Authentic Christians are passionate about truth. They have to be, because Christians believe that God requires it, embodies it, defines it… and is it. Christianity, more than any other religion, is preoccupied with truth. Certainly, Jesus was. He said, “I tell you the truth” about eighty times in the gospels, which is a pretty fair indication of the importance that he placed on it.

The primacy of truth is not easily found in other religions. Hinduism is essentially based on mythology, Buddhism on mysticism, and Islam on a private revelation that others can’t verify.

The new, syncretistic religions of today, such as New Age, are fairly careless about truth, whilst secular Postmodernism goes even further and has given up on the idea of truth altogether.

In contrast to this, Christianity is vitally concerned with truth.

Christianity, you see, is not just a faith, just one among many; it is faith based on truth. In other words, Christianity is evidence-based. If it can be shown that any of the essential truths about Jesus are false, Christianity is completely invalid. Notwithstanding the cancerous invasions of deism into Christian institutions in the guise of liberal theology, Christianity is founded on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus in history. Wherever the institutional church has forgotten this, it has emptied its churches, lost its passion for mission, and found itself unable to offer anything in the way of hope. It has simply preached moralism.

Christianity, is palpably not just a philosophy. It is based on historical, verifiable truth.

Truth matters. Instinctively, we know this is so. There is something good about truth. Truth seems to be something outside of us, beyond us—something that measures us and invites us to climb up to it. Most of us are glad that truth is there, even if we can’t always reach it.

To act in a way that is true and right is to live out a concept of truth that is unique to humans. Simply to act in a way that is merely expedient or programmed by evolution is to be sub-human—to be less than we have been called to be. It is to collapse back into nature’s “red in tooth and claw” where it makes perfect sense to enslave, kill and exploit others to ensure that we thrive.

Please don’t be sub-human. There is good evidence that truth is important.

The psalmist writes, When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3)

What indeed? It’s a good question.

The moral lostness of a society that has lost its foundations for truth is frightening. It results in all things historically considered as evil now being lauded as good, e.g. witches and ghouls… and good things now being considered evil. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah warned against this when we said, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness (Is 5:20).

I’m staggered at society’s carelessness with truth—so perhaps a word or warning is warranted. Carelessness with truth will kill you. Being careless of truth risks disqualifying yourself from the eternal destiny God intends for you. God places the highest priority on truth – not because he wants to bully and impose of control, but because it is right.

God is a God of truth. Truth reflects his essential character. Therefore, if you are not in synch with God’s truth, you are not being trendy, enlightened, tolerant or progressive… you are simply being wrong. It means you would be acting God’s values and purposes. If you were looking for a shorthand way of describing this state of being, you could call it being ‘evil.’

Without the ultimate significance and moral absolutes that flow from the existence of God, humankind has fallen from the high calling of being an image-bearer of God to being a mere animal. Some in society want to normalize some sexual behaviours, because they occur amongst other animals. It’s extraordinary: we are turning to baboons for our sexual ethics rather than God.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!

The twentieth century British philosopher, Anthony Flew, was a strong advocate of atheism. Nonetheless, he was committed to following the path of evidence wherever it led when analysing religion. Doing so finally caused him to confess his belief in God. When explaining why he changed his mind, he said that his decision was in keeping with his lifelong Socratic commitment to go where the evidence leads.

Truth. Isn’t it time you really sought out the truth about Jesus and God’s purposes for your life?