"They will buy the truth." And there is a hush. And then there is a roar. And Faithful is tortured and burnt at the stake. And Christian is beaten and released—for the insanity of desiring the objectivity of truth.
Scripture Focus: John 15:18-19; John 14:6; Romans 1:18-25
"If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you."
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness."
The world hates the truth.
Jesus says in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Me." Truth by very definition is exclusive. You cannot have two things that disagree with each other and both of them be true. And He says, "No man comes to the Father except through Me."
And yet we live in a world where the only absolute is that there is no absolute truth. Truth is automatically interpreted to be hateful and bigoted. Conviction is seen as intolerance.
Romans 1:18 says, "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." Men take truth—like a coiled spring—and try to shove it down. This is why Oprah says, "Speak your truth." Because the objectivity of truth has been eliminated in the world in which we live.
And God says, "Since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power, divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made. So they are without excuse." Everyone knows there is a God. The most staunch atheist, Robert Jastrow at NASA's Goddard Institute, said, "The more I try to disprove His existence, the more I realize I'm painting myself into a corner."
The truth is authoritative. It's binding. And this is the most timeless war in history—a war waged against the truth. The first question asked in all of human history was a question that cast suspicion on the clarity of God's truth: "Did God really say?"
In Pilgrim's Progress, Christian and Faithful walk through Vanity Fair—the symbol of all the world's pleasures. Their speech is different. Their dress is different. Their manner is different. They stand out like a sore thumb. The citizens press them: "What will you buy? Do business with us." And Christian and Faithful respond: "We will buy the truth." And the town erupts. Faithful is burned at the stake.
Do you know why so many churches don't teach the Bible? Because Jesus says, "My words are offensive." I want to qualify this—the gospel is already offensive. I don't want to be a jerk while communicating offensive substance. I want to do so with love, with tears in my eyes, with a heart of compassion. But you don't need to make the truth of Jesus offensive. It already is.
The world hates truth because truth is authoritative. And if you eliminate truth, you can live however you want to live.
1. Are you compromising the truth in order to avoid opposition—or are you faithfully proclaiming it with gentleness and respect?
2. When you encounter the world's hostility toward biblical truth, does it surprise you or steady you?
3. What is one truth you've been tempted to soften or not say—and what would it look like to say it with both love and clarity?
Stay dialed in
