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We have been dealing with the question of why people persist in believing things that are not true. (108) We have seen that there are some real consequences to living that way. The reason is that the Truth is; and it alone produces benefit. In spite of the fact that people have begun to believe the lie that mutually exclusive things can be true, the Truth stands as the only foundation for benefit and all lies yield conflict, chaos, and death.
This would be a good thing to keep in mind as the new year dawns. [Editor's note: this article was written on December 20, 1994.] Jesus Christ said that He is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life". When Pontius Pilate was interrogating Him, that unworthy politician cynically asked, "What is Truth?" Jesus didn't bother to answer him. The reason? If people are unwilling to admit that there is such a thing as Truth, there is no help for them. Hell is reserved for the rejectors of Truth.
Why do people deny the obvious? Why do they persist in believing things that are not true? One reason is that the Truth inherently sets a final agenda. This creates in mankind an almost automatic rebellion--because if the agenda of the Truth is established, all other agendas will have to go by the way--and most of us want what we want too badly to give up our agenda without a struggle.
Thus, another reason that we persist in believing what is not true is simply that we want what we want and the Truth often forbids it. For example, the woman who wants the privilege of sex but not the responsibility of pregnancy and motherhood is told the Truth that the two are inseparably linked. But in order to have what she wants, she denies the link and becomes a pro-abortionist (which she couches in the more tolerable language of pro-choice). There is no evidence that a fetus is not a genuine human being; there is an abundant amount of evidence that the aborting of babies creates physical, emotional, and spiritual disaster; and yet people continue to deny the facts and persist in pushing their own agenda. We want what we want. Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up!
Another example is the man who knows in his gut that God has called him to be a decent, God-loving, man, husband, and father. But he would rather sit down at the bar and drink with his buddies on Saturday night while his wife is at home and his kids are out doing only God knows what. Then, Sunday morning, he doesn't feel like taking the spiritual leadership of his family (indeed, he can't because he has forfeited his family's respect). So, he sleeps late and his wife and children stay home from church--and when they end up in Hell, they will bitterly accuse him--and he will have nothing to say in defense of himself. He knows there is a God Who ought to be worshiped, but he wants what he wants. Instead of being a man of Truth, he is a twisted expression of fallen manhood.
People persist in believing what is not true because it gives them the freedom to pursue their own agenda. But the Truth says there will be a day of reckoning.
This might be a good thing to remember as the New Year comes.