What Is Truth?

by

Pastor B.J. Knefley

What is truth? From the time we get up in the morning to the time we go to bed at night we are bombarded with information that is seemingly true. Truth, or things that seem to be true come at us through social media, news outlets and a host of other ways too numerous to mention. I remember a time when the evening news was presented as “All the news you needed to hear”. Today news is big business and you can watch it 24/7.

I read something on social media the other day that seemed to be true and I wanted to share it, unfortunately I couldn’t verify its truthfulness. Yet that didn’t stop a lot of others from sharing it, and that’s part of the problem. We share what we think is true and what we think is often no more than opinion, and opinions have a great deal of influence over individuals and society.

We live in a time when image is everything. For example, people generally present a positive image on social media. They’re on vacation, enjoying great scenery and company. In fact, if you look at their posts, you’re bound to wonder why their life is so great while yours is so dull? Not many people show the ugly parts of their life, only the good. Remember, opinions are interpretations of what we’ve seen, heard and touched. By this we can conclude many things to be true only to have them be proven false under closer scrutiny.

A number of years ago Josh McDonald wrote a book called “Evidence That Demands a Verdict”, in it he presents evidence for the truthfulness of the Bible. Although it’s been years since I read it, I am reminded how it challenged many opinions that I had about the Bible and God. I realized that truth isn’t always convenient. In fact, sometimes it’s very annoying. Perhaps that’s part of the problem, we like convenient truth. Truth that makes us feel good about ourselves and gives the false image that we’re important and significant. Perhaps we have learned to hide behind a mask. Just because we believe something doesn’t make it true. Truth will not always make you feel warm and fuzzy, sometimes it will hurt. Think about it.