Truth Blended

Truth is quite possibly one of the easiest and one of the most difficult concepts to understand. In one respect, it can be very easy to pick out and to understand, and on the other hand, it can be very deep, even deeper than we can possibly imagine. One can say that truth is one of the biggest things that Christians seek: truth about God, the Universe, and even just their relationship with their creator. However, especially pertaining to the Christian's search for truth, it is very important to have a well rounded, or "blended" search and concept of truth.

One interesting and valuable concept that comes from Chinese philosophy is the idea of balance. The Chinese believe that the whole universe is built upon a balance of forces, harmonizing and balancing. Although some aspects of this concept can be dangerous for Christians, I really believe that there are some good aspects of it as a well and can be applied to our relentless search for truth. Truth can not just be about searching for facts or just "having a gut feeling," but should be a balance between the two, harmonizing to give us a well rounded, good scale in which to weight truth and falsehood.

One aspect of searching for truth has really been affecting me in the past few weeks as I look at scripture and how it applies to the beliefs that I hold as truth. Staying true to my postmodern worldview, I tend to have beliefs based on my feelings and on the personal emotions I have, with some small aspects of weighing them based on facts. However, I found my faith being strengthened immensely when I saw over and over again the things that I believed to be true to be written blatantly in scripture. The old philosophes of the 18th century did teach us some solid things, like basing truth on observation and logic and physical facts, and often times truth can be revealed in leaps and bounds based on the observations and interpretations that we can make on the concrete facts that we have around us.

However, the element of feeling and emotions can not be pushed out of the picture by observation of facts when seeking truth. The wind whispering through a cold forest, a refreshing drink in a mountain stream, or the feeling of a divine presence can not be derived into a mathematical equation or a scientific theorem. But they are also real and awesome, and must also be taken into account to weighing the truth. But, as always, these feelings also have to be weighed against revealed truth in scripture and other sources. It is this perfect blend of truth that I think really brings us to a deeper understanding of truth and a deeper relationship with God. In order to have a truly deep understanding of truth, a Christian must be a mathematician, a historian, a scientist, and a poet, four aspects that all strive for truth, but all see it from radically different perspectives. However, how does this perfect blend come from a flawed member of mankind.

This is where I believe grace of God and gospel come crashing in to save the day. It is God's perfect power of revelation and Jesus' reunification with God and man that allows Him to penetrate the wall between the soul and the mind. Without this saving grace, not only would we be eternally separated from our loving Creator, but we would eternally flounder in our search for truth, hopelessly tipped from one side of the scale to the other, either being buried in a desperate search for arbitrary facts or floating in a dream world clouded with misguided feelings. This balance of truth, I believe, can only come from the only truly balanced being and without that, life would be hopeless and a pointless search for nothing.

However, one of the most profound things that brings me to worship about truth and God is that the search is never really over and there is always more to discover as I grow older and more and more is revealed to me. I believe that ultimate truth is much bigger than we can imagine and can only perfectly be understood if it is seen from the perspective of God. However, truth is not a hopeless search, and I also believe that God will give us just enough revelation in our studies, and our physical and emotional feelings in order to equip us for the world around us, as well as bringing us closer to a better relationship with Him. He is a God of truth, peace, revelation, joy, and authentic emotion, and every aspect of Him draws us closer and closer to Him.