Truth and True
This is something that has fascinated me for many years and I wish I understood why people can not separate what is true from what is truth. If someone could explain why this is so hard I would greatly appreciate it.
What do I mean exactly? Our children have a bedtime and a bedtime routine. We start sending our kids to bed at 8:00 knowing that with teeth brushing, bed time dressing, a story from the Bible, and some conversation we will usually have them settled in at around 8:30. Okay, if you have children I assume you have your own bedtime and bedtime routine.
It is true that our kids’ bedtime is 8:30 but is it truth? Is it absolute? Should I expect every child around the world to go to bed at the same time because it is true that at the Hamm house we go to bed at 8:30? Should I teach the church to synchronize their watches so that everyone is tucked in at the same time?
I really don’t understand. How can people not grasp that just because that is true doesn’t make it universal truth? Universal truths are things like gravity and grace, love and forgiveness. They are things that are the same no matter where you are and what you do. They are truths that play out no matter what the bedtime.
Our world suffers the consequences every day when we go against these universal truths but it would seem that the churches inability to differentiate has left us unable to give guidance to a lost and dieing world.
I believe in universal truth but so many don’t today and I believe it is because we have not separated truth from what was true. We have divided over what we found to be true instead of defending truth. We have done such a poor job of differentiating between the two that many lost souls no longer believe truth exists. What a sad indictment of the modern church.
What can we do to teach this? What can we do to show this? Is there any hope that we can show the world that just because some believers claimed something that was true as truth doesn’t mean that truth doesn’t exist? Help me out because I really want to know.
This is something that has fascinated me for many years and I wish I understood why people can not separate what is true from what is truth. If someone could explain why this is so hard I would greatly appreciate it.
What do I mean exactly? Our children have a bedtime and a bedtime routine. We start sending our kids to bed at 8:00 knowing that with teeth brushing, bed time dressing, a story from the Bible, and some conversation we will usually have them settled in at around 8:30. Okay, if you have children I assume you have your own bedtime and bedtime routine.
It is true that our kids’ bedtime is 8:30 but is it truth? Is it absolute? Should I expect every child around the world to go to bed at the same time because it is true that at the Hamm house we go to bed at 8:30? Should I teach the church to synchronize their watches so that everyone is tucked in at the same time?
I really don’t understand. How can people not grasp that just because that is true doesn’t make it universal truth? Universal truths are things like gravity and grace, love and forgiveness. They are things that are the same no matter where you are and what you do. They are truths that play out no matter what the bedtime.
Our world suffers the consequences every day when we go against these universal truths but it would seem that the churches inability to differentiate has left us unable to give guidance to a lost and dieing world.
I believe in universal truth but so many don’t today and I believe it is because we have not separated truth from what was true. We have divided over what we found to be true instead of defending truth. We have done such a poor job of differentiating between the two that many lost souls no longer believe truth exists. What a sad indictment of the modern church.
What can we do to teach this? What can we do to show this? Is there any hope that we can show the world that just because some believers claimed something that was true as truth doesn’t mean that truth doesn’t exist? Help me out because I really want to know.
posted by Darin L. Hamm at
7:35 AM
7 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
I've found it helpful to use the distinction "facts" vs. "truth". A good example in the Bible is the 12 spies who go into the Promised Land. Ten came back and reported the facts: the people there are bigger and more powerful than we are; they made us feel small. Two told the truth: God said that land is ours; let's go take it.
The Bible says those who only told the facts gave a "bad report".
Truth is reality from God's perspective.
Facts are reality from our perspective.
JAT,
Now I am really chewing. How do we move this discussion on? I must confess that I am probably often guilty of looking from our perspective.
Any suggestions?
Ben,
I like what you have to say. Do we have an obligationt o stop looking at it from our POV? Is that possible? Wise?
What do you think?
Carl Ketcherside opined many years ago that "All truth is equally true but it is not true that all truth is equally important."
I have held onto that as great insight for sometime now. It is "more" true now than ever before.
Shalom,
Bobby Valentine
Milwaukee, WI
Just ran into your blog. I appreciate your thoughts. I just wanted to say one thing:
People don't seem to be interested
in being convinced by true sounding words (as was the case with modernism) as they are by a life that lives by what that person says they believe. If we want people to get ahold of truth we need to be living according to what we know (from God) is true. If we don't live it out but we say the Bible/God are true they will never believe us.
Matt,
Good addition to the discussion.
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