There is a famous saying that rings: “Truth is the first casualty of war”. This is because, during war, the truth quickly makes way for competing interests, objectives and narratives. We are increasingly finding ourselves in a culture war of ideas where truth is never the guiding light our conversations so desperately need it to be.
Objective truth belongs exclusively to Jesus since he is the source of all truth. Those who call upon him as Lord, should live their lives with that recognition. The apostle Paul says to the Ephesian church that “the truth is in Jesus” (Eph. 4:21) and as followers of Jesus, they must live in the light of that fact. The Church is where truth should be seen at its clearest because the Spirit of truth dwells amongst God’s people and the life of the church is lived out based on God’s Word. Paul sees the Church of God as a “pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).
In many churches today, sadly and tragically, we see a rapid departure from God’s truth as well as ever-increasing compromise. R.C. Sproul would encourage us at this point: “We live in an age of compromise, but if we stand on the bedrock of God’s truth, we will not bend with the winds of relativism and faithlessness”. The reason God’s truth is described as a bedrock is because of its unchanging nature and the fact that it proceeds from the one who is Himself not subject to change. On this unchanging and enduring reality, you & I can have the confidence to stand firm and unmoved in a culture whose feet are planted on quicksand.
We must be careful then how we proceed and the path we choose to take as we step into the future. Abraham Kuyper, the 20th-century statesman and theologian warns us: “One step by giving in will lead to a next step, and will not God visit us with blindness if we deliberately darken the truth He has graciously entrusted to us? How shall we justify ourselves if we permit even a little of the truth to be laid aside? Is that ours to do? When peace is injurious to the truth, peace must give way. Peace with God is of greater value than peace with men”.
As we continue to see the war of ideas increasingly confront the Church, let us not be complicit in making truth a casualty. Let us rather hold fast to God and the truth he so graciously gave us so that we can shine as lights in a very dark world.
Let us always remember: A truth compromised, is a truth lost.
Blessings
Nico