Some readers will find this next saying ridiculous. They will say, "Why constrain yourself to an old-fashioned concept such as truth? Limiting you options up front by declaring that you will avoid all non-truths is just not workable in our current era. But we stand by the truth, believing that it provides the optimal choice.
Always prefer Truth.
Truth is a shockingly powerful and uniquely dangerous concept, not just in itself and for what it can do, but as a tool of manipulation. As you strengthen your resolve to be a friend of truth and an advocate for her cause, ponder deeply these cautions and ask yourself if you can be sufficiently brave.
A. The truth will set you free, but many are interested in neither truth nor freedom. Truth is too painful and freedom too fearful to accept.
B. When Jesus says that "the truth will will make you free" (see John 8:31-38) he means that the truth will set us free from slavery to sin. He does not mean that we will be free of all restraints and moral rules. We will be free to obey his commandments and to live a moral, spiritual life serving God.
C. Few people believe something that they want to be false.
D. Among the living, fame and reputation rise from publicity rather than from excellence.
E. The law may say, "Yes," when righteousness says, "No," for the law is in the hands of men and righteousness belongs to God.
F. What seems and what is differ often. If you are content to live a life of appearances, why do you care about truth?
In classical art, Truth is often depicted as a naked woman, who bares her beautiful body because she has nothing to hide. Nothing needs to be covered or patched up or hidden. If she dealt in cliches, she would quote, "What you see is what you get." Disguise and painting over flaws are simply not necessary or even desired. Falsehood, on the other hand, is represented with a plenitude of disguises, including enough makeup to cover a bridge, enough clothing to open a discount warehouse, and enough phony airs to fill the curriculum of a school for con artists.
The advice for those who want to build truth into the foundation and walls of their lives is
+ Test the truth claims. In a postmodernist world culture such as ours, many people are happy to spin their own "narratives," which replace an accurate and objective account of things (formerly known as "truth").
+If you weaken and give up on truth, what you'll have left is a set of absurd ideas forced upon a culture adrift morally, economically, politically, and spiritually.
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