What is the meaning of the word ‘truth?’
In the highly intellectual work, Star Wars, the old, wise hermit, Obi-Wan Kenobi tells the young and impressionable Luke Skywalker that many years before, a young knight named Darth Vader betrayed and murdered Luke's father. Luke carries this knowledge with him through two movies until he meets Darth Vader, who confesses that, in fact, he IS Luke’s father. Totally furious over this, Luke confronts Obi-Wan over his deception, and the old wizard tells him that the good man, Luke’s dad, became a bad guy, now called Darth Vader, meaning the good guy ceased to exist. He sums up his argument with the famous quote, “So what I told you was true, from a certain point of view.”
That is the most common understanding of truth in today’s world. One day, the world was flat, today, it’s round. One day, the sun revolved around the earth, today, the earth revolves around the sun. That which is called true changes with the millennia.
That’s just science. But truths held dear from long ago have been abandoned and replaced with different ones in regard to race, gender, sexuality, politics, and so on. I make no claim as to which viewpoints are right or wrong. I only want you to understand that what the world calls true changes. It is not absolute. It evolves with time like the people who espouse it from generation to generation.
But God is not a God who changes. His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts, and while it is sinful for us to judge one another, God is the ultimate Judge. While it is wrong for us to be jealous of one another, we serve a jealous God. While we are called to love one another unconditionally, God hated Esau. God is very different from you and me. His judgment is not our judgment. His hatred is not our hatred. His jealousy is not our jealousy.
And His truth is not our truth.
And while we find our so-called truths changing on us from generation to generation, we need to understand that our God never changes and His Word to us is timeless. It doesn’t wear out. It doesn’t become archaic. It has everlasting value to all who call on His name.
And there is one message that rings as true today as it did 2000 years ago. It is God’s message of love, mercy, and redemption.
Many of you are quite familiar with this message. You try to live your lives as people who believe in this message.
God’s word commands us to tell THIS truth:
“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you” (John 15:12).
It sounds so simple, so cliché. How could there be a problem at all with this simple truth?
The answer to that question comes down to the reliability of the messenger. If we TELL people that God’s commandment is to love each other, but we don’t actually do that (love each other), the message expires before it is received. You can’t tell people that God commands us to love one another if you don’t.
Therefore (and here is my real point), before you can deliver God's truth (love one another), you have to live out that message.
So, go be a truly loving person. You’ll be amazed how willing people are to listen to you tell the truth.