The Way of Jesus: Week 2
Truth
Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 7:21-27 that foundations matter. What you build your life on and around matters because life doesn't come without storms. He taught that the way we weather those storms is by living obedient to the Truth of the Words of Jesus.
But the concept of “Truth” in culture has been diluted, and it hasn’t been by accident. Ever since the start of the Post Modernist movement in the 1970s there has been a rejection of absolute truth and the adoption of the philosophy of thought that “truth” is by nature objective and therefore a cultural construct. Meaning you no longer need to establish what you believe based on facts, but based on how facts make you feel. Without absolute truth, “your truth” has become the guiding foundation rather than the objective truth that Jesus is who he says he is.
While we may not think this cultural ideology has influenced us, or maybe you don’t succumb to the popular thought that truth is relative, a recent study shows that nearly 70% of evangelical Christians no longer believe the biblical position that Jesus is the only way to life with God. Not only has society lost the value of the truth of the Word of God, but the church has allowed sand to be put into the foundations of our lives. We have gotten to the place where if a spiritual question seems to be uncomfortable, or even more so the answer is uncomfortable, we simply choose not to answer it.
But there is hope yet! We, the Church, have a truth to hold to in the words of Jesus from John 16:4 when he said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father Except through me.” (ESV) Therefore, if we believe who he was, know what he taught, and live how he lived, we too can not only build a firm foundation in life to weather the storms to come, but have eternal life with the Father.
In a world where cultural “sand” and ideologies are mixed into the firm foundation of the teachings and ways of Jesus we must use our Foundation Strengthening Practices to build on the rock:
Be in the Word
Live your life in light of the Word
Live in Community with accountability
In a day and age where truth seems relative, and cultural beliefs have seeped into our spiritual beliefs, how can you know if you have the sand of universalism in your foundation? You can ask yourself one simple question: Am I resistant to people sharing biblical truth with me? Do I pull away to find people who will agree with me, or do I lean into people who will challenge me with biblical truth?
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