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WHY TRUTH MATTERS

Dear COA Family,

Pontius Pilate famously asked Jesus at his crucifixion, “What is truth?” 

This question has occupied human minds from the beginning of civilization. We seek to know what is true so that we can truly know who we are and where we can go from here. Simply put, truth is what corresponds to and agrees with reality or with the way things truly are. 

Suppose I told someone, “The desk in my room is brown.” This is true only if the desk is brown. If I had said instead, “The desk in my room is blue”, that would be false because it fails to correspond to a true state of being. 

Unfortunately, in our day and age, truth has become relative. What is true for you may not be true for me, some say. This has done great harm to our pursuit for truth. 

Why is the pursuit of truth important? This is because only with a right and proper knowledge of reality can we learn and grow! The sick person who refuses to believe that he is suffering from cancer will not seek for treatment due to his beliefs and therefore will fail to get well. He may strongly believe that he is well but that does not correspond to reality. This will lead to him dying from his disease. 

Just last Saturday, my father passed away from cancer. We thank God for his mercy on my father for preserving his life for more than twenty years from the onset of his disease. Yet in his final days, he could not accept that his death was imminent and tried all possible ways to extend his life. This adversely affected his manner of death much. 

Similarly, the student who keeps failing in his regular Math assessments but still believes that he is good in the subject is deluding himself. He is not living according to what is true despite his strong belief otherwise. As a result, he will not seek help to improve. He will end up failing major exams which is of greater consequence.

Therefore, we can see that it is very important to live according to what is true. It does not matter how strong you may believe a certain theory; if it does not correspond to reality, then it is untrue and harmful. 

Ultimately, the bible tells us of highest level of reality: “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Jesus says of himself, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

May we all know and grow in what is truly true to live according to God’s eternal blessings! 

Revd Ian