absolute truth. We have reached a point in society in general, and even in our churches, where we who believe that absolute truth exists are in the minority. For a reference, see the latest report on http://barna.org/ covering the components of worldview thinking. It is staggering to ponder that only 46% of those who profess to be a born again Christian believe that absolute moral truth exists! No wonder we have so many powerless churches!!
The whole concept of relative truth has its origins in our rebellious nature. Oh, you say you're not rebellious, but instead you're a good person? Stop reading now and go read Romans 3:23!! Since each of us fail, we love to cast our failures in contrast to the failures of others. We rationalize our behavior by saying, " I know that xxxxxxx is bad, but at least it's not like I am xxxxxxxx" In making these comparisons, we wrongly justify our actions by employing this concept of "relative" truth. The abstract of "relative truth" is a concept birthed in our imaginations, and is, in fact, an oxymoron. A simple but effective definition of truth is that which agrees with reality. Understanding this, it's easy to see the fallacy of relative truth - how can we have a relative reality??
We come to our concept of truth via a belief system that is constantly evolving during our lifetime. Thoughts and ideas are spawned within our mind throughout the day as we encounter new situations and opportunities. If we ruminate long enough on any of these ideas, we will form opinions on those thoughts. Further internal deliberation of these new found opinions will result in a belief - an intangible, personal asset created solely from our own intellect.
Truth exists independent of our belief system. Reality is absolute whether you feel like being cogent or not. Philosophically, relativism is contradictory. Practically, relativism is anarchy. The world is filled with absolute truth. Two plus two will always be four, no matter how much you believe the answer to be five. Jump in a pool and you will get wet. You can state emphatically that there is no law of gravity as you walk the ridge line of your roof; make that last fateful step off the roof and your belief system will be seriously challenged! BTW, we are introduced to absolute truth in John 14:6 !!
I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.” Abraham Lincoln
If Lincoln is right, where do we find the next town crier?
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2 comments:
Great post Rick.
I agree that we need people in every walk of life, particularly those who lead in any capacity, who will speak truth.
Good post but I would question the barna survey as I wonder how many of the "believers" are really "believers". I think if we get into the head of true believers we will find barna's survey may be flawed. I have followed his work for years and it is good but I believe the question of whether a person is a true believer may be skewed???
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