The word of the year in 2016 was “post-truth”. The Oxford Dictionary defined it as, “Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” In subsequent years, “post-truth” has become a true description of our society’s bent.
Yet the Christian cannot succumb to the spirit of the age. We cannot permit ourselves to operate on a post-truth basis. We must be seekers of the truth, because we belong to Jesus who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
Lead Me In Your Truth
From David’s Psalms, we learn to ask God to actually lead us in God’s truth (Psa 25:5), since he sends out his light and truth to do the leading (Psa 43:3). God is viewed as a conquering defender for “the cause of truth” (Psa 45:4) because truth is his delight (Psa 51:6). The one who follows God wishes to be taught to walk in God’s truth (Psa86:11), for hope resides in God’s “word of truth”, which would be devastating to lose (Psa 119:43).
Speaking Truth in Love
We know Jesus Christ through the true testimony of the Evangelists. Truth is valued by Jesus and his witnesses. All it takes is to survey the adjective, “true” used by Jesus himself throughout the Gospel of John. At the end of John’s Gospel he has a declaratory statement about the whole saying:
This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.
John 21:24
It is no wonder then, that the disciples of Jesus would be commanded to “put away falsehood” (Eph 4:25a). In fact, there is a positive command given to believers which requires them to be not only seekers of truth, but speakers of truth. Paul says, “let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbour, for we are members one of another” (Eph 4:25b).
This is the pattern of life of the Christian. This style of living and speaking is called “speaking the truth in love” (Eph 4:15). It is (super)natural for the Christian to do this because the Spirit of truth guides the believer into all the truth (John 16:13). In so far as a Christian is being led by the Spirit, they will be a truth-teller, speaking the truth in love.
Truth Seeking and Saying
Personally, we need to speak the truth, but also “practice the truth” (1 John 1:6). John makes the point that if our speech claims are inconsistent with our behaviour, then we are in fact lying. The distortion of lies requires truth to be exchanged. It is the conscious and subconscious exchange of truth, in preference for lies. Paul made this point explicit in his letter to the Romans when he said:
they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
Romans 1:25
Christians, must confess the truth, from God himself, through the true evaluation of God’s universe. Christians will even risk being misunderstood because they love others enough to speak the truth. Paul warned the Galatian church, “Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? (Gal 4:16).
Gentleness in Service to the Truth
What is ironic in our post-truth age is that people are prone to advance “their truth” (not true truth), by demonstrations of power. This can be the power of words on social media. Or it can be the power of legislation from governments.
By contrast, Christians have their truth-telling enveloped by gentleness. This means that they make careful movements in the conversation. It does not require striking a blow when a sensitive, but firm stance will do. This is the counsel that Paul gave to Timothy, namely to correct “with gentleness”, with the hope that “God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Ti 2:25).
In a post-truth society, when Christians speak the truth in this gentle, but firm way, it will stand out. By rejecting every play for power, Christians can humbly return to their role as truth-tellers without the tribal agendas of our day. The only agenda that we broadcast is the rule and reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. That truth needs to be heralded far and wide until all post-truth claims fall helplessly to the ground.