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truth

"do you swear to tell the truth, and nothing but the truth?"  "...truth, justice and the american way!"  truth!  what is truth?  is truth subjective, or objective?  are there absolute truths?  is all truth equal and right?  must we tell the truth at all times?  is not telling the truth acceptable if we know it will harm another?  hard questions.  in searching for a starting point i decided to start with the basics, then move to answering the above questions.  so, let us begin.

the basics, what is truth?

according to the american heritage dictionary truth is defined as, 1. accordance with fact or actuality (a story with the appearance of truth), 2. a statement proven to be, or accepted as true (scientific truth), 3. reality, actuality (at appomattox the civil was was in truth over).  so, truth can be understood as, "a reality in accordance with fact, or actuality, that has been proven or accepted to be true."  if we look at the definition we naturally move to the next set of questions.

subjective, objective and absolute:

all truth is objective; is is our understanding of that truth that is subjective.  the subjectivity of the facts, does not alter the objectivity of the truth.  let me give you an example.  if we were to set up a camera above and around an impending accident and record what happened, we would have the the objective truth.  if we also placed individuals around and after the accident asked them what happened, we would get the subjective truth.  how, does the subjective truth of the people discount the objective truth of reality?  of course not.  in a kind of funny way, all are truth - until we show the tape to the individuals.  once we show the objective truth to the individuals, their subjective truth is no longer truth.  take for example a child who is accused of taking cookies for the cookie jar (who me?).  the mother asks the important and pending question, "who took the cookies from the cookie jar?"  no one admits to taking the cookies.  mother knows that little jimmy has taken the cookies in the past, so she accuses him of steeling the cookies and grounds him for a month.  but, somehow a video was found that showed that jimmy did not take the cookies.  the mother, with her subjective truth, refuses to take the objective truth of the video and simply continues to punish jimmy.  is she right for doing so, after all is not her truth equal to the recorded truth?  let's change the players and say the subjective truth of the sate and the jury has convicted a man for murder and placed upon him the pain of death, but newly found objective truth can set him free, do we?  why, isn't the subjective truth of the sate equal to the objective truth of the new information?  of course not, because not all truth is equal.

let's look at it in a theological setting.  jesus is the son of God, God incarnate, this is an objective truth (some may think it is a subjective truth, but there is a great amount of evidence to prove this statement as objective), but how you see jesus in that objective truth becomes you individual subjective truth.  the subjective truth is not "wrong."  it simply is your view of the situation, the objective truth.  another interesting thing happens about this time in subjective truth, i call it "collective subjective truth."  collective subjective truth, in this case, can be seen as denominations.  but, no matter how large the collective the fact is, it is based on subjective truth (i am certain that many will question my conclusion here, because they are part of a collective claiming to have the objective truth - they don't, no one does).  so, we know truth can be subjective and objective;  no matter how many people want it to be so, subjective truth does not effect the reality of the objective truth;  we like living in the subjective - it makes "us" right.  but the question still remains, is truth absolute?

first, let me start by saying that i believe objective truth and absolute truth are different, yet very related.  objective truth is simply one part of the absolute truth, for example - God is an absolute truth, jesus as the incarnation (an objective truth) is a part of that absolute truth.  absolute truth, as the definition of "absolute" accords, is "total and complete."  so, can there be absolute truth?

i have always found the statement, "there are no absolute truths" to be a bit funny.  first, the statement is an absolute, and if there are no absolute truths, the statement would be false.  seeing it as fact, means you agree that there are absolutes.  it's like the questions spock gave to confuse the logical minds of a computer, "i always lie."  .......... if you always lie, then that would be a lie, but then you would be telling the truth, but you can tell the truth because you always lie, which is what you said so it must be true and if it is true....................... my brain hurts (this is usually the time when the machine blows up).  there are absolute truths.

absolute truth is a reality, even if we do not like it to be, it is.  for example, "darkness can not over power light."  light is stronger then darkness, because light is matter and darkness is the absence of light matter - this is an absolute truth.  if you take a dark room, and turn on a light, the light will shine in the darkness, the darkness will not over power the light.  depending on the size of the room and the power of the light, it could fill the whole room with light.  so, it is an absolute truth that light is stronger then darkness.  some may ask about "black holes."  'if light is stronger then darkness, why do we have black holes in space?'  well, no one has ever seen a black hole, it has never been recorded, never been sighted, never been truly studied in itself - it is basically a mathematical model that allows a black whole to exists.  even if it is found, they believe that the absence of light is due to gravidity and not darkness - gravity, another absolute truth.

to be an "absolute truth" it must be a complete and total understanding of the reality.  this is the hook; while there is absolute truth, we may never truly understand it because of our desire to live in subjective truth.  you see, we do not like to know absolute, or objective, truth because we may have to change our lifestyle.  we claim we desire it, but when it is placed in front of us we recoil, and demand deeper evidence.  another issue that surrounds the understanding of an absolute truth is that God is an absolute truth, and we will never understand God fully and completely.  some believe because we can never understand an absolute truth, absolute truth does not exist.  but if we base the existence of anything on our understanding of it, man are we lost.  absolute truth exists, just because we desire to ignore it does not change the fact that it's real.

so, we know what truth is, and is not.  how do we use truth in our daily lives?  are we to tell the truth always?  are we to share the truth when we know it might hurt the feelings of another?  the answer to both is yes - 

to tell the truth:

we know what truth is and the questions remains, "is there any time we should lie?"  no.  truth must be spoken at all times.  it is the lies in our lives that get us in trouble and get us confused about our walk in life.  we must live in truth.  when we start to lie we open the door for more and more, bigger and bigger lies.  we need to learn to speak truth.

some question this asking, "what if the truth is painful?"  we believe is a little while lie will help ease the pain, why not?  because we need to ask the question - it the perceived pain on the part of the person you are telling the truth to, or is it your pain of having to be honest?  a good example is the question all men dread hearing, "honey, doe this look good on me?" (i decided not to use the "do i look fat" question due to my desire to live to a ripe old age).   we see this as catch 22.  if you say "yes," your dead - if you say "no," and her friend tells her she looks silly later, your dead.  we see it as death for telling the truth and for lying - what to do, what to do?  it's simple - truth must always be connected with grace - grace on both ends, but mostly on the part of the teller.

truth must be spoken, it is not optional.  we like to make truth optional, because of our desire to live in the subjective truth.  if given a choice, lie to save feelings, yours or others, or to tell the truth with grace - truth with grace must be selected.

going against the flow:

the world teaches that "little white lies" are alright; the world teaches that absolute truth and objective truth does not exists; the world teaches that telling the truth can be twisted to meet the needs of the individual; the world teaches all truths are right and equal.  but we, as christians, are not to walk as the world walks.  we are called to "go against the flow" (romans 12:2) and seek the truth in God and share that truth with the world.  i have a friend who is a buddhist monk.  he and i have had a number of discussions concerning truth.  one day i took him to a minister gathering, he walked out half way through the event.  as we were walking out i asked him why he had to leave, his statement was enlightening - "everyone i met told me that my theology was right, my truth was right.  if that is the case, why are they not buddhist?  i want to talk to people who believe they are right and they walk in truth.  not people who seem to pander to me and in a 'politically correct' way" (not an exact, but close, quote of his words.)  it is not that we must accept all truths as right, it is that we must respect the differences people have, and stand firm in our beliefs.

closing:

it is not how "they" or "we" see truth that counts - it is that we understand that our understanding of truth is subjective, and that we must not confuse our subjective truth with the objective and absolute truths that are all around us.  we need to be willing to accept the objective truths and see a deep understandings of the absolute truths that guide our lives.

blessings

pastor john

John O’Keefe is the founder of www.ginkworld.net.  John sees a desperate need for the church as a whole to change and reach a new people for Christ.  He is straightforward, honest and calls it the way it he sees it.  John is a graduate of Drew and has been a Senior Pastor and Church Planter