The Truth: The World’s Greatest Fear
Wally Morris
We see it in the Old Testament – Pharaoh threatens Moses, Saul threatens David, Jezebel threatens Elijah, Asa imprisons Hanani. We see it in the New Testament – Herod threatens the young Christ, the Pharisees and others threaten the older Christ, the Sanhedrin threatens Peter and John, Saul threatens the Christians, the Jews threaten the converted Saul. Why? Because the truth is not what people want to hear. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6) and “The truth will set you free” (John 8:32). The truth about Christ is not what people want to hear. Truth can be subversive. Truth has the potential to change everything. When a person is comfortable and satisfied with his life, or on his way to becoming comfortable, change is not what he wants to hear. The world’s culture is not based on a desire for truth but on a desire to do what you want to achieve personal fulfillment and happiness. Anything which interferes with those goals will be vigorously, even fanatically, opposed.
The few in pre-WW2 Germany who still believed the Bible and had not been co-opted by Nazi philosophy and political theology either left Germany, spent time in concentration camps, or died at the hands of the Nazis. Why? Because what the Nazis believed and who Christ is were not compatible in any way. So the Nazis created their own truth about Christ and persecuted anyone who opposed it.
In its rebellion against God, the world has always feared the truth. Therefore, those who speak the truth are demonized, ridiculed, intimidated, and minimized. The truth itself is incrementally changed to reflect the new culture. The change occurs so slowly that many do not recognize that change for what it is: denial of truth, denial of reality. We make ever so subtle changes, which seem so small, so insignificant, so … right. A few examples.
Scholarly theological organizations allow “debate” and “scholarly discussion” about what used to be universally accepted truths, such as the historicity of Adam and certain events surrounding Christ’s resurrection. Christian colleges make small changes to their dress code in order to reflect the new reality of our casual culture or begin to allow certain forms of music which had never been allowed before. Secular college campuses create “safe zones” to protect people from the threatening speech of others, an act which rots free speech for everyone.
Christian organizations, such as the Young Men’s Christian Association, now known simply as “The Y”, change their name to a generic form which hides the truth. The parting phrase “God be with you” is now simply “Bye”, and “The Lord bless you” is now the meaningless “Blessings”. More than simply the natural tendency of language to condense itself, language changes often reflect something deeper in us that rebels against the truth.
Liberal theology, with its emphases on man and social aspects of the gospel, prepared Germany and Europe for Nazi beliefs. The growing acceptance among Evangelicals of reinterpreting the Bible in light of genre criticism, and even some changes in Fundamentalism, is preparing much of conservative Christianity to accept the significant moral changes in our culture. However, the changes they will accept will not be limited to morals but will also include the political changes necessary for fulfillment of prophecy.
The concern many have today for global warming is curious. Doesn’t the book of Revelation tell us of the ultimate global warming during some of Tribulation judgments and then perhaps global cooling (Revelation 8:6-12)? Is this some attempt to avoid the inevitable truth by organizing the world now for what the devil knows will happen in the future? In order to “save the planet”, the world will lose the truth.
The truth can be very uncomfortable. People who wish to be comfortable will avoid anything which might challenge that comfort. Many colleges have become not-so-subtle versions of reeducation camps. Whether college students demanding accommodation to their wishes or those with political power using that power to silence opposition, the result is the same: Truth falls. For all the talk about “critical thinking”, many do not appear to be thinking at all. The Soviet Union, China, and communist eastern Europe were known for public shaming of dissidents and reeducation camps for nonconformists who threatened the status quo. In America today, getting rid of the truth comes by subtler means: sensitivity training at work and school, lawsuits to silence dissent, emotional public demonstrations which have no basis in reality, shaming and intimidating weak college administrators, and selective sound bites to make those who still believe in truth look extreme. Even Christian colleges yield to this pressure by hiring professors who are not quite as Fundamental as older faculty but still Fundamental enough to look good.
The Romans had their bread and circuses to dull the reality of life. We today also have our equivalent in government subsidized food purchases and the never-ending bombardment of sports. Is Sunday morning worship the beginning of the Lord’s Day or just the preliminary event before Sunday afternoon sports? Christians can’t come to prayer meeting during the week but seem to find the time for church softball games during weekday evenings. Christian colleges start expensive sports programs in order to stem the decline in student enrollment, convincing ourselves that we will use the sports program for “ministry”. The circus continues.
Americans, and Christians in America, are deficient in two important subjects: History and the Bible. A regular feature on Fox News includes questioning people about their knowledge of history, current events, and, occasionally, the Bible. The ignorance is incredible. Even more disturbing is that the people who are ignorant seem unconcerned, even flippant, about their ignorance. The Word of God is the truth (Psalm 119:142,151), and history reflects the battle between truth and error. Ignorance leads to manipulation by those who are not ignorant.
The Psalms tell us to speak, learn, walk in, and choose the truth. God’s truth is our protection (Psalm 91:4), so we write the truth in our heart (Proverbs 3:3). But truth has fallen in the street, trampled in the stampede of fear, rebellion, and conformity. The combination of truth and love can remove fear and ignorance (1 John 4:18; Ephesians 4:15). But the journey first begins with a look in the mirror (James 2:22-25).
Pastor Morris is pastor of Charity Baptist Church in Huntington, IN and can be reached at ">. The church blogsite is amomentofcharity.blogspot.com. He has also published A Time To Die: A Biblical Look At End-Of-Life Issues by Ambassador International.