To kick off the PWM Blog, I want to start a series of questions for us to ponder together. I have purposefully entitled it, "Tough Questions in a Culture of Relativism" because I believe that many of the questions have clear, authoritative answers; however, the answers to many of the questions have been muddied, diluted, confused, and muddled by the relativism and political correctedness that dominates our society. To say that you have an answer or that you are "right" is equated with arrogance and intolerance. That being said, many of the questions' answers are greatly influenced by culture, individual circumstances, and other factors. Sorry, I won't tell you which questions fall into each category : ). Importantly, the purpose of these discussions is not to create division, but educated and mature dialogue. I hope that this series reaches that goal.
To encourage dialogue, I will not provide any firm conclusions that I have developed on the specific questions, but will only pose the question and include a little commentary to get the conversation going. Then, after discussion on the topic, I'll follow up with my thoughts on the issue. And if you care about what I think (through careful study and leading by the Holy Spirit, of course), you can read my thoughts : ).
Some of the questions I am working through, some of them I have benn pondering for my entire life, some of them I have answered in my heart and mind, some of them are clearly answered in Scripture, some of them are not addressed by Scripture, and some are questions that have surfaced in my research of orphan care and everything that goes with it. As you might imagine, in the process of researching orphan care's multiple prongs, I have come up with many more questions than answers. So guess what . . . you get to help me to process through them (if you choose to do so : )).
So here is the first question in the series: "What is Truth?" Is there an absolute truth? What is it? Who or what defines it? Does it change depending on the individual, culture, or time? Pontius Pilate asked Jesus the overarching question, "What is truth," in John 18 after Jesus said that He came to testify to the truth, but Pilate unfortunately did not allow Jesus, who actually is an authority on the subject, to answer the question (likely because Pilate was mocking Jesus). So now we get to discuss the question in our age of relativism. Should make for a very interesting discussion. Many scholars have said that it is the most important question for us to answer. So let's get to it . . .
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What is Truth?
ReplyDeleteI will assume you want to hear an answer to this as it relates to orphan care, and orphanages in general. Whether or not that is the case, that is what I will do.
Most obvious answer is that God is truth, His word is truth, and His wisdom is truth. Everything that God touches is truth, and when viewed through the lens of God’s greatness, design and sovereignty, truth can be accepted much more easily, than when viewing it through man’s reason or wisdom. I Corinthians 3:19 is a passage in which Paul clearly recognized this. “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight…” A chapter earlier, Paul explains that God’s truth, or things from the Holy Spirit, cannot be accepted by the unbeliever, because this truth comes from God’s Spirit, and of course, the unbeliever is not filled with the Spirit (I Cor. 2:14) Then yet another chapter before this, Paul talks about God’s wisdom (or truth for our discussion) as being so great, that even “the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom” (I Cor. 1:25).
I say all of that to say this…when God speaks truth about orphans, the fatherless, in a vein that demands that his people (Christians) do something about it, who are we (man) to ignore that exhortation? Yet, isn’t that what the evangelical church has done for decades? I know in my own experience, I attended a very strong Christian church growing up, but I never remember them doing anything for the orphan. Why is that? Do Christians only care about God’s truth or wisdom when it is convenient for them? Why does it take a Dennis Rainey, or a Steve Curtis Chapman, or a Phil Darke…to step out of their comfort zone and do amazing things for orphans, before the church will realize that it is our job to care for these children…not the governments, not social programs, and not some other person or organization?
If we as Christians really believe that God is truth, and his word is truth…then why don’t we all diligently pursue the only true religion that exists, according to James 1? If you really want to feel the true love of God, and the true wisdom of God, and the true call of God, I would say that orphan care, orphan adoption, and foster care will show you those things more clearly and more powerfully than anything else you can do. The problem is that it takes true self sacrificing in its truest form! Orphan care is a service that expects nothing in return. The same cannot be said for most ministry services.
I am not sure if I really answered your question of “what is truth” to the fullest, but those are my abbreviated thoughts on the subject.
I'm familiar with this question Phil (wink). I like how David answered with "God is truth". I love how truth is defined in Psalm 119:160 "The sum of Your word is truth, and every one of your righteous ordinances is everlasting." It's not just some of God's word or a portion of His promise. It's the whole thing, the sum. Truth is sufficient, it is complete, and it is everlasting. Whether we choose to believe it or not, it is. God chose to create us with an ability to understand truth and choose it over lies. He also created us with an instinctive notion to seek for truth and to fight for it when found. Most would say that truth is "good" and that lies are "bad". But what if truth told you that your heart was wicked and that you owed God an infinite debt that you could not pay yourself? Is truth still "good"? You could say then that truth is sometimes "bad", but that's too hard to follow. So what then truth is rather redefined to fit an individuals point of view; a personal truth. Relative truth is no truth at all and that should be as clear as day to anyone who enters into a conversation about truth. May the Lord Jesus Christ be your truth and may you never compromise for another. Thanks for this question Phil.
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