Imagine if a public relations firm started a national campaign to change the way our society thinks about math. Instead of thinking 1+1=2, the campaign would enlist progressive mathematicians who would introduce a new way to interpret the basics. The new formula would be 1+1=3. These woke mathematicians would argue that the old symbols have been misunderstood and repressed for thousands of years. Now people need to be set free to understand how math was supposed to be understood all along. The public relations firm would just plug it into their propaganda formula. News agencies would print it. Scientists would argue it is better because it is more inclusive and allows each digit to reach its full potential. If enough people were convinced then schools would begin teaching the new math and soon the government would have to change its formula to match the people’s new understanding.
Seems too far fetched? It’s possible if people could be convinced to interpret reality differently. It would be like switching from inches to centimeters. The actual distance measured would still be the same, but they way we think about it would be different.
We are seeing this done in our society with a whole list of issues. We have been told that gender is fluid. Someone can identify as male or female regardless of whether he or she was born male or female. Marriage is fluid. It can be defined however you want as long as you don’t say it is limited to one biological male and one biological female. Beliefs that have been held as true for centuries can be dismissed as outdated because they don’t fit with the new way of thinking.
But there is a funny thing about truth, it doesn’t change. You might interpret things differently, but reality is pretty stubborn about staying real.
The principles that govern the universe are timeless. They are not dependent on human interpretation because they were not created by man. They were created by God and he never changes. He created the world without asking for permission. He created the world the way he wanted and humans don’t get to tell him how to interpret the world. He tells them how things are supposed to be.
We know this is true because of the Bible. The Bible contains the truth of who God is and how humans are supposed to live and it has a stubborn way of not going away. People have been trying to get rid of it for thousands of years, but it is still around and it isn’t going anywhere. It can’t be removed because the Bible is the way God lets humanity know what is right and wrong. The Bible explains to the world what truth is. When governments realize they can’t destroy the Bible they switch tactics. Now many in the government want us to believe that the Bible is outdated. They want it to be ignored, but we know that strategy is bound to fail as well because God has promised to preserve his word and he has given the world a group of people to act as the safeguards for the Bible.
That current group of people is called the Church. They are the Christians for whom Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the grave. Jesus Christ said, “I will build my church and the gates of Hell shall not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:18). He promised to ensure the continual existence of the Church for many reasons, but the one that is most pertinent to this article is this. The church is the safeguard of the truth. One of the most important jobs of each local church is to protect the teaching of God’s word. This is done by the leaders of the church faithfully passing on the truth to each generation until Christ returns.
Our church recently started a preaching series on Paul’s first letter to Timothy. The series is called “Operation Truthguard” because Paul makes it clear that one of the most important roles of the church is to be the “pillar and support of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15). Do you see what a pivotal role that is? The church is to guard the truth. This is a privileged position and one that comes with great responsibility. Praise God the church is not required to do it alone. God himself promises to help the church in this task and that gives the Christian confidence. That gives the Christian courage to stand firm in the midst of a culture that wants to break truth down.
One encouraging thing about the cultural wars in America is that we know who is going to win. The society may try to cancel out the truth. People will try to pressure the government to make churches close, but we know local churches are not going away. The last century proved that no matter how repressive the regime, God was always faithful to protect a remnant of Christians who were able to outlast those who fought against God. The prophet Isaiah knew what he was talking about when he wrote, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” As Christians we should not lose heart. Our culture will try to cancel out the truth, but we know God’s word will always continue to be preached by those who are faithful to guard the truth.
