Truth Matters

I was listening to a podcast this morning. I often do that on my hour-long journey to work. As a Christian Apologist, I try to listen to thinkers that disagree with me on a wide range of subjects. It helps me get an understanding of what they think and why they think it. This morning, I was listening to a gay broadcaster who believed that social media trends were fueling the “Culture Wars” and that both the left and the right were playing their roles in blowing up issues that weren’t really all that substantial. He made good points about the tactics that both conservative and liberal media use to rile up their base. I didn’t disagree with him at all. I think much of what is produced by both sides is created to appeal to people on an emotional level without any real intellectual thought or substance behind it. There are exceptions of course but they are few and far between. At one point he said that he was not being dismissive of the issues but that seemed disingenuous. I asked myself, “If your not being dismissive, then what was the point of your rant?” Why are questions like “What is a Woman?” or “Should children be exposed to overt sexuality in schools?” or “Is Critical theory in regard to race, gender and sexuality helpful or harmful to American society and culture?” important? While I agree that some of the tactics of commentators on both sides (even the ones I agree with) are often geared more to draw views than to entice dialogue, I don’t think that the issues that they address should be ignored. They are important, but why? The conclusion that I came to was, “Because Truth Matters”. I do not mean “truth” in the relativistic sense. I don’t mean “My Truth” vs. “Your Truth”. I mean THE TRUTH. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life…”. Every battle that is being fought in the context of the “Culture Wars” hinges on whether that statement is true. If Christianity is true, if Jesus is God and the Bible is God’s word, then we have a responsibility to proclaim it and to promote God’s will and His prescriptions on every issue. If it is not true than we are wasting our time and all of us should just “Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15:32). If Christianity is not true and the resurrection never happened, then what are we fighting for? Why do we care? People should do whatever they see fit, and we should let them. Better yet, we should celebrate them for “Living their best lives!”. But, if Christianity is true and Jesus is LORD and He did rise on the third day and the only way of salvation is by God’s grace through faith in Christ…then we need to fight. We need to do all that we can to proclaim the Gospel, to point to salvation and to lead people away from the dire consequences of the sin. Even the sinful lifestyles and behaviors that people so vigorously battle to participate in and protect. Ideas have consequences. Our ideas often give life to action and bad ideas often have horrifying ramifications. If Christianity is true, our ideas and the ramifications of those ideas have eternal consequences. If not, we will all just cease to exist and return to the dust. Such is the fate of all that exists if Jesus didn’t rise from the grave.