At the Golden Globes this past year, Oprah Winfrey is credited with saying, “What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have.” (Italics mine) Her comments were widely applauded as a bold statement of values by which we all must live. On the surface, this would seem to be an empowering statement, but the underlying premise is that there is no real truth. We have your truth and my truth, but there is no arbiter of real truth.  As Blaise Pascal says in the graphic we hardly recognize the truth. 

We have come to the point in our world that truth belongs to those carrying the loudest voice. If you say something loud enough, in the right circles, or have it accepted by enough people, it becomes accepted as truth. This is very much like the values in our society. In the absence of real values or truth, the body of public opinion becomes the ethic, value or truth of the day. We are shown examples every day of how values and truths have changed over the years. Indeed, Scripture itself is viewed as being outdated and not relevant to the world in which we live.

The contention by many churches that the Bible is authoritative only as the church determines is becoming an increasingly broadly accepted tenet of the faith. Our mainline denominations today, in addition to the Roman Catholic church and the Mormon church, place the Scriptures in a posture of being subject to the decision of the church regarding its authority and validity. 

But what does God say about truth and how His people treat the Scriptures? Psalm 119:160 tells us “The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.” So to maintain that God’s word is outdated or written for another time goes specifically against what God has to say.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) In his prayer recorded in John 17, Jesus asked the Father to, “Sanctify them (we his people) by the truth, your word is truth.” Here he was affirming with the Father that Scripture, being God’s word, is truth. 

Since God is unchanging, he is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, God’s truth is unchanging. Hebrews 13:8 confirms that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” God’s word is as relevant today as it was in the days of Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, Paul and all the other warriors of the faith.

Today’s society is declaring almost a new truth a day, often conflicting with the previous truth. Just one example would be that illegal immigrants are welcome and protected in “sanctuary cities” but then suddenly any attempts to place them in these locales is defined as evil personified. Even Christians are being drawn into this spur of the moment ethics definition. That is but one example. I’m sure together we could come up with a lengthy list. 

As Christians, we must hold fast to that one unchanging foundation of truth which is God’s word to our world. God will one day judge the world and it will not be by the standards that we choose for our society for today. It will be by his eternal word contained in the collection of books we know as the Bible. 

Keep God’s word in your heart and you will have a firm foundation upon which you can build a life that honors God and have a guide that will help you navigate the ever-changing winds of truth proposed by the inteligencia of our world today.

Blessings