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Do the Gospels misquote Deuteronomy?

/ sweetpeacardco

Someone recently asked me the astute question, “Why does Deuteronomy seem to differ with the Synoptic[1] Gospel accounts of the first part of the Great Commandment? What does it all mean? How are humans made up? (well, that might be the occasion of another blog post).

Let’s do some Bible digging to answer these questions. First, compare the three Synoptic accounts of Jesus quoting Deuteronomy below.

*All quotes are taken from the ESV.

Deuteronomy 6:4–5 (the Shema,[2] 1st half) Matthew 22:37

(1st half of the GC)

 Mark 12:29–30 Luke 10:27a
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.[3] You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might…. (The first and greatest commandment): You shall love the Lord[4] your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. The most important [commandment] is, ‘Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind…
Some copies of the LXX[5] include “mind.” Mind instead of might. Matthew leaves out the opening of the Shema. Mark includes “might” in the form of its synonym “strength” used in the LXX but inserts “mind” before it.

Mark includes the opening of the Shema.

 Luke, like Mark, includes mind but unlike Mark has mind last after strength (syn. of might used in the LXX). Luke does not quote the opening of the Shema.

Let’s begin by quickly looking at Deuteronomy. Two things immerge from this. The first is the exclusive relationship the Israelites were to have with the LORD. Verse 4 is not referring to monotheism or the internal nature of God (while those are true), but rather that the Israelites were to worship the LORD alone, unlike the Canaanites who worshipped many different gods (c.f. Dt 4 and Dt 5:7). It is also a statement of devotion. “All,” and the various descriptors that capture aspects of our wholeness, is used to underscore the demand of exclusivity and entire devotion to Him.

What about the Synoptic Gospels? How do the Gospels quote Deuteronomy and what do they mean? First, we must remember the Gospels are not like a modern biography or history, whilst they are faithfully given, involve facts and realities, and have been given by the Lord (and so are completely trustworthy) so we might know Jesus, believe in and follow Him, they are real people’s eyewitness accounts of Jesus’s life and they are seeking to make (primarily) theological truth claims (rooted in real events). The analogy of witnesses at the scene of an accident is often helpfully given. All truthful witnesses will essentially agree on what they saw, even if their accounts differ slightly. Similarly, the Synoptics are in essential agreement on this saying.[6] Where they differ is in the wording from Dt 6:5. Firstly, we must remember they are not primarily referring to “rigid compartments of human existence” but rather together refer to the whole person. That is not to say that they don’t speak to questions of metaphysics,[7] just that their main point is to highlight total devotion as in Deuteronomy. Because Greeks (Gentiles) did not have the same view of the whole person as Hebrews (who saw the mind as part of the heart), the use of mind was probably a way to translate one Hebrew word into two Greek words to relate to non-Jews. Matthew’s use of mind instead of might or strength is, however, interesting. He appears to be following an OT version that had an additional word. Alternatively, he may have alluded to the power of the mind as a synonym for personal moral strength or the strength of the will?

In a nutshell though, the Synoptic Gospel writers are recalling Jesus capturing the essence of the first and greatest moral principle of the universe expressed in Deuteronomy—to be exclusively or entirely devoted to the Lord—to flee idolatry in all its forms and to be completely devoted to the Lord with the entirety of our being.

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

[1] A term used to refer to three of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) because they share many qualities that make them distinct from John. It literally means “seeing together” indicating they all share the same general summary and can be easily lined up together.

[2] The Shema is repeated twice daily by observant Jews. Shema means “hear.” It is taken from the opening word of the verse.

[3] The Hebrew is ambiguous. The ESV team has given the most plausible option but others (given in most Bible footnotes) include: The LORD our God is one LORD; or The LORD is our God, the LORD is one; or The Lord is our God, the LORD alone.

[4] Because the Greek word for “lord” is kurios and not YAHWEH like in Hebrew, the OT convention of LORD is not used.

[5] The Septuagint or the Greek version of the Old Testament. In Greek or Roman numerals it litterally means 70 for the seventy scholars who translated it.

[6] Context is different for in Matthew it is Jesus who says this, Mark a scribe and Luke a lawyer.

[7] Here used to mean, how we are made up. I.e. mind, body, soul [and spirit]. What about the will and affections [emotions]?

Half-way evangelism

/ sweetpeacardco

I recently played host to some family member tourists from Canada. As part of the usual trail of places we took them too, it included some historic churches, cathedrals and abbeys. Often people treat these religious sites as merely sites of historic and architectural interest, no different from a National Trust Property or museum. So, I always value it when the community that represents the building has hourly prayers and asks people to pause to remember it is a Christian place of worship, or when they put up panels explaining the essence of who Jesus is and what Christianity is about.

If you had to write such a panel or explain this to a friend what would you say? Perhaps you might try writing something down yourself, looking up a couple Bible verses to include, it would be a helpful exercise to prepare you for evangelism.

Sadly, some of these panels or leaflets, while beginning with good intentions, end up being a form of half-way evangelism. Consider the following example I came across. There is lots a Christian could say “amen” to, but also much that remains to be said and a few questionable statements. Have a scan to see what you think:

leaflet

Your thoughts?

Allow me to share mine…

1st Paragraph: Amen and amen!

2nd Paragraph: This begins well but in the list of extraordinary things the main reason he came (to defeat sin and death) is not mentioned? The last sentence is also somewhat fuzzy, not necessarily wrong just a bit fuzzy. Perhaps something better would have been to say, “He lived the perfect life we cannot live to show us what it means to live uprightly before God and others” or something to that effect.

3rd Paragraph:

  • 1st sentence: yes
  • 2nd sentence: add…”and for who He claimed to be”
  • 3rd sentence: somewhat vague and universalist (meaning because He died we are all okay without personal faith in Him). How about, “But through His life and death He knew he would atone for the sins of all who would believe in Him, reconciling them to God.” (1 Jn 2:2, 2 Cor 5:18)
  • 4th and 5th sentences: hurray, back on track. Amen!
  • Last sentence: fine

4th Paragraph:

  • 1st sentence: “…are Christians” should read “claim to be Christians” for many who identify as Christian are only nominally so (Mt 7:21). Perhaps they were trying to point to the giant wake Jesus left behind Him as a tool to encourage others to think about following Him?
  • 2nd sentence: Wait a minute! How about, “Through Jesus death and life changing and life giving gift of the Holy Spirit believers are given life to the full, starting now and for eternity.” (John 10:10)
  • 3rd sentence: great

We certainly do not want to be automatically confrontational when we encounter such leaflets (remembering 1 Pet 3:15b), however, we do need to be zealous for truth (Jude 3) and as we are we will be sharpened in our knowledge of Jesus and His Gospel, help others to be so, and together more able to effectively spot error and proclaim with purity the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

Proverbs 14:34

/ sweetpeacardco

British Flag Button with Great Britain Text 3D IllustrationRighteousness exults a nation but sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 14:34

June will see our nation go to the polls again. In the meantime each party is casting their vision of what is necessary to either make Britain great again, or make it greater still. Tragically no party espouses the truth of the above proverb, that the key to true national greatness (exultation=lifting up, to raise) lies not in politicking but in fearing the Lord and Gospel transformation. The three crosses on our flag (do you know what they are?) make our flag the most Christ exulting flag in the world—incredible isn’t it! Indeed in generations past, our national greatness arguably flowed from being a nation that championed evangelical Christianity. Providentially England was sparred at the time of the Spanish Armada, Britain was spared invasion by Napoleon and then Germany (twice!). Despite this favour and heritage the bulk of society has turned its back on the Lord their flag proclaims, content not to pursue righteousness but to foolishly believe that sin upon sin will be sufficient to exult the nation when in actual fact it is a massive reproach (a disgrace, blot or stain) upon our land. As sin is the root of every issue, the greatest issue facing Britain today is not Brexit, the NHS, the state of the Union, the economy, environment or the poor (as important as these are), but godlessness and sin. So as Christians let’s do the most patriotic thing we can do this election month and tell people about Jesus. He is the only future hope our nation has of greatness.

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

Are there different ranks of Christians?

/ sweetpeacardco

This question was asked of me by a boy who heard a Christian leader infer that they were a better or higher ranked Christian than so and so. It is a very good question and I’ll attempt to answer it straightforwardly.

Short answer, NO!

Medium answer, read on…

This has been a common misconception amongst Christians for ages. Consider how the following three groups each opt into this view:

Roman Catholicism: There is the laity, deacons, priests, bishops, etc. Priests for example are believed to actually change (ontologically) when they become a priest as a higher level of holiness is required to handle the sacraments (like communion). This is not to mention the canonisation of people as saints and RC’s worship of them.

Pentecostal/Charismatic Movement: There are unbelievers, Christians (those who have been forgiven of their sin by believing the Gospel), and then super-Christians (those baptized by the Holy Spirit as a separate event subsequent to salvation, usually evidenced by speaking in tongues).

Works/Legalism: There are those who believe Christians are saved by works. Even many legalists, who think they believe the gospel but deny it by living as if it is in obedience to the Law that we are saved (the Law is good and points us to our duty but it cannot save).

Popularity/ Skill: Some buy into our cultural viewpoint that if you are a popular Christian, have published lots of books, or have incredible skills, that makes you a better Christian.

These perspectives are all wrong. Listen to what Jesus said to His disciples:

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingomd of heaven?” And calling a child, He put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 18:1–4).

Jesus was not saying all children are automatically innocent (their first word is often “no!”). He was saying they are a prime example of being dependent upon another (their parents). What is required of someone to become great in the Lord’s eyes is to humble themselves and trust/believe/follow Jesus. Because salvation is of grace (Eph 2) and from start to finish it is rooted in faith (Ro 1:17) all Christians are equal in value before the Lord. Though some receive more gifts and high callings and authority (1 Cor 12:11) and some might be more mature in the faith (further along in the process of sanctification), they are all nonetheless equal in the strictest sense for all of this is of grace. The attitude of more mature Christians should never be to “pull rank” or boast as the disciples did but to have the spirit of Christ, which is humility. Humility is the true mark of a maturing Christian.

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

How endorsing homosexuality crosses the Rubicon

/ sweetpeacardco

I would much rather write today about the wonders of authentic Christian faith but in the day and age in which we are living in often find it necessary to equip us against the tossing seas of error that threaten the truth (Jude 1:3).

Since homosexual marriage was legalised in the UK in 2013 many in the church have entered into great discussion on the subject, jostling between the direction culture is heading and what the Bible says (don’t be conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind [Ro 12:2]). Trying to make the church relevant by giving into culture in certain matters will only make it less potent and relevant. Given that I am from Canada, the fourth western nation (after the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain) to make such unions legal in 2005, I have had even more time to reflect on the subject and write today to briefly demonstrate how endorsing homosexuality as a church or Christian crosses the Rubicon.

Firstly, what is the Rubicon? It is a figure of speech, quite similar to the phrase “past the point of no return.” It refers to a river in north-eastern Italy that the general Julius Caesar crossed heading south in 49 B.C. The significance? It was illegal under Roman law for a legion to enter Italy and by crossing he effectively declared war on the Senate and eventually brought about the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire. Caesar was intentionally doing something that he knew would have far reaching consequences that could not be [easily] undone. In a nutshell to cross the Rubicon means “to commit oneself irrevocably to a risky or revolutionary course of action.” Endorsing homosexuality is a departure from the “faith once for all delivered to the saints.”

History_Ask_History_Crossing_the_Rubicon_SF_HD_1104x622-16x9

How does endorsing homosexuality cross the Rubicon in ways which other authentic Christians may disagree yet still enjoy varying degrees of fellowship and cooperation? Many Christians disagree over the place of women in ministry, the subject and mode of Baptism, predestination, forms of church government, pacifism/ just war, and divorce.

The answer to the above question is that those are all secondary issues, which whilst very important (and an improper view will produce negative effects on personal and corporate Christian life), are not primary issues. Divorce is an interesting comparison to homosexuality. The reason why it does not cross the Rubicon is because while condemning divorce the Bible does make some exceptions, unlike homosexuality. The greater the theological agreement between Christians the greater the level of missional cooperation (Amos 3:3) and this begins with primary theological matters related to the Gospel (what it means to be saved and know and please God through Jesus Christ). The issue of homosexuality crosses at least three primary lines of Christian beliefs: Scripture, the Gospel, and sexuality.

Rejects the doctrine of Scripture

Central to the Christian faith is that the Lord has spoken light into our darkness by revealing Himself in the Bible. While we must remember context when studying the Bible (literary, theological, historical) the book in question is no ordinary human book but “sacred writings” inspired by God, because “All Scripture is inspired by God and useful…” (2 Tim 3:15­–16) and “every word of God proves true” (Prov 30:5).

Therefore Scripture is trustworthy, authoritative and sufficient. Because God is “the same yesterday, today and forever,” (Mal 3:6, Heb 13:8) the truths He has spoken to us remain the same today just as they were 2000 years ago, from eternity past, and into eternity future. If the Bible is from God we listen and obey, if it isn’t we can do what we want, but that is not Christianity.

The problem with endorsing homosexuality is it forces one to crop out significant portions of Scripture as uninspired (under the guise they are culturally bound texts) such as Gen 19; Lev 18:22, 20:10–16; Rom 1:23-27; 1 Cor 6:9; 1 Tim 1:10; Jude 7. The problem is that not only is the cultural argument untenable, but that in dismissing these passages one dismisses a consistent teaching of the Bible that is intricately interrelated to other key texts and teachings of the Bible. To affirm homosexuality is to dismiss Scripture, including Gospel passages.

Rejects the Gospel

The Gospel message begins with the bad news of sin and ends with the good news of forgiveness from sin through faith in Jesus Christ and [eternal] life in His name. To reject homosexuality as sin is also to reject the Gospel. In 1 Cor 6 (cited above) verse 11 reminds the Corinthian believers that “such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” When we know we fall short of God’s perfect standard (Mt 5:48) and that faith in Jesus offers us not only forgiveness but the power to change, that is good news in light of our present circumstances. Homosexuality, similar to other sins, separates us from God. The good news is that—whatever our sin(s) or past— we can be restored to God through faith and repentance in Christ and transformed by His Spirit into new creations (2 Cor 5:17). If sin is not sin and the Gospel does not have the power to change it is not a message of good news.

Rejects God’s design for marriage, sexuality and gender

To endorse homosexuality is not simply a different Christian view on human sexuality, it is an entirely different worldview. All Christian teaching on marriage, sexuality and gender (including Jesus and Paul) trace their roots to Gen 1:26–28 and 2:22–24. This is further filtered through the lens of God’s moral standard in the Law such that when in the NT Jesus and Paul quote Genesis and the Law they are showing continuity and agreement with God’s original design consistent throughout Scripture. When Jesus warns the “sexually immoral” that includes homosexuality because it is a stock phrase used by Jesus to refer to the moral standard for sexuality expressed in the Law.

People can dismiss what the Bible clearly teaches on the subject, they are free in matters of conscience to do that, however, it is misguided to say the Biblical worldview for marriage, sexuality and gender is in anyway compatible with those views that endorse homosexuality.

Many objections have and will be made to similar lines of thought as those presented here. I would refer such people to 2 Tim 4:1–5. If we degrade Christ (His Word, Gospel and designs), He will surely degrade us. Recent studies show that generally those churches that remain true to orthodox Christian teachings (such as marriage and sexuality) grow, whilst those who go ahead of such teachings (2 John 1:9) are in general state of decline. Unlike many divisive issues within the church in the past this issue is a Rubicon that will separate the wheat from the chaff. Many churches and individuals have already or are considering crossing the Rubicon. To the former I would exhort you with the aforementioned words, to the latter I would say the following. While Caesar crossed the point of no return, whilst endorsing homosexuality does depart from orthodox Christianity, unlike the Rubicon, through repentance in Jesus Christ, a turning back to Him, restoration is graciously possible.

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

The Excellency of Jesus Christ

/ sweetpeacardco

easter-2017

I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.

(Philippians 3:8 KJV)

I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. (Philippians 3:8 ESV)

Can you say this statement along with the apostle Paul? Above all things is Jesus your all in all, your delight? Various Bible versions translate a word from Philippians as either “excellence” or “surpassing worthy.” In this instance I appreciate the way the KJV puts it—excellency. Alluding to a story in the OT (Nu 21:9) Jesus said of himself, “the Son of Man must be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.” (Jn 3:14–15). To “lift up” means to exult or to magnify. Jesus said this about His being lifted up on a cross for the salvation of sinners, it can also apply more generally to His name being highly esteemed. Does your soul delight when you hear His name? This Easter we are going to be looking at the excellency of Jesus in his life, death, resurrection, ascension and return. Why? So disciples of Jesus may marvel at the excellency of their Lord and so non-Christians might come to behold his surpassing worth, believe and so call Him, “my Lord.”

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

A Letter from a Friend

/ sweetpeacardco
Some of you may remember that we prayed for a brother in Christ in Canada recently who was very ill. The Lord saw him through that illness and he wanted to express his thanks to us for our prayer support and offer some lessons and encouragements from his experience:
Hello to my brothers and sisters in Christ!
 
My name is Shawn Robinson.  I’m a good friend of your pastor and he was telling me just the other day that many of you were praying for me over the last little while.  I wanted to write to you and thank you as well as share with you a little of what God has taught me over this time.
 
Back in January, right at the end of the month, we had the privilege of invited a large group of Muslims to our church on a Sunday evening for a dinner and we were able to share the gospel with them clearly in Arabic.  It was a great privilege for us as we had more people out to that evening than we would typically have to a Sunday morning service!  Unfortunately, I had just started developing some pain in my left eye and two days later was diagnosed with Shingles in the eye and up the scalp.  It was hard to minister to those visiting and heading the gospel due to the pain and discomfort, but as Paul wrote, “Power is perfected in weakness.”  The morning after being diagnosed with Shingles, I passed out just after breakfast, stopped breathing and had a seizure, all in front of my wife and two young sons.
 
By the weekend, I was diagnosed with encephalitis which can cause death or serious brain damage.  It is amazing to me how the Lord cares for us through all of this.  I can see the hand of our great God in protecting me through the seizure—without which the encephalitis may not have been caught.
 
Prior to all this, ministry had been going wonderful with incredible opportunities for the gospel.  I was being very disciplined in my time and focus.  My health was good and I was feeling great!  But within days of “feeling great” I was in isolation in a hospital bed.  One of the beautiful things the Lord taught me through this is that my health and my life are entirely out of my control.  I do not choose how my days will progress or even if I will live to see tomorrow, this is in the hands of God.  There is great peace in knowing that a loving, good God is in control of our health and strength.  His goodness and greatness means we can trust Him with our lives!
 
As I lay in the hospital, one of the struggles I faced was the thought of possibly passing away and leaving my wife and two sons without a husband and father.  This was a painful thought for me as I imagined my children and their grief and my wife struggling forward.  As I brought this before the Lord, He taught me that not only can I trust Him with my own life, but I can trust Him with my family.  If He chose to take me from them or to leave me with serious brain damage and unable to love and care for my family as I wish to, I can trust the Lord with them.  He knows what is needed and He knows my family.  God is good and can be trusted in all areas of life!
 
Thank you all for your prayers.  It means more than I can express.  I know we have not met, but I also know we are planning on spending a lot of time together in eternity so if the Lord does not cause our paths to cross now, we can maybe catch up then!
 
God bless you all and thank you again for your love and concern for me, my family and my church.
 
Shawn Robinson
Truth Community Church
Thamesford, ON

Did humans have a conscience before the Fall?

/ sweetpeacardco

They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.

(Romans 2:15).

A number of weeks ago this question came up at Bible study. The conscience also surfaced in a recent sermon. I thought I’d give my best answer to this question, recognizing it is a question and not an absolute of the faith and with the recognition that whether it is correct or not we all have a conscience now!

I answer the question in the affirmative, yes Adam and Eve had a conscience, even before the Fall.

Having a conscience was an integral part of being created in God’s image (Gen 1:27), to have God’s law written on their hearts. Conscience is a broader evaluative instinct than good and evil and includes differentiating between useful/worthless, helpful/unhelpful, true/false, good/bad. Adam and Eve clearly had a factual knowledge of right and wrong before the Fall for Gen 2:16–17 tells us:

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

 That they possessed a factual knowledge of right and wrong is the only thing that makes the serpents trickery logical (for tricking involves making someone believe that what is wrong is actually right). So when the serpent comes along and lies, bearing in mind that at this point our first parents had complete free will (now we only have free will to act according to our nature-sin) their consciences were likely screaming. However, Satan’s trick was to confuse them, or deceive them, such that they were willing to suppress their conscience and choose wrongly.

 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Gen 3:6)

You might be thinking at this point, “but they had not yet eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil so how could they know what evil was?” They didn’t, though they know what wrong was. We read on (Gen 3:7-8):

7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

They had a conscience before the Fall (a factual knowledge of right and wrong), yet they did not have an experiential knowledge of good and evil until after the Fall. The main difference was that before the Fall they had not known evil and therefore had a clear conscience. After the Fall—for the first time— they had a guilty conscience because they knew they were naked and were afraid to meet God.

What about Gen 3:22 then, lest “they become like us knowing good and evil.” That is best explained as God’s foreknowledge of evil.

The long and the short, I would suggest Adam and Eve had a conscience before the Fall

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

 

 

Post-truth, alternative-facts and fake news

/ sweetpeacardco

Post-truth, alternative-facts and fake news

What is truth? (John 18:38)

Those are famous words uttered by Pontius Pilate. Whether he meant them as a retort, a genuine question, or both has been debated, but his question has been echoed down through the centuries.

“What is truth?” Pilate asked Jesus as the Truth himself stood before him. Here was the man who brought truth and reality into being at creation. Here was the man who delineated the bounds of truth (morals) and told us to tell the truth because otherwise we would be acting contrary to His very nature. Here was the man who will judge all people by the truth and whether they knew the Truth at the end of time. It is a perennially good question to ask!

Truth, simply put, is “that which is in accordance with fact or reality.”

Sadly, we are living in an age that relativizes truth, pushes it to the corner, says it is in the eye of the beholder, that it is not relevant. Humanity has moved from knowing the Truth (pre-Gen 3) to a place where very often it is suppressed in favour of our version of the truth.

In 2016 Oxford Dictionary defined their word of the year as post-truth. Here “post” doesn’t mean “after” as in “post-war” but “beyond” or “irrelevant.” They define it as:

Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.

Truly, this signifies that we’ve moved from being a theonomos culture (where the law of God or the law of nature is self-evident), to where we are not even a heteronomous culture (where someone else sets the law, like a king or a dictator) but have arrived at an ever increasingly autonomous culture where each person decides what truth is for them (the irony being that as soon as they disagree with another’s version of the truth they protest and cease to be autonomous but become heteronomous wishing to impose their view militantly on the other. Hence they operate under the guise of tolerance which is really selfishness).

little-golden-bookMost recently we have seen post-truth at play in politics with the coining of another new term: “alternate facts.” This was poked fun at by countless people on social media including by this meme (or spoof) of the old children’s book series Little Golden Book, where a dog is a cat and an egg is soup. It seeks to make the point that post-truth is downright silly.

Fake news has also come into our vocabulary with trust in the mainstream media falling to 32% in the USA. Who are we to believe? Who is telling the truth? What is truth? While I believe in the freedom of speech I cannot help but see that many of those who are “crying wolf” have contributed to the epidemic. The reason why some are using “fake news” is not so much because news has been fake but because it has very often been highly biased and very often interpreted facts narrowly within one worldview (liberal). The very people who have often called evil good and good evil are now upset a similar tactic is being used against them.

It is my prayer all of this post-truth, alternate facts, and fake news nonsense will not drive people into their particular prejudices and result in ignorance but cause us to wake up and ask what is truth?

God asserts that truth is real and that it matters: “do not bear false witness” (Ex 20:16) and “abhor what is evil; cling to what is good” (Ro 12:9), and that the Bible is God’s standard of truth (Amos 7). Christianity is based on facts (Luke wrote “an orderly [eyewitness] account…that you may have certainty” about Jesus [Lk 1:3–4]). Jesus claimed to be the Truth (Jn 14:6), and that in knowing Him as the Truth would “set you free” (Jn 8:22). That upon believing in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins we would not only be reconciled to God (the greatest reality) but receive the “Spirit of Truth” who would “guide us into all truth” (Jn 16:13). This is not arrogance but a recognition that sin clouds our minds, and that when we have come to Christ and put on Christ we receive a new worldview, a new lens, a new way of looking at things.

It is my hope that as people react against post-truth it might lead them to consider the life giving truth claims of Christianity. The horrible alternate is that we truly are living in a time when people will “turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into lies” (1 Ti 4:4).

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris