Matters of faith
I discovered something really interesting about Baptists recently. I found out that they have the truth of Christ. Shortly thereafter, I found out that the Jehovah’s Witnesses also have the truth of Christ. And then I found out that the Roman Catholic Church have the truth of Christ, given that they are Christ’s true church on earth.
In fact, how many times have I read someone say, “it doesn’t matter what you believe, because I have the truth of God.”
Yahoo Answers is an interesting place to observe human behaviour. I’ve asked the question point blank, “If you argue a doctrinal point with a Christian of a different denomination, and you point to the same bit of scripture to back up the point you’re making, which of you is right?”
My favourite answer was this one: “The one who speaks Christ’s truth.” Isn’t that helpful? That’s like asking, “Which highway lane should I get in to go to Phoenix,” and being told “the one that takes you there.”
Something which is not often taught from the pulpits which which I think should be is HUMILITY. If you represent Christ and HE represents Christ, don’t try to out-Christian one another. ACCEPT that there are gray areas. ACCEPT that there are sometimes no absolutes. ACCEPT that with a book which has been translated, re-translated, mistranslated, etc. countless times, that there are bound to be areas of ambiguity. It isn’t necessary to start a war over it. The truth hasn’t been violated, two interpretations of the same text are simply at variance.
But above all, stop mistaking “truth” for FAITH.
It’s downright amazing that so many religious followers don’t understand the definition of this very straightforward word. Truth is something that is demonstrably provable. It isn’t something you point to in the Bible and decree that since it’s God’s word, it’s not open for dispute. In the first place, and many Christians aren’t going to like to hear this, but the Bible is the words of human beings. Whether it is, as it purports to be, the word of God is another matter (one of faith). NOT one of “truth.” Can we prove the Bible is the word of God? We cannot. Many have faith that it is. And I don’t dispute that faith is extremely strong with many people. But let’s use the correct words for things. God’s word IS going to be truth, certainly. But you cannot prove that those words in that book are God’s, and that’s where faith comes in. I’m not prepared to speak about faith, my point is merely to point out that there is a difference between faith and truth.
But getting back to my original point, think of how many religious arguments could be simply set aside if people stopped claiming that they alone possessed the truth of God. It’s hard to know who to ascribe the blame to for this, but I know I have seen an awful lot of sermons led by red-faced preachers with veins standing out of their foreheads as they pound their pulpits insisting-that-God’s-word-is-the-TRUTH! God will not be mocked! His word is TRUTH! Etc. They never quite explain how to deal with the conflict that arises when they meet someone from another faith, similarly indoctrinated, who tries to make the same point but coming from another denomination’s perspective.
Or from ATHEISTS, for that matter. Atheists lack faith completely but that doesn’t mean that they don’t stumble across the truth from time to time. Being atheist is not an automatic banishment from “God’s truth,” whatever THAT is. Atheists, in fact, have a better perspective on this because they comprehend the difference between truth and faith.
Faith is faith. Truth is truth. But faith is NOT truth. And the two words should never be used interchangeably. Problem solved, sort of.
Kevin
