Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
The Truth Structure of Reality

The Truth Structure of Reality

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 11:16 pm by Guest Contributor

The Truth Structure of Reality 2015-03-13T23:16:35-04:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Have you ever noticed that there is a truth structure to reality itself? What do I mean by this? Well consider what happens when you tell a lie. Go ahead, admit it, you’ve done that before. What happens when the lie is challenged? Well then you are confronted again with the truth of the matter and you have a choice either to admit the lie, orrrrrr you have to make up another lie. ‘Oh what a subtle web we weave….’ and indeed when you start weaving a web of lies and deceits, you have to keep going and try to be consistent with your previous lie, because there are always flaws with lies. Lies, like the prince of lies, cannot stand the light of day and real scrutiny. ‘Be sure your sins will find you out’. Whereas when you tell the truth, you don’t need to keep imaginatively inventing things, one story after another, one excuse after another. The truth really does set you free, in so many ways, free from having to cover things up, free from having to go on lying, freedom from having to live a lie. One of the saddest truths about fallen human beings and lying is that after a while, a person is so enmeshed in their own web of lies, they begin to believe them, themselves. Deception turns into self-deception, and all kinds of self-justification and rationalization. But life was not meant to be this way at all.

Remember the story of the Garden of Eden, which turned out to be the Garden of Evil? The down-fall began with a little lie, indeed as Jesus was to call it later ‘THE lie’— it was subtle, it was more of an insinuation than a frontal attack on the truth—- ‘did God really say?’ But in fact God had not prohibited eating from every tree in the garden, only one. And the path from insinuation to a bold-faced lie is a short one— ‘you will not die’ lisps the snake. The father of lies would make God out to be the liar.

An awful lot of discussion about sin forgets entirely that the most primal sin is lying. Whether it is a little white lie, or a lie the size of an elephant, it is still a lie. And any lie is a denial of God’s existence, not merely of his truth. There is a reason why Jesus says ‘I am the truth’. If you want to be a saved person, then you have to face not merely truth in the abstract, you have to face the truth about yourself. And the truth about ourselves is not entirely pretty. There is something serpentine about us as fallen persons. Like a snake that crawls along the ground, we are earthbound, though there is heaven in our hearts and dreams. There is a reason why children aren’t named Judas in our culture, indeed probably a reason why really major sports teams don’t want to call themselves the ‘serpents’. Shoot, they will even call themselves the ‘fighting okra’ instead of that (check out Delta State U.). There is a p.r. problem with the name ‘Judas’ or ‘snakes’. And part of it is that we realize deep down that there is something wrong with lying, which in part is a realization that there is something wrong with ourselves.

The truth structure of reality is such that it can be rather unforgiving. I mean it is true that if you jump off a 10 story building with no parachute you will not merely experience a heavy bit of gravity, you will likely crash land. And it will hurt. Pain, as C. S Lewis once said is God’s megaphone reminding us we are living against the truth structure of reality. God structured into reality accountability for words and deeds, at least in the long run.

There are always consequences to lies, not the least of which is when you cry wolf too often and there is no wolf, you develop an air of unbelievability. No one trusts you. And that brings us back to ground zero— truth. Trust is grounded in truth and honesty. Love is grounded in trust which is grounded in truth and honesty. You cannot unconditionally love someone you don’t totally trust. You may ‘lust them’ but you can’t totally love them. And trust always presupposes that truth in reality structure—- always. A relationship not based in truth cannot last ultimately. The reason we call it true love is because it is a love based in truth and honesty and loyalty and devotion. True love is not blind love because it always wants the best for the other person, wants them to be their best selves, their true selves.

Have you ever taken a lie detector test? I did once, and I learned something about myself, namely I need to be more careful in what I say, and hew as closely as I can to what I know of the truth. Of course you can pass a human lie detector test simply by being honest, and not necessarily telling ‘THE truth’ only telling honestly what you believe to be the truth. But when it comes to God’s lie detector test, the bar is raised considerably. God does not accept an approximation of the truth, he wants the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So much does he want that, that he has sent us the Holy Spirit as a constant early warning and internal warning system to remind us of the truth, especially the truth about ourselves, which often is painful.

And then there is the whole deal about the moment of truth, the crisis moment, when we have a chance to be our best selves. Here is a little poem to meditate on, on that subject. And while you are reflecting on that, I would just say—- despite all the psychological literature that urges us to ‘be who we are’ and ‘be true to ourselves’ the Bible doesn’t really agree. We are to be who God intends us to be, created in his image, and modeling his character, and above all we can only be true to our best selves, when we are true to God. It is not enough to be honest with God, we have to be tried and true. God doesn’t just want our honest selves, though that’s a good start, he wants our true selves, being conformed to the image of his Son, Jesus. Are you suffering from some truth decay? We all do from time to time, which is why we always need reminders about the truth, and how it sets us free to be all He wants us to be.

THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

It sneaks up on you unawares

While you are preoccupied

It catches you quite unprepared

Enthralled as you are in your pride.

Blindsided, you flinch instinctively

When suddenly you are accosted

You realize in an instance ‘it’s now…’

Or else you’ve totally lost it.

All those years of pure preparation

All those long times of careful thought

Have arrived at this destination

So why do you feel you are caught?

Shocked by the sudden challenge

Your defensive reflex, a surprise

Call up the ‘the hope that’s within you’

And look them right in the eyes.

Like fumbling with keys in the doorway,

You find you’re at a loss for words,

Why suddenly this ineptitude

Your nervousness seems absurd.

And there is no graceful exit,

No quiet bowing out

No way to delay the inevitable

You’re in the ring, no doubt.

‘Speak now, or else forever

Forever hold your peace’,

The questioner is insistent

She seeks some sort of release.

When the moment of truth is upon you

And you have no time to prepare

Will you know what to say in that instant

Will you find out how much you care?

Will you call on the Spirit for guidance

Will you ask that the cup might pass

Will you be alarmed by your feeling

That the moment is here at last?

Will you feel like a total coward

A child without his homework

Will the force of the question flatten you

Will you turn your head with a jerk.

Will you say ‘I don’t know him’

Will you deny him multiple times,

Will you say ‘I must be leaving’

When recognized, turn on a dime?

When all your learning fails you

And all your bravado too,

When you have no cup of courage

And you don’t know what to do,

Will the moment of truth unmask you

And reveal the imposter inside,

Are you really his true disciple,

Or are you just along for the ride?

In the moment of truth you find out

Just exactly where you are,

Either someone whole-heartedly committed

Or someone who hasn’t gone that far.

Are you flirting with being his follower

Without fully embracing his grace

And when the road gets bumpy

Are you wanting out of the race?

The moment of truth reveals all,

It gives you a progress report

As to whether the truth is within you

Or is it still something you court?

But the moment of truth need not define you

It’s not a final exam,

Even Peter’s denials didn’t end things,

“It need not decide who I am”

And when you see another failing

Fumbling, falling down,

Don’t turn away in scorn,

It could be you on the ground.

But for the grace of God,

We all would come up short

When the moment of truth comes calling,

Christian faith is no spectator sport.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

January 22, 2011

THOUGHTS ON THEOPHILUS AND HIS ROLE IN EARLY CHRISTIANITY

Next Post

January 26, 2011 The Case for the Christian Sabbath--- Part One

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz