What is Truth?

Today’s political news questioned the truthfulness of one Republican candidate’s personal stories. His defense was to say that those things happened a long time ago and he might have messed up on some details, but the heart of the story was true. Another candidate was weighing in and the reporter asked, ‘haven’t you been wrong about your net worth?’ To which the candidate answered, ‘it doesn’t matter, the truth is I have a lot of money, the exact amount isn’t critical.’

What is truth? Most people today think truth is relative, depends on the time, the place, the occasion. Many don’t even believe in objective truths – things that are true whether you believe in them or not. Is it any wonder that when people refer to their faith in terms of truth, they are dismissed? The belief in our world is that we all have our own truths, yours is faith, mine is something else; they all work. 

The concept of truth plays a big role in the Bible. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life”. He makes this statement an objective truth – it’s the truth whether you believe it or not. Jesus was unapologetic. The disciple John, in his little book I John, tells us that Jesus came and gave us understanding, so that we may know he (Jesus) is true, and we are part of him who is true, “he is the true God and eternal life.” (I John 5:20 NIV).  The Bible makes it clear that we can bank on the truthfulness of God and his son Jesus. What God says is truth because he is truth.

In a world that gives little credence to truth, why should we care? Because I think we still believe truth is important. We ask it of our politicians, even while we are not really so sure we’ll ever get the truth from them. We ask it of the people we care about – spouses, friends, family. We’d like to see it in the workplace. We want people to take us at our word, to trust us. We get upset when they question our truthfulness. Obviously truth still matters.

But we also know that truth is hard to find. Everyone embellishes stories to make themselves look better. Everyone has lied about issues large and small. Playing with the truth almost seems inherent with being human, and probably it is, since it comes as part of our sin nature.

Truth matters to God. From the 10 Commandments forward we’re challenged to be true and live honestly. But even when we try, we fail. A lot of falsehood comes when we desire to be something we are not, or appear better than we are. We seem compelled to put a false front out there for everyone to see, so we can feel better, more in control. But, that’s just another way of lying.

And in the bright light of God’s purity, it’s pretty hard to hide. We can lie to ourselves and we can lie to others, but we cannot lie to God. That doesn’t mean we don’t try, but how can we think we’d get away with it – he knows our hearts; he sees us as we are? That makes his gift even greater – in spite of me, he still loves me, and accepts me, and died for me to make me a better person. I can be honest with myself and with God. I can be honest with the people in my life, because I have God’s truth in me.

We can safely put our trust in God because he is truth. He will never promise anything he cannot keep. Unlike fickle politicians, trying to win our votes by saying what they think we want to hear, and changing their stories when they think we no longer want to hear, God is truth. He is everlasting. He is faithful. When he says he will “never leave us or forsake us” we can trust that absolutely. When everything else falls apart, he will still be here.

When Jesus was brought before the Roman governor, Pilate, he was asked, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus doesn’t answer him directly. Their conversation goes back and forth and finally Pilate says, “You are a king, then.” And Jesus said, “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.” And Pilate, just before releasing Jesus to be crucified, asked, “What is truth?” (John 18:29-40 NIV) He had Truth standing in front of him, and missed it.

Today people are still asking that question. The Truth stands before them in the person of a risen Christ. Jesus is the truth, and those of us who listen to him stand on the side of truth. That truth, God’s truth, is available to all who believe. All we have to do is ask.