Sunday, July 3, 2011

Does the truth about God matter?

Hmm. . . good question. Let's explore that, starting with the notion of truth as something objective and not just personal. . . .

You go into a store, and give the clerk a twenty for an item that costs five dollars. You are expecting fifteen in change. The clerk gives you, instead, one dollar, and insists that, according to her truth, it is correct change. Does that matter to you?

You're at a dealership and while on the lot you negotiate the price of a car. The salesman invites you into his office to close the deal, and when he writes up the sales agreement, the price is double what he agreed to while standing on the lot. Does it matter to you?

You're a single mom, and you manage to land a job that won't require you to work weekends, so you can be home with your small school-age children. After the first week, you check the schedule, and your boss has you working next Saturday and Sunday. Does it matter to you? What will be your response when your boss says, "Well, that agreement you referred to? That's your truth. My truth is posted on the schedule."

You're fueling a Boeing 767. You calculate the required fuel in kilograms. The ground crew takes your figure, and calculates their fuel transfer in pounds (without a conversion factor). Does the truth that one kilogram weighs approximately 2.2 pounds matter? [You can read about the crash landing of Air Canada flight 143 here].

You're planning an unmanned Mars Mission. One mission team uses English units to calculate the propulsion required for trajectory correction maneuvering; the other team uses metric units. Does it matter? [You can read about the loss of the $328,000,000 mission here.]

"Wait just one minute, Chris! Your examples are about physical constants, conversion factors, verbal promises about which we can be certain. You can not just extrapolate that firm nature of truth to the spiritual world!"

Oh, really? Why not?

"Well, because spiritual truth is different! Everyone has their own spiritual truth. There's no single true truth that's true for everyone!"

I see. And, how exactly do you know that? On what grounds do you believe that the truth which bounds the spiritual world is any less certain, settled, objective, or knowable than that which bounds the material world? What gives you such certainty that spiritual truth is . . . uncertainAfter all, the concrete realities of the physical world would lead us to expect a similar state of affairs for the unseen, spiritual world.

In fact, some philosophers of science argue that it was precisely the Western belief that, because a real, rational, personal Creator ordained consistent, orderly, laws of nature, these laws may therefore be investigated and discovered by the real, rational, personal minds which He created. This orderly view of the Cosmos (as opposed to animistic, chaotic, and somewhat arbitrary Eastern views of reality) is precisely what made scientific investigation of the natural world not only worthwhile, but pregnant with success. It was this Judeo-Christian worldview which led to centuries of Western domination in science.

If we can agree for a moment, for the purpose of discussion, that certain and knowable spiritual truth does in fact exist, then it follows that knowing God truly is not only important, but vital.

For example, suppose you are on the phone, telling an old high-school classmate you haven't seen in years about the woman you married, and you happen to mention (seriously) that she weighs 200 pounds. Do you think that mischaracterization is going to matter to your 95 lb wife?

Or, talking to the same individual, suppose you tell him that you have a wonderful son who is going to pursue a degree in medicine just as soon as he gets out of jail for drug-dealing. Would such a characterization matter to your son, if (a) he's never been in jail, (b) he's never dealt in drugs, (c) he vomits at the sight of blood, and (d) his real interest is computer science?

If we assume, for the purpose of discussion, that God actually does exist, and that spiritual truth is certain and knowable, then don't you think it would matter to this real Being if what you believe and say about Him is accurate? Does saying true things about God matter?

As a matter of fact, the Bible indicates that it does matter, and matters very much to God. The book of Job ends with God admonishing Job's three friends to offer a burnt offering and to go to Job so that he might pray for them. Why? Because, God says, 
". . . I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has" (Job 42:8).

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul makes a very dogmatic statement about getting the gospel right (the gospel is God's plan to deliver men from the judgment for their sins): "As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:9, NASB).

Yep. Truth about God matters. And He has told us all about Himself in the Bible. Better get it right.

1 comment:

  1. In this world of non-judgmental "Christians" and the false belief that if someone "claims" Christ then no one else can question the validity of that claim, Truth has been muddled to the point of being unrecognizable to most. So when Truth is proclaimed, it is as a foreigner to a strange land.
    Those that know Truth and understand the consequences of denying it MUST stand upon that Truth. Must confront the false teachings and even our "brothers and sisters" in Christ who know not that truth. For if WE do not, who shall? Shall we not confront evil when it is proclaimed in the name of Christ?
    Truth IS a gift from God. Let us proclaim it from the roof tops!

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