I've been thinking about this for a while....so let me share my thoughts with you as they have developed so far. Now, if you find fault with the conclusions I have come to I would love your thoughts. This is a project that is still in the works. Ok, ready?
One the great battles of our day has been the battle for truth. It has been a cultural battle that we seem to have lost for the moment. For centuries truth was universally accepted by nearly everyone as being a common possession of mankind and there was agreement about what truth was. Now that has changed. Now truth is personal, emotional, individual. Truth is no longer a universally agreed upon reality in our culture. (Let me insert this one caveat at this point- truth, true truth is unchanged, what I'm speaking about is truth as defined by our culture.)
One of the things that happens as you destroy the foundations of reality, truth being the first, is that other things fall as well. It's like a row of dominoes that begin to fall and the cascade of one falling on the next brings them all down. The demise of truth in our day has a "domino effect." The next domino that has begun to fall is knowledge. Now, you might ask, "how could knowledge fall?" But it has. Now, like truth, knowledge is no longer universal, now it's personal. I can believe something about both truth and knowledge and completely disagree with you, but still defend what I believe is right. We call this world views, but what I am seeing is the subtle erosion of knowledge as a result of the loss of truth. Now in our day, knowledge doesn't need evidence, it's personal.
So, I come to a question I have used often in days past and think I will be using much more in the days ahead, "How do you know that?" It's a question that deals with the heart of the dogmatic statements of our day. For example I have often heard this as a statement of truth, but beyond that it's a statement of knowledge, here's the statement- "There is no God!" This is a statement of belief by the person declaring it, but it's much more. It's a truth statement and a statement of declared knowledge. So I ask, "How do you know that?" How do you know there is no God? Have you traveled to every corner of the cosmos? Have you been to every dimension of time and reality? How do you KNOW there is no God? YOU DON'T! But your belief about truth has made you bold in your statement about knowledge and so the atheist declares "there is no God."
In the fall of truth the next casualty is the demise of knowledge. It demands we ask the honest question of the world, "How do you know that?" You will hear many statements of knowledge based on personal truth. Each one confident in their beliefs. Our task, as Christians, is not to belittle or ridicule those beliefs, their truth or knowledge, but honestly and sincerely ask the hard questions that demand more than personal choice. We should be bold to honestly ask those declaring truths based on unfounded knowledge this simple question, "How do you know that?" Here's an example- I know you have heard this as well. I heard this in a phone counseling call last week. The man on the other end of the phone said, "I believe all roads lead to God." The situation at the moment didn't lend itself to asking my question, but I thought about it immediately. How does he know all roads lead to God? Where did this knowledge come from? I really want to know. Millions are basing eternity on truth and knowledge that have no foundation. One of the kindest things we can do is ask, and ask sincerely, "How do you know that?"
There is one problem with such a great question....it can be asked of us as well! The challenge for the Christian is two-fold- 1. To know the answer to this question for your own faith first and then, 2. to honestly ask and listen regarding the faith of others. This should never be done arrogantly or with pride, but sincerely and in love. With the fall of truth we have seen the demise of knowledge as well. It means we have a great opportunity to share the good news of Jesus Christ with a world that has lost its way and lost truth and knowledge as well. The book of 1 John is written to address this very issue. In this short five chapter book John declares dozens of times this simple statement, "we know....." and then follows it with information for us to respond to. In the world around us are millions with personal truth, a personal faith in something and bold statements about knowledge and reality. It's a great opportunity for us to develop relationship, to lovingly care about those we meet and ask a simple question.
Just a few things I'm thinking about.....
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