"Post-truth"
January 7, 2017
God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it? - Numbers 23:19
The study of English as a language can be a pretty boring thing -- at least, until a person realizes our language is alive and has words which come and go and change.
If you doubt what I'm saying, consider the word "gay," which today means, well, if you don't know, please look it up. I am pretty sure that word has changed from when
• in the musical West Side Story , Maria sang, "I feel pretty, oh so pretty, I feel pretty and witty and gay."
• I'm also pretty sure the word changed from when the composer of the Flintstones theme song wrote, "When you're with the Flintstones, have a yabba dabba-do time, a dabba-do time We'll have a gay old time!"
• I'm pretty positive the meaning changed sometime after Judy Garland sang "Have yourself a merry little Christmas Let the yuletide be gay."
• I'm almost positive that's not what Christmas carolers meant, when they, in the 1700s, invited festive souls to "Don we now our gay apparel Fa la la la la, la la la la!"
Because the English language is changing, each year Oxford Dictionaries picks a "Word of the Year." That word may not be new, but it has, in the previous annum, undergone a significant change in definition or usage.
Since I was last with you they picked a word for 2016. That word is "post-truth." The editors say post-truth occurs when objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than are appeals to emotion and personal belief.
The Oxford folk thought post-truth was especially applicable to politics.
I know more than one person who would say post-truth accurately describes the Christian's life. They would hold that position because they believe faith is totally emotional and devoid of any factual information.
This is simply not true.
Yes, we receive our faith when the Holy Spirit uses the means of grace and, yes, we have to make a blind leap of faith, but we dare not forget our faith is also forged out on fact.
• It is not by accident Luke tells us who the rulers were when Jesus was born.
• It is not by accident that had him tell us that He personally and carefully investigated the events described in the Gospel that bears his name.
• It is totally proper to say we have as much factual evidence for the life of the Savior as we do for Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, and Alexander the Great. Indeed, we have more proof.
This is why any Christian can comfortably say the salvation story of the Savior is not post-truth nor is it pre-truth. No, the Jesus story is God's inspired, unchanging whole truth, and nothing but.
THE PRAYER : Dear Lord, I give thanks for the Savior who actually and factually gave His life so my sins might be washed away. In this New Year may I cling to Him. In His Name I ask it. Amen.
