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Absolute vs. Personal "Truth" Prevalent again (always?) is the cultural battle over "absolute truth" versus "relative truth" - the external universe that really exists versus every person's individual imagined universe. Or you could call it "the Truth" versus "my truth." How old is this issue? It has been with us since the beginning. God told Adam how things really were (Genesis 2:15-17), then our spiritual adversary started raising questions about how God does thing, Eve restated her version of what God said, then the Devil contradicted that, and, finally, Eve made her decision totally on the basis of what her senses and logic told her and she immediately shared "her truth" with her husband (Genesis 3:1-6). Unfortunately, "Eve's truth" did not turn out to be a valid substitute for the way things really are in God's universe and we are all still paying the bill for that one and repeating her mistake. Those who wish to follow Jesus must identify and reject this prevalent error in Postmodern thinking - the "absolute" belief that there are no absolutes! It is somewhat comforting now to view doctrine as a big, relativistic "fuzzy," so that you believe whatever you want to believe and also “feel good” about all of the nice people in different churches that believe and teach different things. There are some very nice people in most of the churches you will encounter, but ideas do not become "truth" because a "nice person" believes them, for on judgment day we will all answer to God and He is not like those college professors I encountered in the 1970's who would even pound their fist on their podiums and declare (very absolutely) "there are no absolute truths." Why did we pay so much tuition to sit in front of guys who declared they didn't really have anything of lasting value to tell us? The foolish notion that "everyone determines their own truth" is correct only so far as to suggest that each of us has the opportunity to do our own thinking and arrive at our own conclusions - however, doing our own thinking and reaching our own conclusions does not guarantee that either is ultimately true and beneficial. External reality and Truth does not change so as to conform to my "personal truth." Outside of my mind and ideas, there is an external reality that we all bump into from time to time - when I kick my toe against something walking across the bedroom in the night, my imagined clear course ahead did not reconfigure reality, for that object was there whether my "personal truth" believed it was there or not! Whether we like it or not, when we pull up to a stoplight, the colored lights have unchanging objective meaning that applies to everyone, which police and traffic courts will remind you of if you drift too far into your own La-La-Land. Regardless of how healthy you feel, the reality of an undetected disease is still there. Even though you "think and feel" within your own mind that your mate is faithful, your job is secure, and that you made that deposit and there is plenty of money in your bank account, there may be a very different objective reality waiting to slap you in the face later on. In grade school, I remember often turning in math homework and taking tests in which I put down answers with as much sincerity and belief that they were right as I could muster, but I still received red marks all over most of those papers - each student's "personal truth" didn't carry much weight with math teachers back then! I don't ever want to climb into an airliner or lay down on an operating table with a pilot or surgeon that lives by their own "personal truth" - I want them well-grounded in the real external Truths of aeronautics, physics, and human biology/physiology! The actual shape of planet earth does not change if people sincerely believe that it is flat or square or triangular - it stays the same shape regardless of what we “think” its shape is. In the same way, an individual’s subjective convictions about God and what the Bible teaches might not be the same as God’s objective truth and nowhere are we told that “sincerity” is a valid substitute for truth! Instead, we are told that God is interested in "sincerity/spirit AND truth" (John 4:23-24). We should be “sincere” in what we believe, but objective truth does not change according to how sincerely we believe something. Our sincerity and conception about something speaks only of the degree to which our expressed beliefs agree with our inward convictions. How well our “sincere beliefs” agree with external reality is another matter, ranging from true understanding of reality all the way to total "fantasyland." “Ignorance is bliss” only to the degree that the errors in our thinking have not hurt us yet! How many items we think are in a box has no bearing on the actual number that exists there unless we put them in there or guess correctly. The point - there is an external truth/reality about things that does not necessarily match what I am thinking inside my own mind. Nobody creates their own "Truth" - all we create is our own belief about what "the truth is" and how soon external, objective reality "teaches us a lesson" depends on (1) how close our thinking accords with reality, (2) time, and (3) circumstances. There are areas where "personal opinion" is very valid and the best anyone can do, but there are other areas where conforming our opinion to external reality is, literally, "life and death" stuff! And don't take too much comfort in being in a large crowd that shares you opinion, for when lots of people agree on a faulty view of reality, that view does not become objective “truth” but is nothing more than a "popular falsehood." Thus, our goal needs to be pursuing truth about the external realities, so that we can bring our “sincere thinking” into harmony with what is real. If you don’t have the desire and courage (and primary loyalty to God) to seek ultimate truth and recognize error against the standard of Scripture, then you may want to stop reading at this point. I believe the thoughts above apply to Christian Doctrine and our relationship with God. Some folks express a religion of "love" that tolerates and accepts all viewpoints as equally valid, but the Bible says that Godly love "rejoices with the truth" (1Corinthians 13:6). God and His truth remain unchanged, even though people and cultures drift all over the place. "And in the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness." (Acts 14:16-17) "For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things; and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said,' For we also are His offspring.' "Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. " (Acts 17:23-31) There are also patterns of life that people think are good and true, but they are deceived about their path and hold onto a false security, There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. (Proverbs 14:12) Thus, it is important to look beyond personal, family, and church traditions for the objective and external Truth that was delivered through Jesus and His chosen Apostles. The New Testament certainly does not teach that "doctrine/beliefs" are unimportant or that people are saved by "sincerity alone." In fact, we are told a number of times that salvation is closely associated with hearing, knowing, and believing the Truth, "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:23-24) . . . and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. " (John 8:32) "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. (John 16:13) "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth. (John 17:17) . . . who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1Timothy 2:4) . . . Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth. (2Timothy 2:15) . . . . with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, (2Timothy 2:25) Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, (1Peter 1:22) In the same way, we find that Jesus, Paul, and James all indicated that teachers have a high responsibility (and accountability) to God because what they teach plays a large role in what people believe and where they will wind up, Then the disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?" But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be rooted up. "Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit." (Matthew 15:12-14) Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress may be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things; for as you do this you will insure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. (1Timothy 4:15-16) Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment. (James 3:1) It is my studied conclusion that most of us believe in the reality of "absolute truths" and want to know where to find it. Those who advocate "no absolutes" do not really live according to that position 24 hours a day - they just want to establish their own absolutes rather than seek and submit to God's absolutes. Consequently, they function inconsistently, disqualify themselves from finding any eternal hope, and discourage others to go down the same path. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Charles E. McCoy 12/10/2005
A Ministry of Severn Christian Church (Severn, Maryland) Unless otherwise noted, all material produced by Charles E. McCoy All Scripture citations/quotations from the New American Standard Bible
Email Chuck at: chuck@severnchristian.org
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