Reflecting on the Truth

Spirituality Column #48
October 9, 2007
Current in Carmel (IN) newspaper

Reflecting on the TruthBy Bob Walters

‘Heard a good sermon at church recently about how all truth starts with God. I started thinking about how truth is treated in modern American culture.

For example, how much truth did you hear in the remarks of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Columbia University in New York a couple weeks ago?

I didn’t hear much that sounded like truth, but the truth is, he got a forum at Columbia. Would God’s truth get a forum at Columbia? At any Ivy League college? At any college?

If there is anything not being taught in America’s mainline universities today, it’s that all truth comes from God. That might be the greatest single abundance of ignorance in contemporary culture – not knowing that truth comes from God.

Perhaps the problem is not so much a true anti-God sentiment, but that God’s truth in Christ – which was so integral to the founding of this nation and the basis upon which our educational institutions were built – is still facing a challenge God has always had: mankind’s pride in his own intellect.

When we look to our own intellect for truth … well, look out. Have you listened to a political argument lately?

There is nothing as glorious as reverently experiencing God’s truth, and nothing as miserable as when we stray and are then reminded of God’s truth. Adam and Eve knew instinctively to be ashamed of their sin before God, because they knew God’s truth.

It is a problem that America culture doesn’t learn enough or teach enough about God’s truth to enable us to recognize sin, be ashamed of sin, and then do something about sin, like … change, and stop sinning. We’d be far happier. Try it sometime.

Another truth is that God judged all he made as “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Creation then fell in Adam and Eve’s sin, but in Christ we have a chance to be made good again. So take heart – we may be fallen, but it’s not hopeless. Down, but not out. In Christ, we still have a shot.

The truth is, God made us to reflect God’s glory.

What do you reflect?

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) believes the Bible is entirely true and that truth emanates from all God’s creation, but not everything in creation is truth (see: Satan). It’s important to learn the difference. Prayer is a good place to start.