What does truth look like?
A reader asked about my prior post, “Come Back to Truth”. His question was, “What does that look like?”
Knowing truth, always a challenge, is increasingly difficult in our current era of informational warfare. It is even more difficult for younger people who believe that reality is whatever you feel, whatever you want it to be.
As Annie Crawford pointed out in The Theology Pugcast episode entitled ‘The CS Lewis Option’,
Without being grounded in reality, we do not even know what it means to be human, so we don’t know what it means to be a man or a woman, so we don’t have any understanding of marriage, and the list goes on. … Education, or just talking about anything of consequence, may require a lot of work just to find some common ground. And if the common ground is that each person makes up their own fantasy about what is real, how can we proceed? How can civilization survive, for that matter? 1
So, what does that look like? To stay in truth, and “not live by lies,” to quote Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn?
On a simple, daily basis, don’t say what you know to be false. Speak in support of the truth when it is denied. In small as well as large matters, build the habit of staying moored to reality. Be known as one whose word can be trusted. Live “in the light,” with no indulgence in things you would need to hide (and therefore lie about), and no confirmation of things that might not be true. Be who you are, say what you think when appropriate, and do not assent to lies.
As a current example, I hear a common hopeful theme being offered regarding the recent election: the country finally declared it is time to return to truth. Maybe so. The flow of nonsense over the past few years has been beyond belief, from
the declaration that Constitutional free speech is domestic terrorism,
to the criminal fraud of the pharmaceutical industry resulting in millions of deaths,
to the weaponization of our government’s law enforcement agencies against a political opponent,
to the burning of American cities being dismissed as “mostly peaceful protests,”
to the refusal to see Hamas’ raw evil for what it is,
to the demand that basic biology be not just ignored, but denied,
… and on it goes.
General Michael Flynn summarized the election results with a note on X: “If you’re wondering why America voted for Trump, allow me to explain.” He then proceeded to an extensive recounting of lies that have been promoted over the last few years, and have now been summarily rejected. 2
Matt Walsh also summarized the election as the people voting for a return to truth3 — “the people have had enough”, and in a speech to The American Principles Project about protecting our children4, he demonstrated that both abortion and the transgender ideology are based in complete denial of absolute truths about who we are as human beings.
Many who have been viciously ‘cancelled’ by the woke movement have testified to the freedom and happiness that come — along with some great new friendships — from finally being willing to say what is true, to stand by what they believe, and endure the attack until the mob moves on.
It’s simple, but not easy. It can be very hard. How do you do it? As Winston Marshall replied to Marissa Streit about how he put his post-cancellation life back together,
“First, love God.
Then, always speak the truth.
Play the chips where they lie.
And work as hard as you can!” 5
How important is all of this?
As Annie Crawford suggested in that podcast, we need to stand as Gandalf did, facing the Balrog. The world’s battle against the growing darkness depended on that moment, and Gandalf said, “You cannot pass.” We need to do the same.
For Christians, the answer runs deeper.
The Christian understands truth to be a person, Jesus himself, and has found that he is immediately present and personally knowable. That is, we can know him, here and now, as well as know about him historically. In the sacrifice of his crucifixion he destroyed the barriers between God and man, opening the way for all who will receive him to enter into a personal relationship with God. The resurrection was the proof of his victory, and the subsequent infilling beginning at Pentecost enables all who accept him to know him directly.
This opening of the way “for all” is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham to give him a family beyond measure.
So the foundational answer is that Truth Himself has come on stage, introduced himself, shown his character and power, and demonstrated what God’s unrelenting, self-sacrificing love looks like in action.
The Christian who chooses to stand in the truth immediately runs into the difficulties Jesus predicted he would, because the world much prefers its own fantasies to the absolute truth that God puts on the table. As C.S. Lewis commented, “Unless we return to the crude and nursery-like belief in objective values, we perish.” Much of the world would prefer to die in the process of trying any other approach, rather than return to objective truth — that is, truth as the Creator defines it.
The only Truth that effectively addresses the evil in the world is the One who took the battle to the cross. Those who wish to participate in the healing of the world are invited to follow Him; but it requires giving up doing it “man’s way,” by brute force, and doing it God’s way, by self-sacrificing love. It requires participating in the unfolding of the Kingdom of God as Jesus leads that ongoing process. N.T. Wright’s book “The Day the Revolution Began”unpacks this subject well.
To summarize, living in truth requires continually refusing to participate in the lies and fantasies around us, and staying grounded in reality. That includes setting aside our own self-deceptions, the things we cling to that we wish were true. It requires holding our opinions and decisions with an open hand, realizing that “in many counselors there is safety” and that to refuse to consider differing inputs is dangerous. We cannot be among those who say, “I may not always be right, but I’m always sure!”
PS - If you are tempted to give yourself to an ideology by which you hope to save the world, you must give it up. Ideology always turns into tyranny over those who disagree, and may wreck the lives of those you recruit to join you in your idolatry. Give yourself to the God who loves both you and them; life is too short, and your life is too important, to waste time on dead-end Utopian fantasies.
Godspeed, as they say!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-c-s-lewis-option-for-renewing-christendom/id1452933071?i=1000648739191
https://x.com/GenFlynn/status/1855580973028540483
https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1480
https://www.dailywire.com/episode/matt-walsh-s-most-defining-speech-yet
https://www.prageru.com/video/how-winston-marshall-of-mumford-and-sons-broke-free-from-the-industry