Quid est veritas?

This is what Pilate asked Jesus, while questioning Him, in response to a claim by Jesus, that He is “witness to the truth” (John 18 v 37).
If I had the opportunity to ask Pilate a question in return – as was the custom in Jewish tradition – it would be the following: “What is your perception of truth“?

This is also the question that I am posting to you. How do you interpret or perceive truth, first in general and then based on your worldview, if indeed the two are mutually exclusive?

A wise man recently told me that “one should always tell the truth and in a worst case scenario, ‘do not lie'”

Have you ever been faced with a situation, and I am sure you have, where telling the truth would hurt another person’s feelings, yet liberate them, while setting them free and giving them the closure they were seeking, for so long?

The above will probably fall under the ‘general’ category. Now, how about defining truth for your worldview or belief system?

Wikipedia on truth;
“Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality. In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs, propositions, and declarative sentences. Truth is usually held to be the opposite of falsehood.“

I guess, according to Wikipedia, we cannot divide truth as truth in it’s essence seems to be absolute. If truth were relative, then I would be able to believe a certain thing regarding… let’s say… the weather. If today’s maximum at noon, is a scorching 42 degrees (Celsius) and I were to stand outside, it would be considered a hot day, right?

What if you were in the office with the air-conditioner set at 24 degrees (Celcius) and someone comes to meet with you, saying ‘it’s a scorcher outside’ and you reply by saying, ‘no it’s not’ or ‘I am not feeling hot’. Does that mean it’s really not a warm day or you just don’t feel the heat, because of adjusting the temperature inside to suit you?

Now, there are some people who live in certain parts of the world where 42 degrees (Celcius) is the average temperature, but the fact that it is considered warm is the same for everyone, regardless of being outside or not.

The same applies to anything and everything else in life. A fact or reality cannot be true for one and not for the other. This is absurd and goes against the laws of logic, just as it would be absurd to say that regardless of the undeniable evidence, I choose not to believe.

Let’s get down to the real reason for this article. The bible is full of truth about God and how He had chosen a people for Himself to stand in a covenant relationship with. There are historical places that one can still visit today. The characters mentioned in the bible come from a lineage that can be traced back and the very content of the bible has proven to be preserved over the ages.

One can argue about minor variations, which do not impact and affect the message of the bible in any way, but that is not the purpose of this article. The purpose of this article is to discuss truth and how you perceive and apply truth to your life.

For many Christians, the bible is the Word of God, absolutely true, accurate in the finest detail and infallible, while many other religious (and not so religious) people simply see it as a book, written by men, with some moral guidelines, that one can choose to follow, although (they feel) that it doesn’t necessarily apply to them.

We can also argue about certain past and future events in the bible, of which the latter we will only see in due time, or where some of the characters find themselves today and so on. There are differences regarding so many things between denominations and even among members of the same denomination, that no wonder people have become confused.

Some Christians believe in infant baptism, while others see biblical baptism as immersion and then there are those, proclaiming to be Christians, who believe that water baptism is unbiblical, not to mention the rapture argument. Some believers are waiting for the church to be raptured before the tribulation period starts, while others defend a mid-trip and also a rapture deep into the “great tribulation” period. Then there are sincere Christians who refuse to believe in something like a rapture and says the word is not even mentioned anywhere in the bible.

You will meet believers who have accepted the death and resurrection of Christ and still attempt to keep the law of Moses and reprimand you when you eat pork, work or play sports on Sundays. I can continue with examples, but don’t want this to sound like an attack on my fellow brothers in Christ.

The point I am trying to make is that there are so many differences in the Christian community based on individuals’ perception of truth that it can, and in fact does bring division in the body of Christ.

For too long I have had a perception of certain truth(s) and coupled with pride, I viewed myself judge, jury and executioner, losing a very dear friend in the process, who was sincerely seeking the truth and decided to rather create his own belief system, treating others with kindness, loving them and helping them to become the best persons they could possibly be, instead of converting to a self-righteous “religion” where you have the right to judge others according to your rule book.

I have come to learn that truth is not what I make of it. Truth is not something you can fabricate and mould into a set of rules that you live according to. Telling others not to touch this or taste that, while I, myself might be deceived in believing something so disconnected from reality, causing me to lose my focus of that which God has intended for me.

We cannot separate our personal or work life and our relationship with others from our relationship with God and our relationship with Him is only possible through accepting the death of Jesus as atonement for my sins, followed by believing in His bodily resurrection and everything that He taught His disciples and the people who followed Him.

My prayer is that the Lord will open our minds to understand the Scriptures in the same way He did with His disciples, for even some of them struggled to understand and even believe prior to this moment (Luke 24 v 44-47). Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and it is only through believing in what He came to do, putting our hope and our trust in Him, that we can understand the heart of our Father, who is in Heaven.

Do not allow secondary doctrines and theology to overshadow the truth of what Christ has done for us as God incarnate. Giving Himself completely for the sake of mankind, whom He created in His image. The truth about God can only be found and joyously experienced through a personal and intimate relationship with Him, loving Him wholeheartedly, seeking His perfect will for your life and as a result loving others, treating them with compassion and kindness.

Allow God to manifest His truth in your heart today. Live according to that truth all the days of your life and you will reap the reward of everlasting life in the presence of your Creator. Think of a child, born from their mother’s womb, separated at birth for whatever reason and reuniting with his or her parents, after many years.

In the same way, we too were separated from God when mankind fell, due to their rebellion. We are reunited with God, when we accept what He has provisioned for us. Truth is found when you first seek the kingdom of God, living a life of faith, according to His truth, which He has engrained on our hearts.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, Life Application Study Bible, unless stated otherwise. Copyright by “The Lockman Foundation“