What Is Truth?
7 min read
36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
John 18:36-37
To which, Pilate responded, “What is truth?”
All the fighting that we do here on this earth is never for the kingdom of heaven, but for the kingdom of the world. I think that if we all thought long and hard about every conflict and controversy and struggle and battle that we face—small or large—we would come to realize that most of the fighting that we do comes from trying to hold on to something here on this earth—even in the church. But once we bring an eternal perspective into the matter, we then realize that whatever it is we are try to hold on to may not be that significant or important. If anything, the things that we are determined to hold on to are the very sources of our struggle.
No wonder so many people find the church so revolting. People in the church are often found to be revolting against one another—for no good reason.
Recently, an atheist by the name of Jonathan Rauch published a book that seems to say basically that the solution to the public discord in American life is for Christians to act more Christian—that is, to act like Christ. There is a lot that is wrong about his argument, but I think that his basic thesis is sound.
One problem we face in the church is that many Christians would never even consider reading or recommending Rauch’s book—not because they disagree with his argument—but because he is a gay, Jewish, atheist. Similarly, many Christians today would no longer consider using the good and sound teachings of Ravi Zacharias or Bill Hybels because of their indiscretions that became pubic. And of course, that is understandable, but I think many Christians would not even consider using their teachings and leaving their names out of it.
Another example of Christians fighting one another is found in the controversy over whether women can be ordained as pastors in a Southern Baptist church. Some people would even say that a woman minister should not even be referred to as “pastor,” as we do here at GCC.
This controversy has led to the expulsion of Saddle Back church from the Southern Baptist Convention. Some would say that Rick Warren may have brought this on his church because of his prideful and divisive language. That may be so, in my own humble opinion, he should never have been in a position to have to defend the church in the first place.
And not only was Saddleback kicked out of the SBC, Elevation Church left the SBC over its treatment of Saddleback.
But most of these controversies, in my mind, happened because of a fundamentalist faction in the SBC that simply did not agree with Rick Warren’s and Steven Furtick’s theology and how they preached the Scriptures. The fundamentalists were itching to call them “heretics” but really couldn’t, and so they used other issues to drive out Saddleback and, indirectly, Elevation.
It’s all childish and silly. These very same fundamentalists would say, “We must keep the main thing the main thing.” But what is the “main thing”? What is truth?
Is it not to love God, to love one another, and to fulfill the great commission?
One day, I might get into trouble—or have some doors of opportunity closed on me—for saying such things in a public blog. But Jesus would never close the gates of heaven before me for thinking these things or saying these things—even if I am completely wrong.
Father, You are God. We are creatures You have created and given Your image. Forgive us—forgive me—for corrupting that image by thinking that we are more like You than we actually are. But make us more like You in our essence. Give us Your perspective on all things—especially regarding Your love for all of us. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
