Truth Bombs
Sooooo, I’ve had a topic on my mind recently that I’d love to share with you. If I’m being honest, I think the information in my topic is just general knowledge; most of us would probably agree to the things I have to say. It’s not some huge or magnificent revelation that pastor “so-and-so” discovered while he was fasting for two weeks in a getaway resort cabin that he uses to spend time with God (Although fasting and getting away is good and important). The topic is actually pretty simple (Praise Jesus!)
The topic that I’d like to share with you is the nature of Truth. The word ‘truth’ basically means what accurately describes reality, or what properly describes a state of affairs. When people say you need a reality check, they mean you need to realise the truth.
Truth is something that we value highly. I know that because it’s something that we demand in nearly every area of our lives. You want your friends to tell you the truth about whether they really care for you (Certainly, you don’t want fake friends). You probably also want the truth from your teachers – imagine your teacher giving you bad marks just because she didn’t like you! If you’re in a relationship, you might want the truth from you girlfriend or boyfriend about whether that friend of theirs is really just a friend or something more (For both our sakes, I hope you never have to find yourself in that situation fam 😊). You definitely want the truth from your textbooks – just imagine for a second that all the information you were learning in maths or science or LO was false and that you spent hours each day at school trying to retain false information!
Truth is important for our futures, our social lives, our emotional health, our intellects and our relationships. It’s what we build everything in our lives upon. Truth is the foundation of everything we consider good.
What I sometimes worry about though is that although we care so much for the truth in the many spheres of our lives, we tend to undervalue truth when it comes to matters of faith… What do I mean by this? Have you ever tried to tell a friend about Jesus or the gospel and their response to you was, “Well, that’s true for you but not for me,” or “You live out your truth and I’ll live out mine”? Just imagine saying that to your maths teacher or parent when he/she tries to address you getting 25% for your term mark! What would you do if someone stole your money, you’ve discovered evidence proving it was them, you’ve managed to work up the courage to confront them about it and all they said to you was, “Well that’s true for you but not for me,”? If something is true for one person, it has to be true for everybody. If 2+2=4, and somebody mentioned that being true for you but 2+2 equalling 5 was true for them, you’d tell them that’s illogical and dumb! If Jesus and the gospel are true, it’s true for everybody. You cannot escape reality.
Here are some other characteristics about truth you might want to take into consideration:
1. Truth is not invented. It is discovered. Here’s a riddle for you: Before Mount Everest was discovered, what was the tallest mountain in the world? The answer is actually pretty easy. It was Mount Everest. We could only discover that it was the tallest mountain in the world; we couldn’t invent it. Because Christianity is true, it can only be something people discover; it is not something they invent.
2. Truth is not dependant on our beliefs. Rather, our beliefs should be dependent on truth. Imagine a friend of yours wanted to jump off of a building because he believed he could fly (And for fun’s sake, we’ll pretend he was singing the song as well). How many of us would tell him he’s being crazy and that he should get down? All of us would try to stop him. Usually you’ll hear people say, “I don’t read the bible, but I believe that so-and-so …” or “I know God exists, but I believe people of other religions ___ (insert blank).” People have a right to believe what they want, but that doesn’t make everyone’s beliefs true. I think that we should base our beliefs on truth. We shouldn’t base truth on our beliefs.
3. Truth is unchanging, even though our beliefs about truth change. Centuries ago, people thought the earth was flat. That, however, did not make it flat. Although, it did probably make finding the edge of the world a bit difficult, lol. Within the last century, a large portion of individuals in the Western world have stopped believing in God. They might say it’s because society is “progressing” or “evolving”. Large amounts of people no longer believing in God or the truth of the gospel don’t make the gospel any less true.
Jesus has this to say about his message and teaching – “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Deception and lies have this knack of putting you in chains. There’s this lie that harmful substances like drugs and alcohol are ways you can be free. The thing is, when you try to stop substance abuse, you find that you’re in chains and in dependence on a substance to cope. That’s not freedom; That’s slavery and bondage.
I’m sure a lot of you guys, as teenagers, can relate when we say that we just want to be free. Jesus wants you to know today that if you would live your life in pursuit of truth, you would essentially live your life in freedom.
Lastly, Jesus in John 14:16 drops the truth bomb when he says – “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He is what accurately describes reality; He is unchanging, even though our beliefs about him might change; he is discovered and cannot be created; he is not dependent upon our belief/faith. Rather our faith/belief is dependant on him.
-Jarred C Beiling