Apologetics & Authority, or, truths vs. Truth

i am currently undergoing the strange contortion that i'm sure all alumni of an institution of higher learning undergo in the months following their graduation. i read my news streams and hear chatter and get grapevine-fed tidbits of school starting up, the class schedule gauntlets and the excitement of being on campus. and i'm not part of it; this is the first season in 16 years that i won't be going to school.

it's a bittersweet feeling.

i loved school. not just witt, but every level of it: k through 12. it was always a journey--let's discover something, let's get to the heart of a matter. let's learn something worthwhile, and perhaps we'll even contribute to the world around us in the process.

in school (and in much of life i suppose), there is a nice little safety net we all cling to when we find it. i can't pinpoint exactly where it starts, but sooner or later every student realizes the power of rhetoric and apologetics: i can say, believe or do whatever i want as long as i provide a convincing argument. it's the haunting allure of that equalizing field: it's my opinion. it's how i see things. as long as i can back it up with something, i'm in the clear. good to go.

everything is true. live and let live.

but what about the time-tested observation that those who don't stand for something will fall for anything? am i imagining a parallel there?

~

i recently took a weekend trip to philadelphia where i got to attend church services as the mt. airy church of christ. a quaint storefront shop and a welcoming crowd made for an enjoyable morning--nothing fancy, genuine. the preacher, James Baker, made several good points; but none of his statements stand out as much as this: in order to silence a Christian, all their debate counterpart would need is to discredit scripture.

just discredit the book.

as a Christian, this book of God's divine inspiration ought to be my final source of wisdom, advice and guidance. such an absolute stance can be daunting by worldly standards, especially when interacting with other people. whether they're 100 miles or fractions of millimeters from my own beliefs or lifestyle, i try to love people the best ways i know how. i look for God's handiwork in their lives, and i always find it. but i also can't ignore their sin--my sin--everyone's Sin. i hate the pervasive corruption we all fall prey to at some point in some form.

here's the rub: each person, myself included, is inclined to construct their own argument for the way things come out and how they live, their versions of how to "do life" best: it's free choice. it's my will. it's my life.

it's my truth.

the simplified issue is this: as a follower of Jesus, i proclaim God's word as truth. that means whatever opposes or strays from God's word is, yes, wrong.

i can be wrong.
you can be wrong.
but God's word cannot be wrong.

and that black-and-white approach doesn't jive at all with today's think-what-you-want, do-what-you-want, everybody-can-be-a-little-right mentality. after all, why can't everybody get a ribbon in the truth competition?

the unpopular reality is this: when i uphold God's living and active word as capital "T" Truth, i imply someone else is wrong. i'm not attacking individuality here. i'm just wondering out loud: by what sort of standard does any given person measure his or her life?

in other terms:
multiple truths = no Truth

i will be the first to admit that i need more boldness in this area of my walk with the Lord, but a Christian needs to stand unwaveringly to biblical teaching. the Bible is exhibit a. our only evidence in the realm of apologetics on life. if the world can truly discredit my God's word, then i lay down my arms and submit defeat, admitting that what i believe as Truth is just another truth.

but God's word, His law and the scriptures, must be discredited first.

until then, i trod forward by what i read in the Bible: "all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (II Timothy 3:16). this book ought to be my morning cup of coffee, my late night phone call, my psychiatrist's couch, my agenda and balance sheet. God's using the realm of symbols and paper and translations and semantics to impart His love, grace and will into my life. who am i to not listen?

so what else does exhibit a got going for it? well, it didn't come from just any given earthly world view--Paul explains this to Timothy when he says, "for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (II Peter 1:21). yes, real dudes wrote the Bible. they were caught up in their own lives and their own messes. yet isn't it uncanny how scripture reverberates and echoes itself, amplifying and reasserting again and again the themes of God's character and the gospel of His call to obedience as a beloved child? that's the Holy Spirit for you: a presiding editor to every writer's pen as they constructed the earliest versions of scripture.

no wonder that God's words are "living and active," then; i read the words or share them with a friend of any given background, and we get right to the heart of our deepest-held secrets, those elements of Truth we all try to hide behind our truths. scripture "discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).

you must admit, that's scary as all get-out. every day we craft little truths for ourselves to make our egos as comfortable as possible. "it's completely natural to have these thoughts." "i'm sure God doesn't care about such and such." "i can make it on my own."

but a rational argument for any sort of Truth doesn't hold up to "well, that's just how i see things." and therein lies the beauty of living life by the Lord's word: while the world advertises a self-authority, our authority as Christians is based in something outside ourselves. something everyone can experience, something everyone can read through and live by and reflect on. they aren't my arguments, they're God's (John 16:13). you don't disagree with me necessarily, you disagree with my argument which is founded in God's holy word (I Thessalonians 4:8).

Paul sums it up nicely: "and we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place... knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, by men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (II Peter 1: 19-21).

a person's truth comes from within himself or herself. but Truth comes from God, and that Truth never changes. God doesn't change (Malachi 3:6), and He never will (Hebrews 13:8). no wonder it's hard to knock exhibit a down.

"just discredit the Book."

the stickiness that comes with exhibit a lies in projection reading, or rather, reading what you want to out of God's word. instead of wrestling and assessing and working towards change in one's life, it's so much easier to twist God's language, take it out of context or misinterpret/skew the words until the Truth looks much like one's own subjective truth.

we continually face this temptation: to make the gospel of Christ a gospel that suits our needs, circumstances and conveniences. Paul warns the Galatians about any "different gospel" that detracts from what God is actually saying, "not that there is another [gospel of Truth], but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ" (Galatians 1: 7). we've got one source, one piece of evidence for our apologetics and authority on life, but there sure is a lot of commentary and appendices that tend to surface.

i'll be the first to admit that i have been stirred and inspired to deepen my faith from some of this commentary: C.S. Lewis, A.W. Tozer, John Piper and a handful of other authors come to mind. but if i start relying on these as my primary sources, i run the risk of drifting farther from God's intended word. i could encourage anyone to read "Christian" literature, but it better be done with exhibit a open right alongside for the final say on any matter that may arise, lest we start seeing the Truth contorted and blurred (2 Peter 2:2; 3:16). this is the womb of "christianese" coming out of cultural christianity, which seeks to make God relevant to specific generations and demographics by "polishing off the edges" of the gospel to be more "presentable."

as if He and His word weren't, by nature, relevant already.

my thoughts now focus on being more like Christ in regard to His Father's word: when we face decisions big and small in our daily lives (what to wear, how to speak, what we do with our time), we ought to mimic the Lord (I John 2:5-6) and let our Creator's will direct our steps, our lunges, our hobbles, our crawling, our skips and our trudging. Jesus faces terrible temptation, and his only weapon is the will and word of God (Luke 4:1-13). what a powerful example to follow and imitate.

may we never settle for a man-made truth but continually seek God's Truth in our lives.