Spread the Truth: the whole truth and nothing but the truth

Today, Truth is being undermined. Many people think their feelings are more valuable than Truth. Some people think that there is no such thing as Truth (which is a self-defeating statement)

But in reality (which does exist, by the way), Truth is invaluable, priceless - the ultimate goal of our inquiry. Only Truth can set us free. Jesus stated in John 18:37: “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth”. Jesus himself was Truth incarnate (John 14:6). Truth was on trial, and Jesus came to bear witness to it. 

But there are also many lies today. So Truth must be defended. We should expose the lies by showing others that they do not line up with the Truth. Truth is what the world needs. Therefore, we must dedicate ourselves to spreading the Truth.

This is all basic stuff. And so here we must turn to a potential problem.

In order to ensure that we are spreading the Truth, we must always verify information we receive before passing it on. Even if we think it should be right, or seems right, or seems like something that would happen, we had better verify it.  

Whenever I hear people say something like “Obama is a Muslim”, I wish they would rethink the (non-existent) logic of that statement. Muslims would be the last people to push for gay “marriage”. Such a statement is made with the goal of smearing the former president, without regard for the Truth. We should never find ourselves violating the 9th commandment, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour” (Exodus 20:16) to make a political jab.

Let’s be clear: lies come from Satan (John 8:44). Lies should never be used to make a point, even if we agree with it. Unfortunately, lies fill not only the minds and books of atheists or post-modernists, but also the arguments of those professing to be advancing the Truth.

Falsehoods must never be used to advance our arguments, even if using them persuades people of the Truth, and brings glory to God in the long run. Paul wrote that even “if the truth of God hath more abounded through [his] lie unto [God’s] glory”, he would still be “judged as a sinner” for lying (Romans 3:5-7).

The Bereans were described as being noble because “they received the word with all readiness of mind” - they believed the truth. But they didn’t believe everything they heard, they “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11). If you could just take anyone’s word for it, it was Paul’s. But the Bereans didn’t - they verified what he said.

Let’s get specific.  Spreading the Truth means that:

• Before we reshare an internet meme professing to contain a fact, we must verify the fact to be the Truth.
• Before we tell others an obscure fact we heard from a friend, we should at least preface it by saying “I heard, not that means anything, that…”.
• Before we forward a chain email we must verify that its contents contain the Truth - and only the Truth. Unfortunately, many chain emails are partial truths or flat out lies, created with the goal of reaching as many inboxes as possible.
• Before spreading the conspiracy theories we have concocted, we should research them to see if they are even plausible based on available facts. The world doesn't need our opinions, it needs the Truth.

Further distributing these lies does not advance the Truth. Overlooking a Truth to make a point undermines the Truth of the point. It is better to present the Truth with a weak argument than fudge the Truth to make a strong one.

Otherwise, we may find ourselves making a strong argument for a lie.