Telling the Truth about the Truth

More often than not today’s American Christian finds himself in a conversation with someone else about truth or religion only to acquiesce to any number of false notions as stated by the one with whom he is conversing for any number of reasons. His reticence may be due to a lack of confidence in his own ability to speak intelligently, or it might be due to a fear of some kind including that of offending or embarrassing another, a concern that a friendship might be strained in some way, or a worry about what another might think of him after sharing the claims of Christ. The upshot of the encounter is that Christ is not exalted, a soul is not confronted, and the believer in question often has feelings of guilt for not speaking the truth in love, or worse yet, has become apathetically calloused as this scenario has been played out too many times to remember. And yet, those who know Christ are called to tell the truth about the truth when given the opportunity.

Foundational Issues

Dr. Albert Mohler wrote an article that spurred my thinking in this direction entitled “Telling the Truth about Truth.” He notes that we Christians “must be honest about the kind of claims we are making and the kind of conversation we are ready to enter.” We believers as human beings do not claim a monopoly on truth in the sense that we think that we get it all right in terms of our understanding or interpretation. But, we as Christians must confess that our belief in God is owing to the fact that God has revealed Himself to us by virtue of His love for us. We must then engage in dialogue concerning ultimate questions with the knowledge that God has revealed Himself truthfully in His word. Of course, that means that God’s word and the claims of Christ are authoritative for us. We cannot compromise that which God has revealed.

With the above in mind, let us now affirm that the conversation must not stop when someone makes a false claim or statement. That is the very moment of truth. That is the very moment God has appointed for us to represent Him as He is providentially at work in our lives and in the lives of those to whom we speak. We know the truth, we must speak the truth, and we must tell the truth about the truth.

A question must be raised here in light of the postmodern, pluralistic culture in which we find ourselves. Will anyone listen? The answer is a resounding “yes!” A few points of support for that claim may be highlighted here.