Fighting Sound and Lightናሙና

Day 1: Little-t “truth” and the big G

These days, truth is often equated to information, perspectives, experiences, and opinions. In the interest of gaining more “truth,” people have always turned to the one with all the answers. Throughout history, this has taken a different form. From prophets to the town story-teller to kings, leaders, scholars, and texts. Now, a new authority has usurped the others. It takes the form of consensus or crowd-agreement; we call it Google.

Some Christians will distinguish between absolute truth and relative truth by capitalizing the former and leaving the latter in lowercase. “truth” might depend on personal experiences or opinions, but “Truth” is defined by God and is not a matter of agreement or disagreement––it just is. For example, no matter what someone thinks will happen when you drop oil in water, the Truth is that the oil will eventually float on top of the water because it is less dense. It’s irrefutable.

This is what Proverbs 12:19 talks about, saying Truth stands the test of time––it doesn't change. Unfortunately, this is not the kind of truth most people care about. Therefore, it’s also not the kind of truth people talk about online (Proverbs 12:23). “My truth” is a phrase that was popular a few years ago. While the phrase isn’t as popular now, the concept is still thriving in the shadows. We think: Maybe I don’t agree with what this person said, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. I must have a different truth.

Well, truthfully, Truth doesn’t change or depend on the person telling it. One of God’s star qualities is that He is steadfast and unchanging. Jesus claimed to be the Truth (John 14:6). From these two pieces of information, we can infer that Truth is unchanging. Something constant like this offers comfort, so we are designed to look for Truth––to seek answers that make sense to us. Now, the standard of truth has shifted from credible people to general consensus online. Google is the new trusted truth-teller, but it doesn’t always tell the Truth.

You might be begging to ask: What does this have to do with picking up my phone throughout the day? In return, I’d like to ask: How many times does Google pop up on your phone? Whether you ask Siri or physically pull up your browser, how many times a day do you enter the digital world in search of truth? Finally, how many times a day do you enter God’s Word and Presence in search of Truth?