Finding Absolute Truth on the Internet

Across the terrain of the cyber world today, we all have a piece of the property and are free to build anything we want on it. Facebook, Blogger, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest,, MySpace, Google + . . . pick your plot. The acreage available for raising our own theological constructs (or any other kind, for that matter) is free for the taking. The opportunity to have voices equal in volume all over the Internet is up for grabs, and it doesn’t have to be orthodoxy that puts you at the top. After all, we live in a culture that loves TV shows where Master Chefs scream, swear and belittle the wannabes who will take that crap just to get their chance at being the head-spaghetti-cooker in a fancy restaurant in a big town. A culture where anorexic models or hissy-fit-pitching tailors stake their future lives on the opinions of judges whose own sane connection to the real world is highly dubious. A culture where that which is grotesque, vulgar, garish, and ridiculous is likely to have a higher TV rating than something classic, of substance, and proven to be life giving does. It is to *that* contemporary culture that we’re trying to break in and speak theological reality, i.e. “the truth about whom God is.”

A guy can eat a slightly spoiled pizza, have a fitfully sleepless night in which his hyperactive thoughts runs all over the theological playground of his unconscious (and uninformed) mind and wake up the next day convinced he was shown a perspective on who God is that the world needs to hear about and, in a matter of minutes, it’s out there for everybody on FaceBook or Twitter to see. It’s a *revelation!* When his friends on Facebook who ate the same pizza give him the high-five, that’s all the validation he needs to now turn this revelation into a revolution that only “those who understand” can understand. The rest of we unenlightened ones just don’t’ get it.

Absolute truth still exists among us, as has been the case throughout history. The relevant question is, “How do we know that truth?” In a world of contradicting, clamoring voices, how do we know which voice to heed? Is it the voice based on rationale? The one based on religion? The one that’s based on rites and ritual?

The answer to that question isn’t a complicated solution. The way you can trust in knowing Absolute Trust is none of the options listed in the paragraph above. The key to knowing the truth is relationship – a dynamic, present-moment, relationship with the Spirit of God who lives inside you.
It’s amazing to see how much theology today is embraced secondhand. Somebody respects somebody else and that somebody else says so-and-so, thus the respecter embraces the theological viewpoint of the respected and now clings to it to the point that he will even argue that viewpoint with others.

There are two completely trustworthy witnesses to The Truth. First, there is the Scripture. Some, having realized that they have wrongly held the Bible in a place equal to God Himself, have now overreacted by discounting or even dismissing the place of the Bible in the life of the believer. While *the Word of God* is Jesus and not the Bible, don’t let the enemy of your soul steal away your Bible.

For the record, I have a high view of Scripture and don’t embrace the views of those who insult the Bible. I’ve repeatedly said that it is Jesus who is the Word of God, not the Bible, but don’t mistake that assertion as a slam on the Bible because it’s not. It is, rather, to give Jesus His preeminent place and the Bible its secondary place as a testimony to Him. The Bible can be called “the word of God” (small “w”) in the sense that it is the inspired communication to us about Himself, but it is the witness to Christ not a co-Christ. Some speak of “the living Word and the written word” as if they are on par with each other. Such a comparison is an insult to the One who inspired the Bible. When John said, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God,” you can be sure he wasn’t talking about a Bible. That doesn’t diminish Scripture, but exalts Jesus. Jesus doesn’t have a twin Savior called, “The Holy Bible.”

The greatest teacher of grace who ever lived had this to say about our Bibles: “All Scripture is given by inspiration and is profitable…. “ There is nothing grace-filled about rejecting the Scriptures that our loving Father has given us. To the contrary, to reject the Scriptures is to cut ourselves off from one of the greatest grace gifts we have available to nurture and encourage us in our walk with Jesus. Don’t trash talk the love-letter given to you by the One who is the very topic of the Bible.

The primary reliable witness to Absolute Truth is the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that when came He would “guide us into all truth.” You have the Holy Spirit as your teacher. It’s not up to you to figure out the truth through intellectual pursuit. Study is important, but the tipping point in knowing the truth is inspiration and revelation that can only come from the Spirit. Study, pray and ask Him to teach you and He will. Don’t take your favorite teacher’s word for it. Study, pray and ask The Teacher *and He will* show you.
Overconfidence in a human teacher insults The Teacher who has come to guide you into the truth. Trust Him.

Does that mean that it’s wrong to learn from human teachers? Of course, it isn’t. People sometimes say, “I don’t need a teacher. I have the Bible and the Spirit.” That’s true, but I wonder about these things. Does that person go to the doctor? After all, God is the healer. Does she gain help and comfort from friends in times of pain? God’s Spirit is the comforter. I wonder if that person receives anything from anybody since they know that it’s God who is their ultimate source in everything.

The point is that our Father has designed community for a purpose. Do we need each other? That question misses the point. The wonder of His grace is that *we have each other.* We are gifts to one another. Need has nothing to do with it. As the old saying goes, “We are blessed to be a blessing.” You can benefit from others and they can benefit from you. Isolation is not the way of the Triune God who exists in community and has brought us into His shared Community of Love. If God’s nature teaches us anything, it teaches us that we are made for community, not isolation.

How, then do we learn Absolute Truth? By encountering Him in relationship. By engaging with Him through the Scriptures. By seeing and hearing Him in each other. Beware of the isolationist mentality and be wary of those who seem to define themselves by the criticism of others. There is a time for all of us to speak out against error but many speak from their own hurt. Deeply wounded people don’t make capable leaders. They need to heal first.

Grace speaks from love and, as such, lifts and leads others into the gentle embrace of the One about whom it speaks. This is something I’m still learning and I hope you are too. We all are where we are by the grace of God. None of us have determined the direction in which we would grow anymore than the tree outside my window made that decision. Let’s each seek truth, learn truth and teach truth based on that fact. “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind,” the Apostle Paul wisely admonished.

“What is truth?” Pilate once asked while Truth was standing eighteen inches in front of his nose. Don’t miss Truth. He isn’t a proposition or a principle, but a Person.

Ask yourself when you read theological opinions on the Internet, “Will this cause people to more clearly see the love of God? Does this build up or tear down? Does it come from a place of help or hurt? Is this what Jesus Himself would say to me? Does it cause me to love Him more and to love others more?” If we were even remotely as concerned about being sure people see God’s love as we are about making sure they get “the truth” as we understand it, things would be different on so many levels.

None of us need to feel that we must be exactly right on everything. Let’s just share where we are in our own understanding and leave it at that. (If that sounds New Agey or Emergent Churchey to you, it may be helpful to look up the word “humility” in your dictionary.) Nor do we need to protect others from those who differ with us. I had lunch with a “long time friend” some time ago who told me that he now cautions others about my ministry because they might be led astray by my understanding of the cross. While I was troubled by his arrogance, the Spirit in me soon reminded me that I’ve done the same thing with others. I’ve found myself rejecting those who have rejected me and, worse than that, hoping others will reject them too. I know, it’s messed up, but please try to remember that we all hold this “treasure in *jars of clay.*” At least I see it and don’t want to feel or think that way. I hope they will too. **What are we so afraid of???** The Kingdom of God is not going to crumble because we didn’t do a good job of policing it. His Kingdom will do fine whether people love or hate us.

The fact is that it isn’t up to any of us to protect God’s people. He’s been doing that a long time before we got here and I suspect He’ll keep on doing that after we’re gone. Our role is to proclaim His grace to the extent we can see it and leave the results up to Him.

There’s a lot we can differ about, but one thing is certain: The very essence of our God is Love. Let’s agree to focus on that, because anything else is a distraction and *that* is the Absolute Truth.