It happens every day.
Someone tells me something and it’s just not true.
Often this comes in the form of a “robocall”…….sometimes it happens in a face to face conversation. This is so common that we are reaching the point where we treat everything that we are told with skepticism. Then, we scour the internet to find someone who tells us that we are right and the other guy is wrong.
The trouble with this is that no matter what crazy idea you believe……..in 10 minutes, you can find 10 web sites that will tell you that you are right. The result is that we become extremely confident that we are right and that the people who disagree with us are idiots. We are highly confident…………..whether we are right or wrong.
We live in a culture of untruth. Often, a well crafted lie is seen as a mark of industry. Some businesses even seek out skilled liars. Politicians are notorious for this………and we repeatedly re-elect them. In a way, we hire them for their effectiveness in selling a good lie……..a lie that serves our appetites………our lie.
The planet is not getting warmer.
An unborn child is not a human being.
And many more.
So……..what can we learn about untruth?
It turns out that untruth comes in two flavors:
The untruth told by someone who knows it is untrue…….the straight up lie.
The untruth told by a good person………who sincerely believes it………or at least has convinced himself that it has value. This is typically an untruth that serves the appetites of the one who believes it.
The first of these is common.
But, it is the second flavor of untruth that is the most dangerous. This second flavor of untruth is very common in our political conversation. The hallmark of this flavor of untruth is that it is self serving. We believe in something…….primarily because it serves our interests……whether it is true or not is a secondary consideration. In effect, we bend the truth until it conforms to our appetites.
We believe that the planet is not getting warmer because we don’t want to sacrifice our standard of living to deal with it.
We believe that an 8 week fetus is not a human being because we want access to abortion on demand.
In our modern culture, the facts……the truth…..have become subservient to our appetites. We make decisions on what to believe based first on what we want……..and only then, if ever, do we ask if it is true.
I used to think that this second flavor of untruth was not a lie. But, I have come to realize that it too…..is a lie. I used to tell my sons that the most dangerous lie that you will ever tell……….is the lie that you tell yourself. Our culture is being torn apart by people……..good people…….who have convinced themselves that an idea is valid……..not because the facts support it……not because it is true……but because it supports their appetites.
So…….the challenge this week is that we all need to take a long, hard, jaundiced look at the ideas that we hold dear……..and ask the question, “is it true?”.
We must make our appetites, our politics, our culture subservient to the truth…….not the other way around.
If you are looking for a reference point…….an anchor to the truth………the Bible is a great place to start……begin with the words of Jesus. Then…..when the Bible is in conflict with your appetites……..discard your appetites…….not the Bible.
This will not be easy. You will have to discard some things that are a big part of your identity. This may change how you see yourself………it may even change who you are. And it is going to cost you……..in the short run. It will cost you time. It will cost you money. It might even cost you a friendship or two.
But, it will be a good warm up exercise for paradise………because there will be no untruth there.
So…..you might as well start getting used to the truth now.
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
Mark Twain
“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Jesus, ESV