Speaking Truth To A Confused World
Sometimes the Bible reads like headlines straight out of the twenty first century. This is especially true when dealing with the issues of right and wrong and loss of spiritual direction by society. The prophet Isaiah sounds forth a warning to those who have drifted so far from God that their moral compass is pointing in the wrong direction. He says, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight.” (Isaiah 5:20-21) In the New Testament the Apostle Paul sums up such thinking in terse terms: ”Professing to be wise, they became fools.” (Romans 1:22)
Our current culture seems to express just such upside down thinking. Clear biblical truth is increasingly being sacrificed on the altar of political correctness. The core of this problem is an unwillingness to accept absolute truth. Ultimately the rejection of absolute truth results in absolute confusion. Now the Bible clearly reveals that God is not the cause of confusion, but rather, He is the author of order. Chaos thrives where self-seeking pride is indulged. “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.” (James 3:16)
Jesus said of Himself: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) Our Savior also said, when on trial before Pontius Pilate: “…For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.” (John 18:37) Again from our Lord’s lips: “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) The church clearly has a mandate to speak the truth in love to a confused and upside down world.
-Terry Morrison