180 Degrees: The Death of Truth

It’s true…or is it…?

Math Joke: Why should you never talk with Pi? It’ll go on forever…

I could list every scheme the devil has for knocking us off Jesus’ 180º path, but neither of us has time for that. Rather, I’d like to zone in on his most dangerous tactic: destroying truth. (If you want to read more, here’s a post I published last year called Is Truth True?)

The devil can attack people, but more will come. The devil can attack the church, but more will pop up. The devil can attack organizations, but more will rise. But if he destroys the credibility and truth behind the gospel, he wins. People don’t walk away from God because they don’t like Him, they walk away because they are questioning truth. They fall for a lie.

The destruction of truth is the gateway to the deconstruction of the Christian faith. In Jeremiah 7:28 (NLT), the prophet receives a message regarding the Israelites. Notice how closely their society resembles ours…

“This is the nation whose people will not obey the Lord their God and who refuse to be taught. Truth has vanished from among them; it is no longer heard on their lips.”

Before I get to how and why we should stand for truth, we must shift our mindset…

180 Degrees

I can’t go any further without justifying the claim that truth exists. The world keeps asking itself what truth is. Without a standard (God), by which to hold truth, they’re as lost as you’d expect. The fallacy of “What’s true for me is true for me, and what’s true for you is true for you” leads to each person determining subjective truth. But truth is not subjective, it’s objective.

Subjective Sports?

To use a sports example: in February, the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl. This is objective truth. Likewise, God is objective truth. But let’s imagine we let every sports site and reporter record the game “according to what they believe truly mattered”.

How’s that gonna turn out? Site A will say the Eagles won because they scored the most points, Site B will say Patrick Mahomes won because he should’ve been MVP, Site C will say Louisiana won because they hosted the game, Site D will say their photographer won because they captured the best photo, and so forth. Technically, these are all right answers. But without a standard to hold them to, how can we know?

Similarly, we can only know ultimate truth if there’s an ultimate standard (who won the game). The devil is working to destroy that standard. As a Christian, this both frightens and inspires me to stand for truth. As Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Lessons from Andor.

I recently watched the Disney+ show Star Wars: Andor. If you’re not a Star Wars fan, please don’t stop reading. I’m not here to tell you what I liked or disliked about the show; I’m here to reveal truth through a secular TV program. (Warning: contains spoilers.)

Throughout the second season of Andor, standing for truth was a major theme. Keep in mind, these aren’t Christian writers or actors. Two topics jumped out as I watched…

1. We Cannot Be Silent

In Star Wars, the Galactic Empire is the antagonist. Their goal is to subdue the universe and take whatever they need to do so. In Andor, they need a mineral found in a planet’s core. To get that mineral, they need to build a weapons factory and drill into the planet. Naturally, the citizens are not happy. As Christians, we live in a world ruled by the devil’s “Empire”. We are leading a silent rebellion, like the characters in Andor.

Right before everything blows up, two characters have an important discussion. One believes silent rebellion is the key, while the other says the rebels must physically stand up against evil. There is only so much we can do “behind the scenes” as Christians.

There comes a day when we cannot remain silent. Two weeks ago I discussed World War 2. The world could only verbally defend the Jews so far; eventually, they had to defend them physically. The same happened in Andor, and that day is coming soon for all of us. As Solomon said in Proverbs 14:23 (NLT), “Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty!”

To quote Andor: “We’ll be silent when we’re dead.”

2. Someone Must Stand For Truth

We cannot fool ourselves that standing for truth won’t cost us. It cost those who stood up to the Empire, and it will cost us. It is the price we must pay. Both the Empire and the modern world twist truth to their ends. Often reality is hidden behind the mask of personal agenda. It’s a reminder to see, hear, and read with discernment.

After the Empire opens fire on a gathering of protestors, the media masks the truth. The Empire twists blame from the real wrongdoers and places it on unarmed citizens. If I didn’t know better, I’d say this parallels what modern media does to Christians…

At this point, we can either stand for truth or hide in the shadows. In Andor, a senator named Mon Mothma chose to stand for truth and expose the lies. What made it interesting was her friend’s choice not to do the same. And I don’t mean this as a criticism – he wanted to stay in his role so that he could keep spreading truth from the inside. I found this scene powerful because it’s a reminder that it’s not for everyone to speak out against everything, but it is on someone to speak out.

In Luke 3:19, John the Baptist condemns King Herod’s sin. Jesus was also in the area, yet He didn’t condemn Herod. Strange, isn’t it? God calls us to stand up for truth and righteousness, but He has a different course of action for each person. If we all condemned Cultural Problem #1, who’s left to condemn Cultural Problem #2?

Whether God is calling you to stand for truth, help someone else stand for truth, or spread truth in the background, He’s calling you. In some way, shape, or form, we cannot remain silent. During her speech to the senate, two of Mothma’s lines struck me. While I can’t speak on God’s behalf, I believe He would agree with these statements…

• “Of all the things at risk, the loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous.”

• “The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil.”

The Truth.

To vanquish lies, you have to know the truth. If you want to learn that truth, pick up a Bible and start reading. You’ll soon see that Jesus is the truth (John 14:6).

The job we’ve been given is so simple: stand for truth. When you hear what’s true, promote it. When you hear lies, speak out. You’d think society would realize this by now. By not speaking out against lies, you’re accepting them as truth. Solomon said in Proverbs 23:23 (NLT), “Get the truth and never sell it; also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment.”

Rise.

It’s my lifelong mission to physically stand for truth. Because if I don’t, I’m killing myself spiritually. By letting truth die and lies rule, we suppress and kill the spirit of truth which God has placed within us. Will you rise up? Will you stand for truth? Are you willing to suffer and even die for God’s truth? The Disciples were willing.

Martin Luther King Jr. had this to say…

“The cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit. You died when you refused to stand up for right, you died when you refused to stand up for truth, you died when you refused to stand up for justice.”

Will we rise? To quote 1 John 3:18 (NLT)…

“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.”