“…IT’S NOT MY TRUTH”

“You may think that is the truth, but it’s not MY truth.” This response to me is the same one given by the multitudes of the deceived today. It is what is driving the lunacy, the vitriol, the craziness, the anti-Semitism, the reverse discrimination, the flagrant and flaunted sexual perversions, the implosion of our institutions, et al, of our society. At its roots is a vaunted arrogance. “You may think that is the truth, but it’s not MY truth” is the epitome of self-assured arrogance. Humanity’s arrogance, I believe, has never been greater. Humanity has made itself, or, I should say, individual humans are making each himself/herself, the center of the universe. They desperately need a cosmology lesson. They make themselves the know-all. The end all. The judge in the judge’s seat, the head referee, the expert of every subject. God. “You may think that is the truth, but it’s not MY truth” is the hallmark expression of our postmodernity age. One of the things that I find both disturbing and infuriating with those who spout this is that, by saying it, they are saying they believe in no absolute truth, no objective truth, just “my truth; But, by saying this they are, in fact, claiming an absolute truth—the absolute "truth” that there is no absolute truth. This is not semantics. This is what they have done. Their statement that there is no Truth just my truth and your truth is in itself a claim of an absolute truth. It is also absurd. “You may think that is the truth, but it’s not MY truth” reveals, by their saying it, an even deeper arrogance: Those who spew it believe that not only it, but anything they SAY is true simply because they have said it. If they SAY Israel is the oppressor, then Israel is the oppressor. If they say the sky is characteristically yellow, the sky is yellow. If they say something that Scripture has clearly labeled sin is, not only not sin, but good, and wholesome, then, because they said it, then it’s not sin, it is good and wholesome. This we get from news reporters prattling. And from pundits pontificating. And from politicians demagoguing. And from celebrities jabberwocking. And from scientists speaking beyond their field. And from progressive preachers manipulating. And from the man on the street. And from a co-worker across from you. And from the family member that would justify his sin. “I say it, therefore it is true.” “You may think that is the truth, but it’s not MY truth” is an attempt to say that all truth is subjective and no truth is objective. I realize that there is subjective truth. But there is a difference between objective and subjective truth. When we talk objective truth, we are talking about what corresponds to reality. The only way to deny objective truth is to deny reality. You can say it is summertime outside today in Ohio. But we have a plethora of means to ascertain whether that statement corresponds with reality. We need only consult the calendar. It’s January 14. We can take a thermometer outside. We can go for a walk without a coat. We can make and throw a snowball. And before Smarty Pants says, “Well, it is summertime in Australia,” he must know that the original statement was about the reality today, January, in Ohio. It describes a place in the northern hemisphere. And here it is winter. Smarty is not only skewing the claim, he is also proving there is objective truth. See, on January 14 it is summertime in Australia. Believe, me, it is winter here in Ohio. That is everybody here’s truth because it is true for everyone in Ohio. “You may think that is the truth, but it’s not MY truth” is an arrogance that manifests itself, not only in “because I say it, it is true, but also in these other delusionary and illusionary statements. They may not be verbalized, but they are thought: • Because I think it is true, it is true. • Because I want it, it is right. • Because I feel it, it is good. • Because I claim it, it is unarguable. • Because I don’t like it, it is dismissible. • Because I repeat it, repeat it, repeat it, repeat it, it is undeniable. “You may think that is the truth, but it’s not MY truth” is something said by a set of people. Scripture had both the people and the statement pegged millennia ago. “…every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (Jdg 17:6). What one in this set of folks does is “right in his own eyes.” It’s his truth. He says it right. Therefore, it is right. Not so! What about in God’s eyes? What about what God says? “You may think that is the truth, but it’s not MY truth” is a statement and sentiment that I reject as by any measure valid. It’s not just that I believe you are not the fountainhead or determiner of what is true. I do not believe I am either. It is that I believe God is. See, it’s not about my truth or your truth. It is about His Truth. And I want to make His truth my truth. I must. You know, there is one who can accurately claim, “You may think that is the truth, but it’s not MY truth.” And that’s God. --Pastor Clifford Hurst