Ask a Christian what the truth is, and you’re apt to get a predictable answer: Jesus is the truth. Delving a little deeper, you’ll hear: God’s Word, the Bible, that’s the truth! These are valid answers, supported by the scriptures themselves. But most of us live as if there were another truth, one markedly different from the gracious, glorious revelation of God in the Bible.
Depending on which Christian tradition you associate with, you probably absorbed a detailed set of beliefs intended to set you on the right track in your journey toward God. Accompanying those beliefs, you were given instruction in proper behavior. The teachings vary, from the meticulous catechism of the Catholic Church to the evangelical admonition, “Just praise the Lord, brother!” Their common intent is to point you toward the Godly life.
But can we really wipe away a lifetime of training and experience by absorbing a few slogans, or learning doctrine? Our own experience and our observation of others tell us the answer. We all know the power of other voices in our lives that undermine what we earnestly want to believe. In our crisis moments, we reflexively revert to what we truly believe — about life, ourselves and others; in other words, about God. Those beliefs can sabotage our best intentions, even while we are loudly proclaiming biblical principles.
It’s possible, then, to focus all our conscious effort on fulfilling the good teaching we’ve been given, without ever addressing the unspoken beliefs that really govern our lives. To put it bluntly, our real concept of truth isn’t what we think it is. And in many cases, our concept of truth is killing us.