For June’s News & Views article, I wrote “Beauty as a Christian Apologetic,” and I strongly believe that beauty is one of the most important, yet neglected, aspects of the Christian life, and therefore we need to make it a priority. However, it is certainly not the only apologetic, nor the most important. Of the three transcendentals (Truth, Goodness, and Beauty), Truth is the foundation upon which we must build our lives and beliefs. It doesn’t matter if an idea seems good to you, if it is not true, then it is not objectively good. The same goes with beauty: if there is no objective truth, then there really is no objective beauty either.
Our broader culture is infected by Postmodernism and Relativism which simply state that, if there is truth we cannot know it for sure, and that you are allowed to believe whatever you like about anything so long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else. “What’s true for you is true for you, and what’s true for me is true for me,” but those two truths don’t have to be the same. But this simply breaks down instantly. If it is true that no objective truth exists, then object truth does exist in that statement! Moreover, 2 and 2 always equals 4; there is no such thing as a four-sided triangle; and I undeniably woke up this morning! There is truth in this world, and it is easy to see, and actually quite hard to deny.
Now we as Christians know that there is objective truth, because our true God has created a true world according to His Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. But we often let the culture influence the way we interact with others, don’t we? If we bring up Jesus to a non-believer and they respond with “well I’m glad you found a way that works for you,” we are often at a loss for words… What do we say to that???
In love, we are to stand confidently on the fact that Jesus is not a way. No, He is the Way, the only Way. What’s more, He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The good life cannot ultimately be found outside of Christ. Peace will not be lasting apart from the peace He gives us. No amount of self-affirmation or self-help books will clear away the innate knowledge of a guilty conscience, only the finished work of Christ can do that. A person may want to think that they can get along in life perfectly well without Jesus, but the truth is that they won’t be able to. God so designed the fabric of the universe all the way down to the longings of our souls that nothing will work right apart from Him. Nothing can truly satisfy a person’s heart except the God that made their heart.
We as the church must be lovingly bold to announce to the world that there is Truth, and that Truth is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Savior of all who come to Him in faith and repentance. Only through Him is there peace with God. Only through Him will we find the true Way, because only He is the Way.
Pastor Joshua
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