Truth versus Opinions

Labor Day is soon upon us.  That is the "official start" of the political season.  From now through November 8 our airwaves will be flooded with one political ad after another.  We will hear charges and counter-charges from each of the candidates as well as from their Super PACs.  We will mostly hear of what is worst about each of the candidates.  At times what we will hear will border on slander.  By about the end of September many of us will be asking this question: "Who are we to believe?  Who is telling the truth?"  Sadly, those questions are not as easy to answer as they are to ask. 


Truth is defined as "the state or quality of being true."  I don't know about you but I found that definition somewhat lacking.  So, let's see how the word "true" is defined: "faithful, loyal constant, reliable, in accordance with facts, agrees with reality."  Okay, that helps a little bit.  In other words, truth is something that is a constant - it is applicable to anyone, anytime, at any place.  Truth is also something that agrees with reality - it does not counter that which is already known.  Truth is also reliable - it can be counted on in any given situation or circumstance.


But there is a second term that we also need to define.  It is the word "absolute" which means "perfect, complete, whole, not mixed, pure, not limited, not restricted."  In other words, something that is absolute is not restricted either by time, place, or experience.  The Law of Gravity is an absolute truth.  No matter where you are in this world of ours, if you throw a ball into the air, it will come down.  "What goes up must come down" is an absolute truth. 


Let me share one more definition that is also important.  It is the word "opinion" which means "a belief not based on absolute certainty or positive knowledge but on what seems true, valid, or probable to one's own mind, what one thinks."  Opinions are very real.  Opinions, when stated strongly, can become tools of change.  But are opinions truth?  That is the question asked today. 


The ancient Greek philosopher and dramatist Sophocles wrote: What people believe prevails over the truth."  Although he lived over two thousand years ago, Sophocles has just defined the twenty-first century.  We live in a culture where opinion supersedes truth.  We live in a culture where the certainty of facts is shadowed by the boisterousness of opinions.  It was Gandhi, the great Indian reformist and leader, who said: "An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it."  In other words, if I say to myself "1+1=3" enough times so that I actually believe it, then persuade ten other people around me that "1+1=3", that still does not make "1+1=3" a truth statement.  All I have done is state my opinion.  And, my opinion that "1+1=3" is true is completely false.  My accountant will not see it as truth.  My banker will not see it as truth.  The treasurer at our church will not see it as truth. 


I know what you are saying, "Well, Max, don't be ridiculous.  Everyone knows that "1+1=2" not 3.  Yes, you are right.  But let's try this illustration:  All life came from non-life.  Is this an absolute truth statement, or is it merely opinion?  Your response will be, "Well, it all depend who you are talking to.  If you talk to a high school biology teacher, he will say, 'It is a scientific fact.'  But, if you talk to an evangelical pastor, he will say, 'It is mere opinion, just a theory that cannot be proven.'"  Now you remember that our definition of "absolute truth" is that it is always true for anyone, any time, and at any place.  Sadly, friends, evolution is being taught today as if it were a fact, thus putting it into the same category as "1+1=2 for many people.  But, evolution is not truth, it is merely opinion. 


We hear talk today of "relative truth."  But what is it relative to?  I am convinced that "relative truth" is no more than personal opinion.  "Relative truth" is my truth.  It is what I believe.  It is what I am convinced is truth.  Yes, I would like my truth to become your truth, but I cannot force you to accept my truth as being your truth.  Your truth is your truth. 


Is it any wonder that we question the veracity of our political candidates?  Are they telling the truth?  Why, of course they are - according to their understanding of truth.  In other words, they are sharing a "relative truth."  And because we live in a culture where we have accepted "relative truth" as being truth, it is difficult to expose the deviation from the truth for what it truly is - lies. 


Why is all this happening?  It is because we have abandoned that which is "absolute truth."  And, just what is that?  It is the eternal, unchangeable, infallible Word of God.  Friends, when our nation began in the late 1950s to remove the presence of God from public places, especially schools, we began the process of abandoning absolute truth.  In its place we began to substitute our own versions of truth which were nothing other than our opinions.  In the absence of "absolute truth" how can a person measure right from wrong, what is moral from what is immoral?  My opinions become my measuring stick to evaluate your opinions.  And, of course - or at least 90% of the time - my opinions are the right opinions and yours...well yours don't count for much. 


Friends, this is where we are today.  I sit and listen to the various political ads and ask myself this question: Who is telling us the absolute truth?  Sadly, I believe that none of them are.  And so I go back into God's Word and drink more deeply of His Truth and there my heart is refreshed and my spirit is empowered to live out His Truth before a world that is stuck on opinions, knowing that Jesus proclaimed, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free."