Truth

From Ravi Zacharias International Ministries

03/3/06
The Side of Truth
Jill Carattini

It was for me a dawning thought packed within the confines of a recurring chorus. "And the truth's not contingent on me." I still remember the notion catching my attention and then hanging there in my mind like a portrait I was having a hard time getting my eyes around. At the time, it was an utterly startling and freeing image; namely, God did not need me to uphold the pillars and pieces of Christianity to make it a true and valid thing to believe in. It is an incredibly simple lesson with which to be struck, perhaps exposing a self-centered worldview as much as my misunderstanding of the old, old story. And yet, it was an awakening not only to the Christian story as I discovered that day, but also to the very nature of truth itself. Truth is truth whether we choose to stand beside it or not.

Perhaps as a reaction to the intense rationalism of the modern era, postmodern thought tends to emphasize the idea that all is not as it might seem. But the preference is now anti-rationalism or anti-realism. We want to create our own reality, a mosaic of truths that will suit our own needs. Intrinsic to this approach is the concept of practicality. If it is in anyway useful to our lives then it is viewed as a "valid" truth. I once heard someone note this in a statement she went as far as to call her life's motto. She said, "If you can't use what you know to be true then it isn't worth knowing." Such is the current mood; one where truth itself can be deemed unworthy of knowing. Writes C.S. Lewis, "Man is becoming as narrowly 'practical' as the irrational animals."

Yet the posture of preference and practicality, though widely present among us, is hardly a new approach to the quest for truth. As Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate he told him, "I came into this world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me" (John 18:37-38). Before Pilate had even uttered his sardonic reply"What is truth?"Jesus's words in that profoundly charged conversation cut to the crumbling foundation on which men have stood from antiquity to postmodernism: the search for truth is all too often not about truth at all.

As an acquaintance one time commented, "I refuse to let anyone tell me what my truth is." But does such a statement even make sense? Truth corresponds to reality, not preference or opinion. If the quest for truth is about personal appetite, contingent only on the individual holding the belief, anything and everything could be deemed true. Such an approach taken in realms of science or history would be thoroughly mocked in its ridiculousness. We know better than this.

The same Gospel that relays the conversation of Jesus and Pilate on the subject of truth begins with the powerful thought of God at the beginning of all things. Whatever truth is it is something far beyond me, corresponding with reality, coherently giving shape to my life. In the Christian story, there is a beginning, a middle, and an end, none of which is contingent on us. Christ has come to testify to this reality and lead us to truth itself. He is Lord whether we choose to stand beside him or not.

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