The Two Pillars

Prayer

What is Truth?

At the end of World War II, there was such public horror over the atrocities committed by the Germans, such a profound sense that what they had done was wrong and that those responsible should be punished for their crimes. They wanted it to be done in as fair and just a way as possible so after much deliberation, they set up what became known as the Nuremberg Trials.

And that’s where they ran into a dilemma - because there was no such international law against what the Germans had done. It didn’t exist. They thought about the crimes of bombing civilians - but the Allies had done the same. What about the murder of their own citizens? But if it was legal in Germany, how can you convict them in a trial? What gave you the right, as one nation, to tell another nation that their laws were immoral. In fact, most of those on trial used the defense of, “I was just following orders.” I just did what I was told to do.

So the Allies ended up having to create crimes, using terms such as “crimes against humanity” and “genocide.” But how is it fair to declare something a crime after the person has done the act (imagine the abuse governments could do!)?

All this raises bigger questions such as, what is right and wrong? What is true about morality? How do you know what’s true, on what basis can you assert that? On what basis does one nation tell another what they’re doing is wrong? In essence, What is truth?

Question that Pilate famously asks in John 18 in response to Jesus. Jesus says to Pilate, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” Notice here that Jesus is asserting there is truth - and it can be known.

Pilate famously retorts by asking, “What is truth?” Hey, buddy, how do you know what’s true? Is anything objectively true? Pilate is probably thinking about a long list of Greek philosophers and all the varied religions that existed in his day and his cynical reply is, “What is truth?” (ironically, even as he tries to establish the truth of whether or not Jesus is innocent or guilty).

This is at the heart of what we’re going to be looking at over the next 5-6 weeks as we begin our new sermon series, Tough Topics. We’re going to be tackling some hard ones: gender identity, abortion, being woke, etc.

But, how do you know? What is truth? Before we dive into the individual topics, we have to take a step back and ask the bigger question regarding what is true - and how do we know what’s true? Because our starting point, our understanding of truth is going to determine where we end up - and it helps explain why people can come to such radically different conclusions.

So, this brings us to the idea of worldview. Everyone, whether they are conscious of it or not, has a view of the world. The framework that shapes how they make sense of the world, how they determine what is true, what is right and wrong. And it’s helpful for us to be clear about our own worldview - because it’s essential we start from the correct place. I want to give you a few brief examples to flesh out what I mean by a “worldview.”

Atheistic - or more accurately, a materialistic worldview. An atheist is one who believes there is no god, no supernatural being. But the underlying worldview for most atheists is a material worldview - all that exists is the material, or physical universe (matter and energy). No god, no spirits, nothing immaterial exists. If you live consistently, that’s going to have profound implications for what you believe to be true (hard to argue for objective morality or free will on the basis of this worldview).

Many have now made the point that what we’re going to talk about next week, “wokeism”, or now more commonly referred to as DEI, (diversity, equity & inclusion) is a worldview, that it functions as a religion for many people. It frames the world, how it works, gives meaning and purpose.

Of course, every religion is worldview - an explanation of reality (how world was created, what it means to be human, what is right or wrong). That’s true for Eastern religions - Buddhism, Hinduism, New Age, Witchcraft. It’s true for Islam. And it’s true for Christianity.

And that’s what I want us to focus us on this morning - the Christian worldview. What is our understanding of “what is”? In other words, what is real and true about God (if there is a god), ourselves, world, etc. And then, what is our understanding of “why? what is the purpose of all that exists - if there even is a purpose”? This is the part that often gets neglected, but this is the basis of how we know what is right and wrong, our morals.

Two Great Pillars, the Christian Story of Reality

So those are the two very basis questions: What is? Why - what is the purpose of all that is? In order to examine these, we look to the two great pillars of Christianity, grace and truth.

John 1:14…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

These are our two great pillars - that we believe there is Truth, rooted in Jesus Christ. God is the basis of all reality. That’s our answer to the question “what is?”. And we believe in grace - or love, also found in Jesus Christ. That is our answer to the question, “why?”.

Let me explain this using one of the great passages in Bible - it is an unabashed proclamation of what is real and true, story of reality, Colossians 1:15-20...

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Before we dig into this, let me make one thing clear. When Paul quotes this, he is not expressing a personal opinion, just a private viewpoint. I say this because there’s been a shift in modern day thinking - which is that there is certain knowledge that is considered factual, truth - true for everyone. That’s limited to science, to things we can materially test and observe. But other things, such as values and religious beliefs, are considered purely personal opinions, subjective truth - true for me. We often fail prey to that sort of thinking.

But Paul is making a proclamation that this is simply true - for everyone. It is The Truth. The story of reality. There is no such thing as “true for me” or “my truth” - there is only truth. And it begins in God himself. In Jesus.

Anytime you make a truth claim - it automatically says that anything that contradicts this is not true. Which means every other worldview - though there may be shades of truth in each of them, they are fundamentally not true. They are wrong. So materialism and wokeism and Buddhism and Islam are not true explanations of what is real.

Some might say that’s arrogant, to make such a claim. They would say, “You can’t know the truth.” But think about that statement for a moment. It’s a truth claim. By stating that, you’re saying that the statement, “you can’t know the truth” is true. Do you see the contradiction? What philosophers call a self-refuting claim (such as if I were to say to you, “I cannot speak.”).

So when we join with Paul and the Colossians and all other Christians in affirming this passage, we are stating what we believe to be true. This is another way to proclaim the gospel, the good news. The very abbreviated version of this truth claim is “Jesus is Lord.” That is Christian worldview, the way in which we understand what is (what is real and true) and why (what is everything for, its purpose) - which is exactly what Paul lays out here in two sections.

First three verses affirm Jesus as Creator of all. Everything created through him and - catch this, it’s a why statement - for him. Everything holds together in Jesus. He is Lord over EV-ERY-THING. Did you notice how often the words everything and all things are repeated, over and over again. How it elaborates to make claim that includes everything here on earth, in heavens, if you can see it or not, every other power or authority - anything and everything that exists.

We cannot understand the world, who we are, the universe - except by beginning with this basic truth - Jesus created all things, He is Lord over it all.

Our worldview has significant implications - ideas have consequences, and as is often said, bad ideas have victims - because you are not living in accord with what is real and true (way Jesus created it to be). Our bodies have limitations they were designed in a particular way - if you overstep those limitations, you’ll pay the price! Gravity is part of the reality of our universe, way God designed - if you think you can step off a building, denying that reality, well, we all know what will happen.

One example of how worldview has great impact - the reason science arose in Western world (and no where else) was due to Christianity and our understanding of creation. Because when you start from the understanding that an all-knowing and all-powerful God created the world, that he designed and ordered it (as we learn in Genesis), and he gave us minds to grow and learn, give us capacity of understanding. That led to the realization that by observation, by study, by experimentation, we can discover how God designed his creation - our human bodies, the galaxy, the atmosphere, etc. But you have to start with that assumption, the Christian world view.

This is the first great pillar, Truth. Everything exists because of Jesus, It is as he made it to be. Reality is God-reality.

Next three verses of Colossians affirm Jesus as Savior. The story of reality, begins with God creating the world - including us. But we turned our backs on God, we sinned., God sent his son to die on the cross for our sins, rose him to new life with the promise that he will return again to restore the whole of creation. This is the second great pillar, Grace.

In short, the story of reality, what is and why it is, as Greg Koukl describes it in his book, The Story of Reality: Creation...Man...Jesus...Cross...Resurrection.

Grace is the pillar what explains to us the why? What is all this for, our purpose? God created us to be in loving relationship with him (above everything else) and to be in loving relationship with one another. Why greatest commandments are to Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your soul and with all your strength -and to love your neighbor as yourself. That encapsulates how we are to live, our reason for being.

Which is exactly what Colossians affirms: For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (Jesus), and through him to reconcile to himself all things (to bring everything back into loving, life-giving relationship with God), whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

This is why, from Christian worldview, we know exactly why what the Germans did during World War II was so atrocious - because they did not act out of love, they wantonly destroyed life out of hatred and spite and arrogance. They broke God’s moral law. They went against what is True.

What does this mean for us? In the same way that Jesus came, full of grace and truth, we are to be people full of grace and truth (to become like Jesus).

We see this reflected throughout the Scriptures...

Romans 15:14 - I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another.

1 Corinthians 13:2 - If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

Ephesians 4:15 - Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

Our approach in this series is to do exactly that, to speak the truth in love. Grace and truth. Which means that as best as I can, as faithfully as I can, I am going to speak what I believe is truth. What Scripture teaches us about God, about who we are as human beings, what is right and wrong. I am coming unabashedly from the Christian worldview - rooted in truth that Jesus is Lord.

And my goal will be to speak that truth in love, filled with grace. Not in an attacking or condemning way, or filled with a self-righteousness, but, I hope and pray, recognizes that those we may disagree with - as all people - are created in the image of God and people Jesus loves and for whom he died.

And my hope and prayer is that we will demonstrate that towards each other - that though we may have honest disagreements, that those disagreements will not divide us, cause animosity or distrust towards one another, but rather, we would come to one another full of truth and grace.

And I want to invite you to come to this series - as always - with a heart of humility. “Teach me, Lord.” I want to know your truth. I want to be a person who loves more fully - all others.

To that end: Spiritual Disciplines - engage in soul-training exercises so that we can put into practice what Jesus is teaching us. Today, we want to become people who have learned to speak the truth in love. That like Jesus, we would be full of grace and truth.

And as you consider which exercise might be more helpful to you, it may be helpful to think where you need to grow more. Jesus always brought both perfectly together. We, however, tend to favor one over the other. As John Ortberg puts it, we tend to err in one direction or the other.

We might be more of a Graceless truth inflicter. If you tend to be blunt, highly value saying exactly what you think or feel - but as a result ending hurting others’ feelings, this may be you.

Or, maybe you lean toward being a Grace-filled truth avoider. You don’t want the conflict. You’re too concerned about hurting others’ feelings so you avoid saying hard things. It’s not worth it to stir up controversy, so you just let things go.

If you tend to be more of a graceless truth inflicter, you’ll want to consider how to grow in grace of Jesus Christ. There are a number of ways to do this, consider being intentional about putting those into practice this week: Spend time each day reflecting on “Christ crucified,” remembering and giving thanks for Jesus’ sacrificial death for you and your sin. The grace Jesus showed you. Practice speaking less and listening more - really listening, seeking to understand the person you are speaking with, where they are coming from.

If you tend to be more of a grace-filled truth avoider, you’ll want to consider practicing being a truth teller. This is me, this is where I sin, being a grace-filled truth avoider. Often this begins with being honest with yourself, what you are really thinking or feeling (“I’m ok, I’m not angry...”). Recognize those moments when you avoid saying something because you’re afraid of the other person’s reaction - or that this type of conversation makes you uncomfortable. I’ve found that discipline of solitude is helpful to give myself space to be honest with myself before God. Practice engaging in harder conversations with others.

As we close this morning, I want to bring us back to our Colossians passage, this bold proclamation of who Jesus is, what he’s done for us. If this is indeed the story of reality…what an amazing and beautiful story this is.

It’s no big secret that, as a nation, we’ve become more deeply divided - and it’s spurred a lot of outrage and ugliness on both sides. It’s so easy to get caught up in all that (I know the temptation all too well).

It’s because we’ve bought into the wrong story, what we think is most real - modern-day politics, and my side must win. We’re being discipled by cable news.

How different it is when we trust the true story of reality - the story of Jesus. All these bigger political debates and culture wars fade in importance when I remember Jesus. When I remember that he is Lord over all. That everything was created through him and for him. He is before all things - everything holds together in him. God is reconciling to himself all things through Jesus, through his blood, shed on the cross.

In fact, this may be the best thing you can do this week, read this passage every day, pray in response to God. Let its truth be solidified not just in your mind but in your heart.

Because the invitation is to be a part of that story - for us to be reconciled to God, and to invite others to be, too. To move - through Jesus, his work on the cross, back into loving relationship with God.