Why Truth Matters

Bad theology hurts people. I have heard this statement many times over the last year as I have started to dig deep into theology and apologetics. At first it seemed a little exaggerated to me. Ok sure, bad theology may bend the truth but shouldn’t we just be able to discern what the truth is and ignore the lie? This is the philosophy I have lived by for a good portion of my adult life. You can have your truth and I will have mine. After all, I know what the real truth is. Surely I am wise enough to just disregard the falsehoods you may claim and take what is good and move on. And this my friend is where the enemy is so deceiving. There were many books, podcasts, movies, shows, and even devotionals I continued to take in and just ‘tune out’ the falsehoods. But here is what I have come to learn, when we don’t have sound theology, when we begin to cherry pick scripture, or disregard parts of the Bible that we don’t like, our view gets entirely warped and the sad part is we are often unaware it is happening. Because here is where the enemy is tricky friend, he is described as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). That means that he is sneaky, he isn’t trying to convince you to believe something that is obviously false like soy ice cream is as good as regular, creamy ice cream (don’t come at me dairy-free people). He is trying to convince you of something much, much more subtle. Because if he can get you to turn just 1 degree away from the truth, then just 1 degree more isn’t all that hard. He is sneaky, deceptive and the father of lies (John 8:44). And guess what the father of lies is good at?  LYING! See, you got it! This isn’t his first rodeo and he has a strategy, one pretty little lie at a time.

So what is the best way to combat the lies? I believe you first need to call them out. When someone is laying out a truth claim, examine it. Is what they are saying actually true? How do you know? We take it to scripture and dissect it. The world is constantly changing and full of new ideas and many of them seem great on the surface. But we ultimately know that scripture is sound. Scripture is our anchor, it is always true because God does not lie or change his mind (Numbers 23:19, Isaiah 40:8). So that is my aim in this blog. To call out the lies that we are being fed, examine them and see if they are true, and then most importantly to point back to what the truth actually is. There was a time when I couldn’t do that, I was searching and did not know the truth. Maybe you are in that place too. Yet God in his faithfulness reveals to us when we are searching. And when you begin to really know the truth, the lies become easier to spot. That is my hope for you dear sister or brother, that by becoming more equipped with what the Bible says, you will be quick to point out the lies so that you don’t get entangled with falsehood and so you can have a clear view of who God actually is. And here is what I have come to find, He is 100% good.