In a world where most people get their news from social media, anyone with a cell phone is an amateur cameraman, and individuals take to Facebook and Twitter to inform each other of current events, is it really a wonder that we have a hard time discerning what is true? Even our major news outlets read more like opinion than fact, intentionally leaning into overt biases and promoting their own agendas. In a recent interview on Hardcore History Addendum, former journalist Dan Carlin points out, “the democratization of the media has led to the democratization of truth.”
How can we know what’s true, when even simple questions can have multiple answers from multiple sources, depending on your point of view? How can we learn to think and evaluate ideas when the dissemination of information is censored to align with an agenda? How do we know what to believe when the entire world is simultaneously shouting that they have the answer, but not everyone is shouting the same thing?
Most people seem to be perfectly happy to determine truth by committee. What the mainstream masses believe is not just the majority opinion, it is fact. We subjugate objective truth to reflect our feelings, because we would rather bend reality to our whims than engage in the uncomfortable process of letting the truth challenge and refine who we are. Perception is reality. The collective truth reigns supreme. The democratization of truth indeed.
We may not know what the correct answers are to the problems of this world, but we do know some things for certain. Rev. Paul Koch offers some insight in this week’s Ringside, “I don’t know what to believe with all this stuff anymore. But, when it comes to my faith, I do know what I believe about my faith, and maybe we shouldn’t divorce these things from each other. I believe that Christ is present in the gathering of his people. I believe that he is actually there in, with, and under the bread and wine, that his Word does bring forth life. So maybe, let’s just do that…let’s just go to the Word, and let’s trust in those things and let that sort of shape everything else.”
The truth is, Christ took on flesh, died and rose for the redemption of all people. We may not always know what to believe in this world, but we can always believe this, and it should bring you great comfort and confidence, and be the foundation from which you do all else. God’s grace and mercy are not up for debate or dependent upon a majority vote. The masses have no say in the matter. There is no democracy when it comes to your salvation. It is, purely and simply, the truth.
This article is a brief examination of one of several topics discussed on this week’s episode of Ringside with the Preacher Men. Listen to Rev. Joel Hess, Rev. Ross Engel, Rev. Paul Koch, and Tyler the Intern duke it out over what’s true or not, what Jesus really looked like and why it matters, and whether it’s okay to tear down statues on the latest full Ringside with the Preacher Men episode, “What Color Is Jesus?”
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