Thought for Today
Psalm 15: 1 O LORD, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? 2 Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart;
Habakkuk 2:4 Look at the proud! Their spirit is not right in them, but the righteous live by their faith.
John 8:31 "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
I believe Christians are called to live at the intersection of truth and faith. Christians are called to objectively examine everything we think, say, read or write in terms of our faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. In some times and on some days, that can be challenging and daunting. In some times and on some days, that can demand that we swim upstream against the currents of the societies in which we live. In some times and on some days, that means that we find ourselves in disagreement even with each other.
Truth is defined as, “1a. archaic : FIDELITY, CONSTANCY b.: sincerity in action, character, and utterance 2a. (1): the state of being the case: FACT . . .” (Webster’ New Collegiate Dictionary, pg. 1256)
Most of us have been raised and educated in the aftermath of the Enlightenment. That renaissance led to the birth of modern science as well as providing the basis for much of the thinking among the Founding Fathers of our nation. In every level of schooling, we were taught about ‘facts.’ We were inculcated with the idea of being able to determine the ‘truth’ of almost everything from either mathematics or science . . . at least in school.
As we matured, however, things got a little more complex, especially as we grew in our faith. The simple black and white dichotomy we learned in our youth seemed to morph into an almost infinite variety of shades of gray. Even accepting that first definition of truth, “sincerity in action, character, and utterance,” we found that some folks sincerely believed what they were saying and doing, they were just wrong. Merely believing and saying something is true does not somehow magically make it so. If it would, I would be much taller and in much better physical shape.
Christians believe there is truth beyond the bounds of mathematics and science. Currently, astronomy and astrophysics cannot take us beyond the singularity. “In the Big Bang Theory, the initial moment is referred to as the singularity. This singularity represents the point of infinite density and temperature at the beginning of the universe . . . “(Bing search) Our faith teaches us “Genesis 1:1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth.” We have that “conviction of things not seen.”
There are those who claim that unless something can be seen, measured or calculated, it cannot be true. Science and mathematics can see, measure and calculate a great deal; but, it cannot tell us the source of that “point of infinite density and temperature.” The Bible does tell us.
Christians believe that Jesus was (and is) the Christ, the promised Messiah. We believe Jesus was (and is) the Son of God. My personal faith in and belief about Jesus is shaped by the first chapter of the Gospel of John. When I think about that intersection of faith and truth, I often think of those words from John 8:31 above.
The truth of which Jesus spoke is the gospel message of God’s love and grace. It is the truth of John 3:16-17. What is that ‘word’ to which Jesus refers? Jesus told us the basis for faith and truth, the ultimate law of the universe, "Luke 10:27 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."
How does that affect our own, individual and personal approach to truth? As I wrote above, “Christians are called to objectively examine everything we think, say, read or write in terms of our faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God.” Listen, read, ponder on everything and everyone. Think about what you see, hear and read in terms of love. God’s love, our love for God, our love for each other. Does love correlate with what you are seeing, hearing, reading? Does it provide you the “assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen?” It should for it to be the truth.
Stay safe, live love, trust God,
Pastor Ray