From My Perspective - - -
Is truth identifiable in the broad spectrum of your life? Can it be found in politics? What about religion, can it be found there? Within family structures, has the influence of culture become so invasive that families have deficiency in the area of truth? Is there a clearly defined line that determines the moral from the immoral (and even the amoral)? Whatever happened to the principle: “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free”?
In 1966, at a World Congress on Evangelism, one of the speakers was Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-1984). In his address to the Congress, he made this statement: “The mark of our century is the victory of the Hegelian concept of synthesis, instead of a recognition of truth in the sense of antithesis and absolutes. Prior to Hegel, non-Christians generally acted upon the concept that if a thing was true, the opposite was false. In morals likewise, if a thought or action was viewed as right, the opposite was considered wrong. If the Church in that day, including the Evangelist, said that Christianity was true, or that a thing was right, this had meaning and was understood…Since the influence of Hegel…this is no longer the case. We are increasingly surrounded by a culture in which a concept of truth in the sense of antithesis, and of moral right and wrong does not exist…”
Was Francis Schaeffer right then? Is his analysis of the culture dominant in 1966 even more prevalent and dominant in 2011? In his book, Escape From Reason, he shared these observations: “It is an important principle to remember, in the contemporary interest in communication and in language study, that the Biblical presentation is that though we do not have exhaustive truth, we have from the Bible what I term ‘true-truth.’ In this way we know true truth about God, true truth about man, and something truly about nature. Thus on the basis of the Scriptures, while we do not have exhaustive knowledge, we have true and unified knowledge…We cannot deal with people like human beings, we cannot deal with them on the high level of true humanity, unless we really know their origin - - who they are. God tells man who he is. God tells us that He created man in His image. So man is something wonderful…” Francis Schaeffer points out another observation that has application to the times in which we live: “We are watching our culture put into effect the fact that when you tell men long enough that they are machines, it soon begins to show in their actions. You see it in our whole culture - - in the theatre of cruelty, in the violence in the streets, in the death of man in art and life…”
Was Francis Schaeffer right then? Is his analysis of the culture dominant in 1966 even more prevalent and dominant in 2011? In his book, Escape From Reason, he shared these observations: “It is an important principle to remember, in the contemporary interest in communication and in language study, that the Biblical presentation is that though we do not have exhaustive truth, we have from the Bible what I term ‘true-truth.’ In this way we know true truth about God, true truth about man, and something truly about nature. Thus on the basis of the Scriptures, while we do not have exhaustive knowledge, we have true and unified knowledge…We cannot deal with people like human beings, we cannot deal with them on the high level of true humanity, unless we really know their origin - - who they are. God tells man who he is. God tells us that He created man in His image. So man is something wonderful…” Francis Schaeffer points out another observation that has application to the times in which we live: “We are watching our culture put into effect the fact that when you tell men long enough that they are machines, it soon begins to show in their actions. You see it in our whole culture - - in the theatre of cruelty, in the violence in the streets, in the death of man in art and life…”
David had a similar sense about his culture, his world and lifestyles that were devoid of a sense about God and the standards He established, when he wrote in Psalm 139:11-20, “If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night, even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain…!”
We need to regain the voice of Truth and champion that message tirelessly. When Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except by Me.” – this was not just an encouraging word for His disciples, it was the message He wanted all men in all generations to champion and make known until He returns. Have we ‘dropped the ball’ when it comes to the ‘true-truth’? Have we lost our courage to have and to make a courageous statement of our faith and belief? Consider these things with me!
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