Standing for the Truth

By Pastor Joe Wyrostek

2 Corinthians 13:8, “For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.” 

We live in a time like that of ancient Rome when after Pontius Pilate heard Jesus’ mission to “testify to the truth,” he retorted, “What is truth?” (John 18:37-38). Many people today have adopted a view of truth known as “relativism.” Relativism is a belief system that holds to the point of view that there is no absolute truth. When a relativist hears Christians make biblical truth claims about morality they will usually respond by saying, “Well, that may be true for you, but it’s not true for me.” The reason why they react this way is because they don’t believe truth exists; all truth is really just personal opinion.

However, what is remarkable about this erroneous view of truth is that people actually believe it, even though it is self-defeating and contradictory. For example, when the relativist states, “There is no absolute truth,” they are actually making an absolute truth claim. In other words, if there were no absolute truths, no statement could ever be absolutely true, including the one they just made! So a great response to the claim, “There is no absolute truth,” is, “Do you believe your statement, ‘There is no absolute truth’ is absolutely true?”

Another example of relativism’s contradictory nature is when they say, “Your belief may be true for you, but it’s not true for me because nothing is true for everybody.” Similar to before, this statement makes a claim that truth is always relative. But if truth is always relative, then the statement itself couldn’t be true because it is stated absolutely. You could respond, “Is the statement, ‘It’s true for you but it’s not true for everybody,’ true for everybody?”

I know dealing with people like this can be hard and even seem confusing but the only reason it feels so “mind bending” is because relativism tries to divorce truth (facts corresponding to reality) from logic (how we understand and reason within reality). If truth and logic don’t work together to form a proper understanding of reality the world is reduced to nonsense. Likewise, if something is illogical it cannot be true, and when something is true it will always be logical.

Here are three ways you can stand for truth: (1) Believe that absolute truth exists because Jesus (the Truth) exists. (2) Demonstrate that science, math, and logic discover truth because God made humans in His image to use His well-designed universe to learn more about Him. In other words, the pursuit of truth is really the pursuit to understand the mind of God. (3) Use the Bible, God’s foundation for truth, to help others understand that truth comes from God and is applicable to all areas of their lives. For example, the best scientists, doctors, politicians, workers, inventors, teachers, businessmen, and parents are those who believe in God’s truth and apply them to their daily lives.

May we all be like Paul who stated in this passage from Corinthians, today’s passage, “We cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth!”