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From the desk of Jim Ricci

Is Truth Relevant in the Church Today?

There is some debate among well intentioned Christians that when it comes to Biblical exegesis, that “clarity” itself is of dubious value. There are those who prefer ambiguity and equivocation. The conclusion being embraced by some mainline churches is that, it is useless to think of truth in objective terms. Objectivity is an illusion. Nothing is certain, and the thoughtful person will never speak with too much conviction about anything. Strong convictions about any point of truth are judged supremely arrogantly and hopelessly naïve. Therefore, everyone is entitled to his own truth, is the subjective battle cry!  

The question that needs to be addressed for God’s people and for the future of the church is, “Will the church today downplay and abandon truth, and biblical content to follow the spirit of the age. That spirit I believe is being comprised by postmodernism, relativism, emotionalism and subjectivism. This, all in the name of tolerance and relevancy. The fact that the Bible puts a very high premium on truth is indisputable and truth cannot flourish in such poisoned soil. Scripture has always taught: truth is vitally important, and we dare not allow falsehood and error to overtake truth. Jude 3 (“Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints”) reminds us that truth is under attack big time today, and basic Christian beliefs must be defended and promoted. Many evangelicals, especially those in the emerging church movement, have recently declared that doubt, uncertainty, mystery and questions are superior to certainty, belief, faith and conviction. This seems to stand in marked contrast to the affirmations of Scripture. Consider a remark made by John Stott some 40 years ago in “Christ the Controversialist.”

“In those things which are clearly revealed in Scripture, Christians should not be doubtful or apologetic. The corridors of the New Testament reverberate with dogmatic affirmations beginning with ‘We know’, ‘We are sure’, ‘We are confident’. If you question this, read the First Epistle of John in which verbs meaning ‘to know’ occur about forty times. They strike a note of joyful assurance which is sadly missing from many parts of the church today and which needs to be recaptured. “Today many church leaders are glorying in doubt and uncertainty, and are telling us that having firm convictions and strong beliefs is arrogant and somehow un-Christlike. Friends, “this is not authentic Christianity”. To refuse to embrace and defend the revealed truth of God “is a particularly stubborn and misguided form of unbelief.”

That is not to suggest, of course, that we have exhaustive knowledge as (Deut. 29:29) reminds us. But we do have infallible knowledge of what Scripture reveals, as the Spirit of God teaches us through the Word of God: “We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12).

Of course we need to be fully aware that one can have plenty of orthodoxy and little love for unbelievers. But the two must go hand in hand. Both right belief and right living must be the hallmark of the Christian witness. We must not force a false distinction between them, but fully affirm and embrace both.

And we are also to be reminded, that we are only commanded to contend for the important things: “The faith once delivered to the saints.” Romans 14:1 and other passages clearly instruct us not to go about picking fights over secondary issues, unless the secondary issues have their roots in attacking the core issues!

James Ricci