What is truth? At the
surface it sounds like it should be an easy answer to offer. But as we see in our world today, truth is
becoming increasingly difficult to define.
Jesus said that the truth will set us free. Truth is a freeing word. But yet for a concept that should seem solid
there is so much disagreement about truth and who gets to define truth and how
truth should even be defined.
When I taught college writing classes I often did an
assignment where students would have to identify truth and opinion in
writing. Truth had facts that could not
be challenged. Truth was accepted ideas.
“The earth is the third planet from the
sun and has one moon,” is a truth. We
can verify this information. It is
accepted. On the other hand a statement
like “A raging fire is a terrifying thing,” is an opinion. It may be fact to one person, but to others
it may not be. We can debate this
concept, this idea. We can each have our
own interpretation of the fire.
There is a confidence in knowing what is true. This confidence can translate into confidence
for leaders and teachers. Leaders and
teachers want to be people of integrity who live lives of truth. But in our postmodern world what is truth and
what is opinion have become virtually interchanged. Many people will present opinion as truth. Leaders and teachers need to know truth. But with flexibility of truth, leaders and
teachers are sometimes left wondering just what is true.
As leaders who follow Christ we are confronted with
countless variations on the concept of truth.
In the past people held truth to a specific standard, truth was verifiable,
testable, and knowable. But in the postmodern
world truth is being defined by personal view and experiences and understanding
of those experience. A blending of
culture, experiences, and personal ideas combine to create a version of truth
defined by a specific person.
This flexible variation of truth, based in one’s
experiences, is presenting new challenges to leaders who want to follow Christ. Leading from the truth that is found in God’s
Word is not popular with the postmodern person who does not hold to a universal
truth found in Scripture. For these
postmodern people, biblical truth is often seen as intolerant. For the postmodern person personal conviction
is the base of postmodern morality.
When teaching the postmodern person, leaders must rely on
the Holy Spirit to make Gospel truths understandable and appealing. For the leader in a postmodern world leaders
need to begin with human needs. But this
does not mean watering down the Gospel message.
In teaching, leaders should remain fully committed to the Bible and
Scriptural authority. The message stays
the same, but the manner in which it gets communicated differs.
What is exciting today is that postmodern people will go on
the journey. They just won’t accept
something because we say it is so. But
the process of going on the journey builds commitment. As people discover for themselves the truth
of God’s Word they internalize it at a level where commitment is built. We see this commitment reveal itself with
strongly held conviction.
If we lead and teach from the truthfulness of Scripture, then
there is room and space for the Holy Spirit to convince people that God’s Word
is true; that the Word is the truth that will set them free. The Holy Spirit helps us trust God’s Word as
He makes it alive and real to us.
We can no longer assume that the people we work with, lead,
or teach are all working and living from the same worldview. Today, there has been so much blending and
mixing that biblical truth has become intertwined in ways that makes it easy to
challenge. Ultimately it is the Holy
Spirit that reveals the authority of Scripture.
When we lead and teach from this place, this foundation, then the
timeless truths of Scripture have the power to transform lives. What is important is to live and work from
the truth of Scripture.
