Most have never stopped to answer the question that this article explores:
Let's take a quick quiz. Below are three statements. Place a "T" in front of the one(s) you believe are true and an "F" in front of the one(s) you believe to be false.
Whether you marked the above statements "T" or "F"
is not nearly as important for the sake of this essay as the "why"
behind your decision. As you prepare to enjoy this article, please
rewind your mind to think through what went on in your thought
processes that brought you to the conclusion on each one.
Below, note on the lines just what caused you to label each one
the way you did:
_______ 1. ________________________________________________________________
_______ 2. ________________________________________________________________
_______ 3. ________________________________________________________________
This monograph explores the subject of how do we decide what is
"true" from that which we label "false."
Again take a moment to look over the determining factors you just
listed as you ask yourself the following questions:
The unfortunate tendency of most Christians is to apply a different
set of rules when they come to "spiritual truths" than
they would ever accept for determining truth in the other areas
of their lives. This approach weakens their own faith as we'll
see later in this study.
Here's one more example. Below are some instructions for making
a rocket out of this article. Please follow the instructions very
carefully:
Try it!
Did it work for you? Did you follow each of the instructions exactly?
Are the instructions truth?
Please return to the first three statements and apply the same
criteria you've just listed above to Statement #2 regarding Matthew
21:22. In other words, have you ever tried to test Matthew 21:22,
and it didn't work? Why not label it untruth and toss it away?
Most church-going people would guard that verse with statements
like "Maybe I wasn't REALLY believing." or "I wonder
what that verse means in the original Greek language."
You sure didn't treat my paper rocket instructions so nicely.
Dr. Jay Kesler, former President of Youth For Christ USA, describes
this dual approach to truth in the following manner. If we could
take an x-ray of the average person's mind, it would have a large
dividing wall right down the middle. On one side would be the
"lion" or secular truth. On this side of the mind we
store truth regarding how to change a light bulb, the operating
of a computer, and the fixing of a toilet. These are pieces of
truth we know and use. Each of our minds contains different pieces
of this type of truth. On the other side of the wall is the "bunny"
truth of religion (i.e. spiritual truth). It is soft, warm and
cuddly. "God loves me," "God will never leave me
or forsake me," and "the Bible is God's Word" are
some truths that might be on this side of the wall.
There is an intuitive fear that if the wall between the two ever
came down, the lion of secular truth would grab that bunny of
religious truth and shake it to death. I mustn't let that happen.
I must guard and protect spiritual truth since it cannot handle
the same tough scrutiny as secular truth.
Furthermore, I really don't want the bunny to die. I like my religion
to be warm and soft. After a busy week of working in the "lion
truth" of secular reality, I want to be able to take a break
on Sunday and hold and cuddle the soft truths of "God loves
me," "God answers prayer," and "nothing is
impossible when you put your trust in God."
'With this prevalent mentality, Christianity becomes yet another
escape from the world of reality (not unlike drugs or alcohol)
rather than a key component for better understanding reality.
The church and consequently the church's God looks silly and weak
to those standing outside and looking in through its windows.
Thus, we could place all of the truth we have thus far accepted
somewhere along a "Continuum Of Truth." On the far left
are the religious bunny truths while on the far right are the
secular everyday lion truths.
Where on that continuum would you place 2+2=4?
Where would you place "An atom contains protons, neutrons,
and electrons?"
Where would you place "If you believe, you will receive whatever
you ask for in prayer?"
Are some truths just more fragile than others?
Here is yet another way of looking at this.
All of our minds are like a two story house filled with boxes.
Each box contains a piece of truth. If you look through the boxes
on the first floor, you will find boxes filled with math truths,
scientific axioms, and practical principles for performing daily
tasks. On the first floor, you will find the lion truths of "secular
reality." I test those truths on the first floor with some
very hard questions.
However, anything that I really want to believe but can't understand,
I carry to the second floor. If I read a Bible verse like Matthew
21:22, try it and it doesn't work, I carry it to the second floor
with some statement like "I guess I'll just have to believe
that one."
I throw that verse in a box, put the lid down on the box, stamp
the outside of the box with the words "just believe,"
and haul it upstairs. Somewhere in the Bible I read "Thou
shalt not commit adultery." I say to myself "That's
the way it should be." Into a box it goes, up the stairs
it goes, and deep into a corner of the second floor it resides.
Suddenly a woman approaches me while on a business trip and
asks me what I'm doing for the evening. I know what she means.
If "Thou shalt not commit adultery" is stuck somewhere
in a box on the second floor, I don't have much to work with as
I set about to make my decision about whether or not to take the
woman up on her offer. If I have never thought through the reasons
behind my value system, "Though shalt not commit adultery"
is just a "bunny truth." When it meets up against the
lion truth of this woman offering herself to me, the bunny loses.
How did we get to this place in our thinking? I believe that much
can be traced back to our definition of "faith."
Let's take a quick example. You're standing at the side of a busy
street waiting to cross. A person approaches you and makes the
statement "Can you guarantee me 100% that I will not get
hit if I cross the street right now?" You look to the right
and to the left and see no cars, and still you must emphatically
reply, "NO!" You cannot give the persons 100% proof
that a car won't suddenly appear from around the corner and hit
them. No one can be given a 100% proof of anything!
You sit down in a chair. It looked strong, it felt solid, you
watched it hold others. Nevertheless, it could have broken when
you sat in it. You sat down without 100% proof that it would hold
you.
We do it everyday. We exercise faith.
This statement is as true in the realm of "secular truth"
as it is with "spiritual truth." The term "faith"
is not merely a spiritual term.
On the basis of the above understanding, list some examples of
faith that you must exercise everyday in your job or other daily
activities:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Such thinking then leads us to yet another question:
What finally made it possible for the man to cross the street without 100% proof? What ultimately made your faith "strong enough" to sit in that chair?
Don't put me on the side of a busy street with my eyes blindfolded
and ears plugged telling me I can cross whenever I want to! I
won't! I have no foundation for my faith!
As long as we box up truth without testing it, without asking
the hard questions, we don't have the foundation for our faith.
However, we transform a bunny truth into a lion truth by opening
the box, examining the truth and asking the hard questions that
will increase our conviction about the truth.
What hard questions do you have about your faith that you have
never had the opportunity or courage to ask?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Realize that in the 2000 years of Christianity, you are not going
to ask any question that will bring Christianity down. Very intelligent
people have grappled with the issues you wonder about and have
recorded solid answers. At the conclusion of this paper you'll
find some websites and other resources that you might want to
research further.
In spite of all this there are SOME times when we don't have the
maturity to handle a question's answer at a given point in our
life. We box it up, hauling it upstairs knowing full well that
one day we plan to bring it down to examine it again. That approach
is totally different than boxing truth as a lifestyle to avoid
dealing with our doubts. Our upper floor will always have some
boxes in it. The main thesis of this paper is found in the fact
that we are too quick to box up spiritual truth before we have
taken time to examine it and test it.
Then when we come into work only to find that we've been downsized,
all we have is a little bunny to handle that lion piece of truth
that we are without a job!
If you took an upper floor inventory, what would you find in your
boxes?
However, there's some good news! We don't need to unpack those
boxes on our own. God has a way of getting those boxes down. Normally,
the boxes come down and lids come off during a time of crisis.
"How do I know for sure that God really loves me?" "How
do I know for sure that God will take care of me now?" "Is
lying just this once really going to hurt me?"
If currently you aren't in an immediate crisis, might I suggest
that you unpack the box that contains this question:
If you can settle any doubts about that question in your own
mind, you'll be able to use the Bible as a source of determining
truth. It will really speed things up for you. However, for most
Christians, this is the first question that goes into the box.
And unfortunately, once they have boxed that question others box
that much easier.
Please don't misunderstand. The authors of this paper have come
to believe firmly that everything in the Bible is undisputable
truth. But we know why we believe it.
Do you?
Have fun unpacking!