The Search for Truth
Part Four
Truth is timeless. Truth does not differ from one age to another, from one people to another from geographical location to another…the great all-prevailing Truth stands for time and eternity. — Billy Graham
Humans prefer to believe in facts more than truth. Why’s that? Because facts, generally, can be backed up with physical evidence.
Evidence. Facts. Both create knowledge, and with knowledge comes greater power and even freedom.
Right?
Not necessarily.
Facts tend to change over time. Same can be said for knowledge. Evidence can be tampered with or misinterpreted. Sources aren’t always reliable or accurate.
What about truth? Are there some truths that never change?
Let’s look at a few examples.
Killing another human is wrong. This is something we’ve always known — since the beginning of mankind.
We all will die — that nothing can stop death from occurring. Again, this is something we’ve known since the beginning of mankind.
Two truths — timeless and unchanging. There has been no fact or evidence that could change them. We’ve gained greater knowledge about killing and death, but complete freedom from them continue to elude us.
THE TRUTH ABOUT CHRISTIANITY THAT NEVER CHANGES
The core meaning of the word “Christian” is follower of Christ.
Not a follower of a church or its doctrine. Not a follower of a pastor or minister. These can change over time — as we’ve seen plenty evidence of.
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” — John 14:6
“Jesus asserts that His words and teachings are the ultimate reality and reliable source of divine wisdom. This statement underscores the belief that Truth is found in the Person and teachings of Jesus and not merely as an abstract concept.” — Jason Soroski via Crosswalk.com
As God is unchanging, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” — Hebrews 13:8. Malachi 3:6 says, “I am the Lord, and I do not change…”
WHY ARE SO MANY FALLING AWAY FROM FAITH?
Why are so many Christians walking away from their faith?
Why did I?
In US, decline of Christianity continues at a rapid pace
Who is most likely to be “done” with religion?
In a recent article by APA (American Psychological Association), they’ve coined those who walked away from their faith as the “religious dones.”
In this same article, APA identified four main reasons why people leave their faith:
“About half of the sample (51.8%) reported leaving for intellectual reasons or because they outgrew their faith. Roughly a fifth of the sample (21.9%) reported religious trauma, such as the hypocrisy of the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church. Others (14.9%) reported leaving religion because of personal adversity, such as an inability to make sense of the tragic death of a child, or social reasons (11.4%), including a religious community’s being unwelcoming.”
I left, primarily, due to “personal adversity” in that I definitely couldn’t understand why I was being afflicted with so much heartaches and losses. I lost my faith because I felt that if God was a loving God, He wouldn’t have allowed so many horrible things to happen to His child.
I was angry. I couldn’t understand His reasons.
I left to search for answers elsewhere. I turned to various forms of science and philosophy.
For knowledge. For truth.
I gained a lot of knowledge, but it brought me no lasting fulfillment or peace. I gleaned interesting tidbits of facts and evidence, but none could satisfy this longing that kept pestering me.
I was even seriously considering the ancient alien theory as the answer to everything.
Something other than God.
I was so angry with God that I was adamant in completely shutting Him out of my life.
Yet when I woke up that morning and realized I was suffering a heart attack, I didn’t turn to science or philosophy for help or comfort.
No, I turned to the one I’d abandoned — God.
TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF IT ALL
For years, I was an immature child with a very childish faith. Like a child, I needed the answers and reasons to why certain things happened to me. Like a child, when I didn’t get what I wanted, I stomped away with my arms crossed and my ears shut to anything He had to say.
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. - 1 Corinthians 13:11.
What is the key to growing up as a child of God?
Trust.
That’s where the childlike faith comes in. It’s trusting God and in His promises. He never promised we’ll never experience hardships and heartaches; He promised that we’ll never have to go through them alone. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
As a child of God, it is good that we ask questions of Him. It is good to bring our concerns to Him. He loves conversing with His children. To show maturity is to trust in His answers — in whatever form that may be.
I don’t know why my first husband had to die.
I don’t know all the reasons why I’m losing my sight and hearing.
I don’t know why God allows bad things to happen to good people.
What I do know is that God has everything in His hands — He’s in control of it all — He has a master plan that includes me. Includes His children.
And it is only to His children whom He reveals the truth.
THE ONLY WAY TO THE TRUTH
Each child of God is eternally sealed by the Holy Spirit — also known as the Spirit of Truth:
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” — John 16:13–14
The unbelievers who try to read the Bible will find it impossible to truly understand its message:
People who do not have God’s Spirit do not accept the things that come from his Spirit. They think these things are foolish. They cannot understand them, because they can only be understood with the Spirit’s help. — 1 Corinthian 2:14
“Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” — John 8:47
The truth is only heard in and through the Holy Spirit. Sadly, many believers are choosing to listen to their own heart whenever the Scripture do not align with their “belief system.”
SO, WHY ARE CHRISTIANS WALKING AWAY?
Crisis of faith.
