What is truth?

Pastor Pat Duffin

“You are a king, then,” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” “What is truth?” Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, “I find no basis for a charge against Him.” (John 18:27-38) What is truth? That’s a question that all of us ask at one time or another. If I complain that a room is cold, and someone else argues that the room is comfortable, who is telling the truth? What is the measure of truth and who decides? Personal experience? The agreement of two or more people? Some tangible measure, such as a thermometer to indicate the room’s true temperature? In our post-modern culture there are a lot of different ideas about what is truth. The primary characteristic of post-modernism is a world view that holds to truth as being relative. Whatever you want to believe is true for you, but not necessarily true for me. The problem with this world view is that no one can ever be really sure about anything. Truth, therefore, becomes little more than yours or someone else’s opinion. Thus truth becomes debatable. What’s not right according to you is perfectly fine for me. Truth is then established by the sliding scale of population or popularity polls. There is no more fixed standard by which right, or wrong, can be established. Some people would argue that truth is a set of propositions, laws, principles, or even doctrine such as taught in the Bible. Incredibly, not even the Bible, which claims to be inerrant, infallible, inspired by God and therefore profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16)...even the Bible does not characterize truth as mere doctrine or a given set of beliefs. The psalmist prays, “Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth, give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” Again, Psalm 119:30: “I have chosen the way of truth, I have set my heart on your laws.” Then, the Apostle Peter declares, “Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.” A careful reading of these passages reveals that truth is presented not so much as a teaching or doctrine, but as a way of living “...walk in your truth...”, “...the way of truth...” Truth is a way of living. It is a lifestyle! We either live our lives in accordance with truth, or we do not! (Isaiah 59:15) Truth in the Bible is also associated with justice - doing what is right. The prophet Isaiah charges, “Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice.” Zechariah affirms God’s displeasure on this matter by declaring, “These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against your neighbour, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this, declares the Lord!” (Zechariah 8:16-17) In the Gospels 79 out of 104 instances of the word ‘truth’, the word is being used by Jesus. Over and over He asserts, “I tell you the truth.” Why? Because He is the ultimate source of truth. If you want to know what truth is, go to Jesus. The Apostle Thomas asked, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus not only knows truth, He is not only the source of truth, He is the truth! Ultimate reality is found in a person not in a philosophy or set of propositions. Truth is a person. His name is Jesus Christ. And He is God! A difficult concept for post-modern thinking is the fact that when someone seeks God so that they can know Him or receive His help, they must find Him on His terms and not their own. That’s just part of being God. He doesn’t have to change who He is, or what He thinks or does, to suit ourselves. Just the opposite! Our thinking must be brought into agreement with Him. You may choose your own idea of God, but then you have created your own God. And since you created your own God, he must be less than you. That is called futility. The Apostle Paul put it this way. “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.” (Ephesians 4:17-18) How profoundly ironic that truth was standing directly in front of Pontius Pilate, yet he was unable to recognize his moment of Truth. Tragically, it was not only a momentary failure, but a moment pregnant with eternal implications. In his crisis moment Pilate was lost in the politics of expediency and a world view that was incapable of recognizing the truth. He was subjugated by the ignorance and blindness of his own heart. The eternal import of the question, “What is truth?” has not changed. It remains just as relevant and just as critical, today, as it ever did. You and I are not that different from Pilate. Daily, we face the greatest of life’s challenges and are preoccupied with the contingencies of the urgent but often neglecting the most important. For us it is difficult to see beyond the immediate, yet there are eternal issues at stake. The challenge remains for each one of us to recognize and respond to the truth on God’s terms, and not our own. The question for us is, “Will we be like Pilate, or will we be like those who recognized, received and walked in agreement with the Way, the Truth, and the Life?