Truth always comes at a cost.

Discovering truth is laborious. Exposing it is risky. Speaking the truth is unpopular, and it invites ridicule. Defending the truth can even result in death.

Honestly, I can relate to the first four of those situations. Hopefully, I can avoid the fifth.

There’s no way around the fact that being an ally of truth is a choice marinated with perilous implications. It’s a big reason why so many people choose to dilute truth or deny it instead.

These opening remarks demand the question, “What is truth?”

It’s not the first time that question’s been asked. The Roman Prefect, Pilate, asked it about 2,000 years ago. He directed the question to Jesus who was standing in front of him and who had rightly claimed to be the source of all truth (John 18:37-38).

Like so many people today, Pilate questioned the concept of truth. He doubted the evidence. As a result, he had little appreciation for right and wrong. These things were shifting sands for him, and so Pilate found it easier to join with popular opinion.

Pilate’s politics, his relationships, his decisions, his goals, and his convictions – all these things and more besides – were defined by something called “relativism.” His ideological loyalties lacked any real moral compass.

If something, or somebody, was personally inconvenient, it was eliminated. If it was useful to him instead, it was elevated.

The end justified the means for Pilate. He did and said what he wished to serve his personal agenda, and it made no difference if the process was corrupt. Pilate demonstrated he had no moral absolutes.

Moral absolutism is the belief that there are supreme and fixed standards against which moral issues can be assessed. This means certain actions are right or wrong, no matter their context.

Taken to its natural next step, this means that such actions are inherently moral or immoral, irrespective of the beliefs, motives, and wishes of the individual or culture that engages in them.

Finally, this – in turn – suggests that morals are inherent in the laws of the universe and within the nature of humanity.

And – – that would be correct! They are.

The Bible states the reason morals are inherent this way is God created us to have a conscience (Romans 2:15; 9:1). We were “programmed” from the very start to know right from wrong.

Early cartoons often showed a little devil on one shoulder and a little angel on the other. Our conscience bears witness to our inner value system that we were born with. Right and wrong are known to all of us, and we are held responsible for the choices we make.

“The truth shall set you free” (John 8:32). That’s another reference to Jesus Christ being the origin of all truth. It underscores that we are vulnerable to the clammy chains of deceit and lies when our life is not in a right relationship with our Creator.

All around me now, this reality is evidenced. I see many people who would rather subscribe to a lie – it’s so much easier. Many people don’t want to seek out the truth – it’s way too hard. Many people defend depravity – they want their own poor choices to be approved. And many people scoff at the plain facts – they want to believe other things which truth has exposed as fraudulent.

I’ve never seen a time when our world is more prone to follow falsehoods than I see now. Be that so – each of us is still responsible to seek out the truth. There is no ‘safety in numbers’ if the misled masses are ultimately headed over the cliff.

Our conscience is given to us as a warning system. It signals when we are straying from truth. Our conscience also serves to help us recognize God’s eternal power and divine nature, and it assists us in avoiding the consequences of our foolish choices (Romans 1:20).

The times are urgent. Here is the truth.

The truth is God loves you more than you can possibly imagine. He doesn’t want you to ruin your life now – and He especially doesn’t want you to lose it for all eternity. You have a choice here.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life” (John 14:6). Because He is the only way for salvation, it’s what you choose to do with Jesus that’s the most important choice you’ll ever make.

Do you accept Jesus as your Savior – or do you reject Him? There’s nothing in-between.

When it really comes down to it, Pilate had to face the truth about Jesus.

And, like it or not – so do you!

 

Tell me about the adversaries in your life.

No, not the tax man or the bill collectors. Everyone deals with them. And I don’t mean pain and distress, health issues, family problems, or financial uncertainty. Most folks I know can relate to all those things.

This is not about your job either. A lot of us get up every morning wondering if we have the strength to put our nose to the grindstone again. We all struggle in that space from time to time.

I’m talking about people.

You know – the folks that don’t like you, who attack you, who put you down, and who conspire against you. I’m talking about people who disagree with you at every available opportunity and who basically wish you weren’t even a blip on their radar screen. I’m talking about THOSE kinds of adversaries.

What!?! You don’t have any? What’s wrong with you?

In conversations I’ve had with several people lately, we’ve talked about the issue of adversaries. I didn’t bring the subject up. They did.

Those chats went something like this. General discussions about national affairs gradually got more personal. Somewhere along the line, they told me they aren’t at odds with anyone – and as far as they see it, nobody’s got any issues with them.

What bothers me is they seem proud of that. They feel it’s some sort of badge of honor, a sign they’re getting along and doing something right.

Excuse me while I barf!

Our world today doesn’t need any more dead fish who float downstream. It needs live, vigorous, determined fish who swim upstream. The world needs more fish who will battle the currents, bounce off the rocks, and assume the risks and challenges of standing apart.

I am not a fish, and nor are you. But the analogy applies. Our times urgently need people who will stand for virtue, speak the truth, and not endorse politically correct opinions.

Said another way, the world needs people who are willing to earn adversaries. Even fierce ones!

I chanced upon an excerpt by 19th century Scottish poet, Charles Mackay. He puts this issue much better than I. Here is what he wrote:

“You have no enemies, you say?

Alas! my friend, the boast is poor;

He who has mingled in the fray

Of duty, that the brave endure,

Must have made foes! If you have none,

Small is the work that you have done.

You’ve hit no traitor on the hip,

You’ve dashed no cup from perjured lip,

You’ve never turned the wrong to right,

You’ve been a coward in the fight.”

I’m not clear if that’s the whole poem or part of it, but it’s enough to make the essential point. If one has no adversaries, then one has not stood for anything – or anyone. They are a coward.

That’s nothing to be proud of.

Look around you. Our world today is being ripped apart by unprincipled people. They are not concerned with law and order, and for them “the end justifies the means.” Their corruption is marked by an activism fueled by ignorance and confidence. They are determined to speak their mind.

What about the rest of us?

Speaking as a believer in Jesus Christ, I am mostly concerned with those who claim to be of the Christian faith. Many of those gather each Sunday preoccupied with being ‘seeker friendly.’ They’ve mostly dismissed the fact that people who have chosen darkness rather than light (John 3:19) are often at odds with – and even hostile to – the truth.

Why?

Jesus Himself said we should expect the world to hate us and to hate the things we stand for and support because it first hated Him (John 15:18-20).

Several conclusions can be made here. First, if the lawless groups of the world have no bone to pick with you, if they feel you’ve got a lot in common with them – then you’re not standing for the truth.

Second, it’s not possible to do what’s right and avoid earning adversaries. You cannot have it both ways. In the same way you cannot run around with skunks without smelling like one, you cannot be a pioneer for truth without receiving arrows.

And third – that whole badge of honor thing? It’s really about earning adversaries the right way. While we are instructed to be at peace with everyone if it’s within our means to be so (Romans 12:18), this is no instruction to sidestep our responsibility to stand up for the truth. It’s to our own gain when we do the right thing the right way for the right reason (Luke 6:22).

The basic point is this: to be right with God has often meant to be wrong with man. When we demonstrate a right relationship with God, when we properly say the things that need to be said, when we stand up for law and order, when we expose the deeds of darkness, and when we demand justice, we will become a target. That’s just the way it is.

There is no way around it. If you don’t have any adversaries, you’ve got a problem.