What is truth? Afraid you can't handle it?

I often ask people in my counseling sessions this question: “Do you want truth in your life?” They overwhelmingly say, “Yes, of course I do.”   Then I ask them, “Are you willing to go wherever truth leads you?” Hummmm, now that is a little different!

However, they all say “yes” to that as well. That is, until they are faced with empirical, logical truth. Why the switch and hesitation to follow the truth?

People want to hear truth, but they don’t want to live truth. They don’t want to give up their goodies, like their pleasures, philosophy of life, friends, and places they go, things they do, and most importantly, their self-indulgent mindset. So, they will listen to truth, but when you get into life altering changes that may infringe on their personal space, they don’t want to adopt it. Instead, they revert back to their defective default systems. They want their toys, even if their toys are destroying them.

Do you want truth in your life? Let’s see!

First of all what is truth? If you can’t establish that, then all else is relative and subjective reasoning. More than half of what you read, listen to or view on LinkdIn or other places will fall into that category. You will be exposed to people’s opinions, but opinions are not necessarily the truth. Opinions may have a good ring to them, but in the end these titillating pieces of information will not deliver what they say they will. You may gain some happiness and riches from these so-called wise thinkers but not total satisfaction, meaning, or purpose to your life. Often times, many are like a dog chasing the tires on a car. When they catch up to them, what will they then do?  Got it?

What is truth? I could write an encyclopedia on the subject, but this is a blog. We are limited on space, and people’s attention spans are short. So, I will give you the condensed version.

For those who claim to be religious and faith based, then consider this. Jesus says, in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man gets to the Father but through me.” Did you get that? Jesus is the truth!

This is not another person, giving you a recipe in how to find the truth or how do inwardly discover your own personal truth. No, JESUS SAID, “I AM THE TRUTH.” Wow! That’s different. Have you ever pondered that? Perhaps not. What do you think would happen to your life if you did? Is that too tough to ponder because it hits too close to home?

Now let’s say you are bold enough to reject that claim by Jesus. Now you would have to say, that Jesus Christ is either a liar, lunatic or Lord. Which is it for you? Because people don’t want to accept Jesus as the truth, they, may try to dismiss this Jesus Christ character.

Do you know that the greatest argument against Christianity would be the fact that Jesus never lived? If the birth of Jesus did not occur, then of course, the crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus did not occur. And if there is no resurrection, then death has not been conquered. If death has not been conquered, then sin has not been conquered, and we are all doomed. Without the birth of Jesus, Christianity is just another religion based upon legends and myths.

There is historical, archaeological, and the study of logical reasoning that disproves that the Bible is just a book of myths or legends.

If the Bible is true, then Jesus’ birth, Crucifixion, and Resurrection are true. Some will argue that you can't trust the Bible because it was written by those who believed in Jesus and thus, is biased. If you use this argument regarding biographies and history books (this is what the Four Gospels are like), you see how foolish it is. Many biographies are written by people who loved the person they are writing about, but we do not question their validity. There are those who write about history who have their prejudices, but we do not deny the facts that are in their books.

However, in this section on the birth of Christ, we will cite sources that are outside of the Bible to prove that Jesus Christ was known to be a real person and not just a fable.

For one thing, even the very enemies of Christianity couldn’t deny that he lived--and that he performed miracles! Early Jewish documents such as the Mishnah and even the first century historian and Romano-Jewish scholar, Josephus--as well as other, first-century Gentile historians--such as Thallus, Serapion, and Tacitus--all testify that the man called the Christ lived in Palestine, and died under Pontius Pilate. As the British scholar, F. F. Bruce put it, "The historicity of Christ is as [certain]. . . as the historicity of Julius Caesar" (NT Documents, 119). If all these respected scholars documented his death, then he had to have been born.

It needs to be understood that some of the writers in Jesus’ time were hostile to Christianity, but still documented the historical facts of Jesus. Here, especially, is where all you truth seekers need to follow where the truth leads you by realizing: hostile witnesses wrote about Jesus. That is, people like Pontus Pilate (who condemned and crucified Christ) wrote about him during that time. He was not a fan of Jesus Christ but in putting on paper the events of the life of Jesus, he then became an eye witness to the fact that Jesus lived, was crucified, died, was buried androse from the dead.

In fact, not only Pontus Pilate, but myriads of hostile witnesses who hated Jesus wrote about the historical events at that time, in documents separate from the Bible. And guess what? Their writings all corresponded to what the Bible says. What do you think about that?

Now some may say, “I don’t believe the Bible. It was written by men.” To that, I always say, “Then what bible do you read?” And the people I ask this look at me as if I have two heads. They say, “What do you mean, what bible do I read?” And I reply, “Every day you are forced to make decisions about life issues. Where, then, do you get your information that helps you deal with making life altering decisions? How to function in your marriage? How to raise your kids? How do you gauge morality? How do you deal with family members or co-workers? How do you communicate properly? What man or woman should you marry? Should you even be a man, if you may feel more like a woman? How can you be more intimate with your spouse in bed? How do you deal with stress, anxiety, depression, or hopelessness?

“Well,” they say, “I read books. I go to seminars. I listen to Podcasts. I read a lot of stuff on LinkedIn. I draw from my upbringing. I listen to my peers. I go by my feelings or experiences in life.” On and on they go. So I say to them, “Then that is the bible that you draw from, because everybody has a book they refer to for their life truth.”

Some people look up to a host of Hollywood stars, starlets, and famous people for their truth. But look closely at these celebrities’ personal lives, and you will often find this proverbial saying, that “money and fame cannot buy happiness or fulfillment in life” to be the actual truth of their lives. Just ask Robin Williams! Elvis Presley! Michael Jackson. Prince! I could fill up this page with a myriad of examples but you already know that!

My next question is always, “How reliable is your personal bible? Do any of those things you mentioned ever let you down and prove themselves to be wrong?” They all say, “Yes, of course they do. Nothing and nobody is perfect!”  

Nobody I say?   Jesus Christ is perfect! He alone (in the whole history of the world) claims to be THE PERFECT TRUTH!   Not just a way to the truth, but The Truth. Do you see the difference?

So again-- you claim that you want truth in your life. Is that correct? Are you willing to go wherever truth leads you?  

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…quite another story!   So, now, what is your next move?   The Holy Bible or your bible?