If I said that the sky was green what would you think about that? At the best you'd question my eyesight and at the worst you'd question either my integrity or sanity because we all know that the sky isn't green it's blue. The blueness of the sky is a fact and a fact is defined as something that is actual [1]. This definition implies that facts can be backed up by evidence. We don't use the word fact as much as we use the word truth but they are synonymous. When we are presented with the facts, those facts can be proved.
It is not my intention to say that I need external proof in order to believe anything I hear preached from the Word. I can just hear the comparisons to Thomas now if I were to say such a thing (John 20:24-25). I am capable of taking things on faith and I also recognize the blessing that this entails. What I'm talking about in this post is actually the other side of the issue completely. Instead, what I'm referring to is when we choose to ignore proof in order to believe what we want to believe. That is another thing altogether, deception.
Truth isn't dependent on sources. Something is either true or it isn't. Truth stands completely on its own. Truth is based on facts and is able to be proved. Truth isn't subjective or mandated. Truth can't be derived from opinion. Truth simply is.
Is it not our duty to research the veracity of information that is presented and to judge it against the Bible as a perfect measure (Acts 17:11)? Are we not to live examined lives, proving Christ in us else we be counted as failures (2 Cor 13:5)? Is not a fundamental change in us that allows us to test out exactly what God's will is (Rom 12:2)? We should examine what we are presented in all aspects of life and determine the truth of it, however it seems to me that we are blindly accepting anything from a "spiritual" source and blindly rejecting anything from a "secular" source instead.
It's wrong to judge whether something is true or not based on what sources it comes from and yet I believe that there are some in our group who do exactly that. To accept anything that is said over the pulpit as truth merely because it was said over the pulpit is an example of this. I'm not implying some agenda on the part of our ministry, merely being cognizant of the fact that our ministers are men and thus fallible. Somehow though, our group has begun to equate believing everything that comes across the pulpit with proper obedience and being "in order" and to question what we are told has become labeled as rebellion.
The flip side of this coin is ignoring fact because it comes from a secular source. A good example of what I'm talking about is evidenced in what some fundamentalist Christians say about fossils. Some say that Satan planted these fossils in an effort to lead us astray while others say that God hid them in an effort to confuse worldly scientists. Why is it that some Christians go to extreme lengths to disbelieve anything that comes from a secular source?
When you judge the truth of a statement solely by the person that is making that statement or intentionally discredit the veracity of a statement based on an unrelated quality of the speaker that is called Ad Hominem. Shane Clifford and I both have written about this before and you can see what we wrote by clicking on the following links: What Shane says about Ad Hominem and what I say about Ad Hominem.
Instead of having to be spoon-fed the truth, it is our responsibility to go searching for it ourselves (2 Tim 2:15). We should desire a greater understanding of God's Word and His will for ourselves, and we shouldn't be too reliant on any external extra-biblical source, including our leadership (1 Cor 13:8-9). Instead we should be instilling the Word of God in our hearts in an ongoing effort to grow in Christ so that that understanding becomes a part of us and changes who we are (Psalms 119:11, 2 Pet 3:18, James 1:21). Isn't this some of what Paul refers to as pressing towards the mark (Phil 3:14)?
Reference:
[1] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fact
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Excellent post. One addition I might add is that truth can be relative. If you remember Big Mac, from Texas he would tell a story about him and his brother seeing a boxer (dog) one day and they decided to cut off the tail of their own dog when they got home. They pushed the dogs tail through a hole in the barn and Big Mac was on one side to cut the tail off while his brother was on the opposite to hold the dogs head steady. As he began the amputation with his dull boyscout pocket knife he heard a lot of noise on the other side. After finishing the job he ran around to the other side to see what all the commotion was about. When he told his scratched up and bitten brother that it was not that bad his brother replied "I guess it depends on which side of the dog you are on." This principle is summed up in the phrase "perception is reality" We can perceive that something is good or true when in fact we do not know all the facts. I want to be considerate that perspective can paint my version of truth. Thank you for sharing. Once again I feel inspired to be a better listener.
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