Truth is as Truth does

“Pilate therefore said to Jesus, “Are You a king then?”

Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the Truth hears My voice.”

Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” John 18:37-38 NKJV



Absolute truth seems to escape us even as we are absolutely convicted in what we believe. Whether we have come upon this conviction by personal experience or by what is written is relative to the circumstances in which we find ourselves. A reasonable person may often find himself or herself asking such a rhetorical question as, “What is truth?”

For Christians, Christ is the absolute Truth of the revelation of the Lord God. Father Eric Pohlmeier, pastor of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Hot Springs AR, wrote, “The Christian understanding is that all truth is a reflection of God because God is the source of all truth. So, many religions, many explanations of reality, can reflect the truth without fully capturing it.”

Rabbi Eugene Levy, spiritual leader of the Temple B’Nai Israel in Little Rock AR, states, “Rather than claiming ‘the truth’, we would all do ourselves and the world a gigantic favor if, instead of trying to usurp the ‘truth’, we would study what the ‘truths’ of each religion are and learn to appreciate and accept and love them.”

Finally, Imam Islam Mosaad, spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of Little Rock AR, offers this perspective: “We may disagree about God and spiritual truths, but this does not in any way preclude us from honoring our shared human dignity.”

“The Lord God forbids you not, with respect to those who do not fight you because of your chosen way of life or expel you from your homes, that you act in kindness and fairness towards them; for indeed, the Lord God loves those who are fair and equitable.”
Quran 60:8

“He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8

The ‘truth’ can take quite a beating when we as individuals or even as a collective entity insist that we have a corner on the truth and then attempt to beat into submission those who disagree with us by trying to convince the masses that our "opponents" are trying to mislead and misguide and “lie” about what truly is. And when we are discussing any topic we may be passionate about, whether it is the economy or Christ the revelation, any dissension is met with anything but “loving mercy” because our counter-attacks are anything but merciful.

Truth is as truth does. And if our behavior in church or in politics is any indication, "truth" is not something that many will want any part of.